Head, Department of Physics and Advanced Materials
University of Technology, Sydney
Advanced Materials – Computational materials physics
PhD (Physics) (Southampton University) 1989
BSc (Hons) Physics 1985
2002– Current appointment, University of Technology, Sydney
1998-2002 Senior Lecturer, Flinders University of South Australia
1996-1998 Lecturer, Flinders University of South Australia
1992-1996 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University
1989-1992 Senior Tutor, University of Western Australia
Australian Institute of Physics (previously serving on the SA and NSW branches)
Institute of Physics (UK)
American Chemical Society
Materials Australia (currently serving on the NSW council)
Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching award, Flinders University
Last 5 years (2004 onwards): 54; Career: 90
A significant track record and expertise in computational materials physics using Density Functional Theory and the development of methods for simulating large numbers of atoms. Ford’s most significant contributions in this field are:
● Implemented a version of Density Functional Theory capable of calculating electronic structures of large numbers of atoms (ref 2, B10.3). Previous DFT computer programs were limited to 100s of atoms. The code developed here uses linear scaling divide and conquer and is capable of handling 100,00s of atoms and is equally applicable to insulating, semi-conducting and near-metallic. This extends the capabilities of first principles calculations into the realm of nanostructures.
● Identified superior materials for plasmonics applications (ref 1, B10.3). Previously un-known optical constants were predicted for a range of alloys. This builds upon previous work using classical methods and known optical constants to identify the best metallic elements for nanoparticle plasmonics and to optimise localised effects in nanoparticles (refs 1, 20 B10.2 and ref 4 B10.3).
● Predicted a new class of self-assembled monolayers on gold surfaces based upon an alkynyl linkage (ref 6, B.10.3). This is important for two reasons, first the alkynyl linkage provides a continuous conjugated pathway to the surface, and second, the synthetic chemistry of alkynyl compounds is very well established. These predictions were later tested experimentally (ref 22, B10.2) where it was shown that gold surface can activate oxidation even in the absence of atomic oxygen on the surface.
● Discovered that electron current through molecular junctions increases as the molecule is stretched away from equilibrium (ref 3, B10.3). More significantly the current only increases in one spin channel offering offering the possibility of spintronic devices.
M G Blaber, M D Arnold and M J Ford, “Optical properties of intermetallic compounds from first principles calculations: a search for the ideal plasmonic material” J. Phys.: Condens Matter. In Press 25 Sept (2008)
B O Cankurtaran, J D Gale and M J Ford, “First principles calculations using density matrix divide-and-conquer within the SIESTA methodology”, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 20 294208 (2008)
R C Hoft, M J Ford, and M B Cortie, “Prediction of Increased Tunneling Current by Bond Length Stretch in Molecular Break Junctions” Chem. Phys. Letts. 429(4-6) 503-506 (2006).
Nadine Harris, Michael J. Ford, and Michael B. Cortie, “Optimization of Plasmonic Heating by Gold Nanospheres and Nanoshells”, J. Phys. Chem. B, 110(2) 10701-10702 (2006)
Ante Bilic, Jeffrey R. Reimers, Noel S. Hush, Rainer C. Hoft, and Michael J. Ford “Adsorption of Benzene on Copper, Silver, and Gold Surfaces” J. Chem Theory Comp. 2(4) 1093-1105 (2006).