Dr Martin Wilding
Senior Lecturer & Director of Student Experience
BSc, PhD
Contact
Email: mbw@aber.ac.uk
Office: 204, Physical Sciences Building, Penglais Campus
Phone: (0)1970 622 816
Fax: (0)1970 622 826
Teaching Areas
- PH12020 - Classical Physics
- PH14310 - The Quantum Universe
- PH15720 - Introduction to Computational and Experimental Physics
- PH19010 - Energy and the Environment
- PH24520 - Instrumentation Systems
- PH25520 - Experimental Physics
- PH28720 - Planetary and Atmospheric Physics
- PH33420 - Condensed Matter Physics
- PH34040 - Advanced Techniques
- PH36010 - Numerical Methods
Research
My research involves study of the structure of glasses and glass-forming liquids. Using neutron and X-ray diffractions I have studied samples at the limit of normal glass formation including those which undergo anomalous transitions from one glass structure to another, so-called polyamorphic liquids.
The microscopic structure of liquids and glasses is key to the bulk macroscopic thermodynamic properties and the most important parameter for ploymorphic and related liquids is entropy, the degree of disorder. Combinations of neutron and X-ray diffraction data help to clarify the changes in structure that result in entropy changes and these can be further monitored by calorimetric measurement. In addition, the diffraction data can be used as input into computer models of glass structure and the dynamic behaviour of glasses and glass forming liquids determined.
Recently, I have become interested in the behaviour of glasses and liquids under extremes of pressure and temperature. This research involves careful experimentation using high-pressure cells and techniques such as containerless levitation of liquids. Valuable insight into the fundamentals of liquid behaviour is achieved through these experiments and can be used to understand, for example, the behaviour of liquids under deep Earth conditions and planetary evolution as well as the fundamental properties of liquids such as viscosity and diffusion.
My research crosses materials and Earth science disciplines. I have been involved in measurement of volcanic glasses and established a technique for determining cooling rate; this has been applied to glasses obtained from the Antarctic.