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Physics

Dr Jessamyn Fairfield

PhD

Contact Details

LECTURER ABOVE THE BAR
E: JESSAMYN.FAIRFIELD@nuigalway.ie
 
researcher
 

Biography

I am a physicist specializing in nanomaterials and neuromorphic devices. I'm originally from the US, and grew up in Los Alamos, home of the atomic bomb.

In addition to research and teaching, I run Bright Club in Ireland, the variety night for lateral minds. I also appear frequently on Futureproof, the Newstalk science radio show, and give lots of public talks.

Research Interests

My lab builds electronics made from nanomaterials, which behave differently than bulk materials. We creates nanoelectronic devices, from nanowires or nanocrystals, and then examines their electrical behaviour and their interaction with light. Nanomaterials often act as memristors, whose electrical conductivity changes depending on measurement history. This makes nanomaterials ideal for memory applications. We are especially interested in 'neuromorphic' electronics, whose function in some way mimics the synaptic connections between neurons in the brain. To this end we collaborate not only with engineers and chemists, but also with neuroscientists. I am a co-PI in the CÚRAM medical device centre.

We also study novel approaches to science education, both in and out of the classroom. We have developed an astronomy board game which has undergone pilot trials in schools, and work on informal science education via programmes like Bright Club Ireland.

Current members of the group include:
Dr. Emily Growney Kalaf: Postdoc in biocompatible nanoelectronics
Ms. Alice Selby: Postgraduate student in neuromorphic nanoelectronics
Ms. Adriana Cardinot: Postgraduate student in physics education

Follow us @fairfield_lab for updates!

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2019) 'Bright Club: Establishing a Science Comedy Variety Night in Ireland'
Roche, J; Fairfield, JA; Gallagher, A; Bell, L (2019) 'Bright Club: Establishing a Science Comedy Variety Night in Ireland'. Science Communication, [Details]
(2019) 'Game-based learning to engage students with physics and astronomy using a board game'
Cardinot, A; Fairfield, JA (2019) 'Game-based learning to engage students with physics and astronomy using a board game'. International Journal Of Game-Based Learning, 9 (1):42-57 [Details]
(2017) 'Nanostructured Materials for Neural Electrical Interfaces'
Fairfield, JA (2017) 'Nanostructured Materials for Neural Electrical Interfaces'. Advanced Functional Materials, [DOI] [Details]
(2016) 'Co-percolation to tune conductive behaviour in dynamical metallic nanowire networks'
Fairfield, JA; Rocha, CG; O'Callaghan, C; Ferreira, MS; Boland, JJ (2016) 'Co-percolation to tune conductive behaviour in dynamical metallic nanowire networks'. Nanoscale, 8 (43):18516-18523 [Details]
(2016) 'Orientation selectivity in a multi-gated organic electrochemical transistor'
Gkoupidenis, P; Koutsouras, DA; Lonjaret, T; Fairfield, JA; Malliaras, GG (2016) 'Orientation selectivity in a multi-gated organic electrochemical transistor'. Scientific Reports, 6 [Details]
(2016) 'Associative Enhancement of Time Correlated Response to Heterogeneous Stimuli in a Neuromorphic Nanowire Device'
O'Kelly, CJ; Fairfield, JA; McCloskey, D; Manning, HG; Donegan, JF; Boland, JJ (2016) 'Associative Enhancement of Time Correlated Response to Heterogeneous Stimuli in a Neuromorphic Nanowire Device'. Advanced Electronic Materials, [Details]
(2016) 'Quantum point contacts and resistive switching in Ni/NiO nanowire junctions'
Oliver, SM; Fairfield, JA; Bellew, AT; Lee, S; Champlain, JG; Ruppalt, LB; Boland, JJ; Vora, PM (2016) 'Quantum point contacts and resistive switching in Ni/NiO nanowire junctions'. Applied Physics Letters, 109 [Details]
(2015) 'Synaptic plasticity functions in an organic electrochemical transistor'
Gkoupidenis, P; Schaefer, N; Strakosas, X; Fairfield, JA; Malliaras, GG (2015) 'Synaptic plasticity functions in an organic electrochemical transistor'. Applied Physics Letters, 107 (26) [Details]
(2015) 'Quantitative Study of the Photothermal Properties of Metallic Nanowire Networks'
Bell, AP; Fairfield, JA; McCarthy, EK; Mills, S; Boland, JJ; Baffou, G; McCloskey, D (2015) 'Quantitative Study of the Photothermal Properties of Metallic Nanowire Networks'. Acs Nano, 9 (5):5551-5558 [Details]
(2014) 'Programmability of nanowire networks'
Bellew, AT; Bell, AP; McCarthy, EK; Fairfield, JA; Boland, JJ (2014) 'Programmability of nanowire networks'. Nanoscale, 6 (16):9632-9639 [Details]
(2014) 'Effective electrode length enhances electrical activation of nanowire networks: experiment and simulation'
Fairfield, JA; Ritter, C; Bellew, AT; McCarthy, EK; Ferreira, MS; Boland, JJ (2014) 'Effective electrode length enhances electrical activation of nanowire networks: experiment and simulation'. Acs Nano, 8 (9):9542-9549 [Details]
(2014) 'A single nanoscale junction with programmable multilevel memory'
O'Kelly, CJ; Fairfield, JA; Boland, JJ (2014) 'A single nanoscale junction with programmable multilevel memory'. Acs Nano, 8 (11):11724-11729 [Details]
(2012) 'Manipulating connectivity and electrical conductivity in metallic nanowire networks'
Nirmalraj, PN; Bellew, AT; Bell, AP; Fairfield, JA; McCarthy, EK; O’Kelly, CJ; Pereira, LFC; Sorel, S; Morosan, D; Coleman, JN; Ferreira, MS; Boland, JJ (2012) 'Manipulating connectivity and electrical conductivity in metallic nanowire networks'. Nano Letters, 12 (11):5966-5971 [Details]
(2010) 'Characterization of memory and measurement history in photoconductivity of nanocrystal arrays'
Fairfield, JA; Dadosh, T; Drndic, M (2010) 'Characterization of memory and measurement history in photoconductivity of nanocrystal arrays'. Applied Physics Letters, 97 (14) [Details]
(2009) 'Controlling nanogap quantum dot photoconductivity through optoelectronic trap manipulation'
Willis, LJ; Fairfield, JA; Dadosh, T; Fischbein, MD; Drndic, M (2009) 'Controlling nanogap quantum dot photoconductivity through optoelectronic trap manipulation'. Nano Letters, 9 (12):4191-4197 [Details]
(2008) 'Fluorescence dynamics of semiconductor nanorod clusters studied by correlated atomic force, transmission electron, and fluorescence microscopy'
Querner, C; Wang, S; Healy, K; Fairfield, JA; Fischbein, MD; Drndic, M (2008) 'Fluorescence dynamics of semiconductor nanorod clusters studied by correlated atomic force, transmission electron, and fluorescence microscopy'. Journal Of Physical Chemistry C, 112 (50):19945-19956 [Details]
(2007) 'Radiation-tolerant, red-sensitive CCDs for dark energy investigations'
Roe, NA; Bebek, CJ; Dawson, KS; Emes, JH; Fabricius, MH; Fairfield, JA; Groom, DE; Holland, SE; Karcher, A; Kolbe, WF; Palaio, NP; Wang, G (2007) 'Radiation-tolerant, red-sensitive CCDs for dark energy investigations'. Nuclear Instruments And Methods In Physics Research A, 572 (1):526-527 [Details]
(2006) 'Reduced charge diffusion in thick, fully depleted CCDs with enhanced red sensitivity'
Fairfield, JA; Groom, DE; Bailey, SJ; Bebek, CJ; Holland, SE; Karcher, A; Kolbe, WF; Lorenzon, W; Roe, NA (2006) 'Reduced charge diffusion in thick, fully depleted CCDs with enhanced red sensitivity'. Ieee Transactions On Nuclear Science, 53 (6):3877-3881 [Details]

Books

  Year Publication
(2018) Nanoelectronics.
Fairfield, J (2018) Nanoelectronics. London: IOP Publishing. [Details]

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2011 University of Pennsylvania PhD Physics
2009 University of Pennsylvania MASTERS OF SCIENCE Physics
2005 University of California Berkeley Bachelor of Arts Physics & Applied Math

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2018 President's Award for Societal Impact NUI Galway
2017 Mary Somerville Medal and Prize Institute of Physics
2013 The Early Career Physics Communicator Award Institute of Physics

Community Engagement

  Title Type From / To
Outreach Soapbox Science 01-JAN-17 /
Outreach Bright Club 01-FEB-15 /

Current Postgraduate Students (Research)

  Student Degree Type Type
Alice Selby Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science) Supervisor
Adriana Ferreira De Souza Cardinot Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science) Supervisor

Modules Taught

  Term/Year Module Title Module Code Subject / Desc
2019-2020 Nanotechnology PH429
2019-2020 Physics PH101
2019-2020 Electromagnetism PH2101b