Oxide Energy Devices

Superconductors for power applications (transmission & fusion magnets)

We work closely with an industry partner on high superconductor coated conductor development for power transmission and for fusion applications.

Superconducting film

 

X-ray detectors

We are working on BiOI X-ray detectors based on our paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38008-4. These materials are stable, green and are capable of detecting X-ray dose rates over 250 times lower than the current best performing detectors used commercially. They are also excellent materials for indoor PV for IoT electronics (linking back to theme 1).

 

XrayDetection Graphic

 

We work on a range of functional oxides for energy devices, for applications in power transmission and energy generation (superconductors) to energy harvesting (for IoT) and energy storage (mainly for IoT and high temperature electronics).

  • New materials for light energy harvesting and radiation detection (see figures and text below).

Stable, green BiOI single crystals for X-ray detectors capable of detecting X-ray dose rates over 250 times lower than the current best performing detectors used commercially. The very high linear attenuation coefficients are shown in right hand image. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38008-4. A press release on the work, so far, is here.

We are excited to have been awarded in 2023 a joint EPSRC-NSF grant (together with Robert Hoye, Oxford and Quanxi Jia, SUNY, Buffalo) to develop large area detectors of BiOI.  Prof. Jia also has a visiting fellowship to Trinity College to spend time in Cambridge to visit and work on this project.

Example Recent Papers

Feighan J, Kim I, Bedford T, Kursumovic A, Zhang D, Wang H, Lee JH, Moon S, MacManus Driscoll JL,New rapid liquid amorphous-to-crystalline (LAC) PLD growth method for growth of high quality REBCO thin films, Supercon. Sci. Tech. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/ae6202, Apr 2026

MacManus-Driscoll JL, High Temperature Superconductor Coated Conductors: A Highly Complex System Where the Only Way is ‘ups’, Superconductivity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2025.100189, Sep 2025, 15, 100189.

Lai MH, Kim I, Feighan JP, Bedford T,  Shen J, Moceri MT, Huang J, Nguyen XT,  Di Martino G, Wang H, Moon SH, Kursumovic A, MacManus-Driscoll JL, Influence of Rare Earth (RE) Mixing in REBa2Cu3O7-x Thin Films, Including RE2O3 Nanoparticle Formation, on In-Field  Critical Current Density at 20K, Superconductivity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2025.100171, Sept. 2025, 15, 100171.

Rizzo F, Piperno L, Augieri A, Meledin A, Feighan JP, MacManus-Driscoll JL and Celentano G, Synergistic strategies for Enhancing Flux Pinning in YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films at high fields and low temperature, Physica C, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2025.1354648, Mar 2025, 630, 1354648.

Ghosh J, Priyadarshini P, Younus ZT, Jia QX, Nie W, MacManus-Driscoll JL, Hoye RLZ, Progress and Opportunities in Bismuth-based Materials for X-ray Detection, MRS Energy and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1557/s43581-025-00142-5, Aug 2025, 12, 233.