Felix Hofmann

My tutorial teaching at Trinity covers the Mechanics and Materials parts of the Engineering Science course. Tutorials happen in groups of 2 or 3 students and are an excellent opportunity to discuss the material in detail and address challenging questions as they arise. In the Department of Engineering Science, I give lecture courses on solid mechanics and materials, supervise undergraduate and graduate student projects and organise some of the materials-oriented labs.

Atomic scale defects are central to the mechanical, physical and failure properties of almost all crystalline materials. These defects may, for example, be introduced by mechanical deformation, chemical changes or irradiation. I am interested in characterising the structure of atomic-scale defects and using this information to better understand the dramatic changes they can cause. To study defects, my group uses a wide range of experimental techniques, concentrating in particular on X-ray diffraction. We also develop new experimental techniques, such as laser-induced transient grating spectroscopy, to probe defect-induced changes in e.g. elastic and thermal transport properties. These experiments are combined with material models that cover a wide range of length scales, from considering single atoms to macroscopic components.

In my group we apply these techniques to challenging material systems for technologies that drive societal change. For example, a significant part of our effort is focussed on materials for future fusion reactors. We also work on developing new materials for extreme environments, as well as trying to gain a better understanding of defects in materials that appear in nature, e.g. biological materials and Earth materials.

My group’s research has benefitted from substantial funding from the European Research Council (Starting Grant 2016), The Leverhulme Trust (Research Project Grant 2016), as well as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (NEUP-EPSRG grant 2019).

You can see a full list of my publications on my Google Scholar page.