Dr Frank Schindler has been awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics for contributions to condensed matter physics.

Dr Frank Schindler from the Department of Physics has been awarded the James Clerk Maxwell Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics (IoP) – the UK and Ireland’s professional body and learned society for physics. The award recognises his numerous conceptual contributions to condensed matter physics, in particular, the prediction of higher-order topological insulators, novel quantum materials whose lossless edge states promise energy-efficient microelectronics in the post-silicon age.

A new era of topological materials

In describing the IoP award winners, Institute of Physics President, Professor Sir Keith Burnett said: “Today’s world faces many challenges which physics will play an absolutely fundamental part in addressing, whether it is securing the future of our economy or the transition to sustainable energy production and net zero.” Dr Schindler’s work targets energy efficiency in particular. 

Combining concepts from quantum physics and the mathematical field of topology, Dr Schindler has revealed a new class of material: higher order topological insulators (HOTIs). What makes HOTI’s unique is that they conduct current only along their hinges – their one-dimensional edges – as opposed to their two-dimensional surfaces. This makes their crystalline structures significantly more resilient, allowing for resistance-free electron flow, a process known as lossless conductance. This energy efficiency could prove crucial to the development of post-silicon hardware as well as components for future quantum computers.

Dr Schindler’s discovery of HOTIs in natural materials, for example, in bismuth, has kicked off a huge amount of research to detect HOTIs in other materials and better understand their properties. Further research has begun on analysis of metamaterial platforms like photonic crystals to see if they can achieve the same lossless properties.

Physics and innovation

The IoP’s annual awards proudly reflect the wide variety of people, places, organisations and achievements that make physics such an exciting discipline. Awarded to physicists at all stages of their careers, the awards demonstrate “the opportunities generated by a career in physics and the potential our science has to transform our society and economy.”

The Maxwell Medal is named for the Scottish mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell, best known for his unification of electricity, magnetism and light into the single phenomenon of electromagnetism. It is awarded to exceptional early-career contributions to theoretical physics.

Dr Schindler has held a lectureship at Imperial College London since 2023, authoring papers on a diversity of topics within condensed matter physics.

On receiving the Maxwell Medal and Prize, Dr Schindler stated: “I am honoured and grateful for this recognition of my work. This achievement would not have been possible without the incredible support of my many collaborators, both in theory and experiment. I’m excited to continue my research on topological materials with my newly established research group at Imperial, and I am confident that the most exciting discoveries are still ahead of us.”