Directory of Experts
Details for Dr Simon Hanna
| Personal details | |
| Name | Dr Simon Hanna |
| Job title | Reader in Physics |
| Department | School of Physics University of Bristol |
| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
| Qualifications | M.A., Ph.D.(Cantab.) |
| Professional details | |
| Membership of professional bodies | M. Inst. P. C. Phys. |
| Keywords | computer simulation physics of holographic optical tweezers molecular nanophysics molecular nanostructures soft matter |
| Areas of expertise | My primary research interest is the physics of holographic optical tweezers and their applications in nanoscience. My group has developed techniques for computing forces and torques on microscopic particles in optical traps. Different methods are suited to different types of problem: the T-matrix approach is fast, but best suited to highly symmetrical systems; FDTD is very versatile but slow; DDA offers a reasonable compromise in terms of speed and accuracy. We also study the thermal motion of trapped structures in multiple optical traps, by solving the Langevin equation for the system. The aims of the work are two-fold - to build and optimize nanotools or nanoprobes for analyzing biological systems (an example of biophotonics), and to build photonic structures with bespoke defects. I am also interested in molecular nanophysics and I study self-assembling molecular nanostructures through molecular modeling techniques including Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations. |