Joseph Alec Wilcox

Hello, and welcome to my homepage! My name is Joe, though my academic nom-de-plume is Joseph Alec Wilcox. I am a postdoctoral experimental physicist working in the field of superconductivity and magnetism. Here is a quick list of links to get you started:

• Publications
• CV
• News
• Blog

Personal Summary

I am an experimental physicist with particular expertise in low (and very low) temperature electrical and magnetic measurements, with additional experience working with high magnetic fields and high hydostatic pressures.

I received my PhD in 2019 from the University of Bristol, where I worked with Prof. Antony Carrington. My research was focused on using magnetic penetration depth measurements to probe the structure of the superconducting gap in several low \(T_c\) materials. Notably, we made a clear observation of the the non-linear Meissner effect, a key prediction of the semi-classical theory of nodal superconductors that had otherwise eluded decisive detection (read about it here!).

Following my PhD, I stayed at Bristol for a few more years working as a postdoctoral researcher. During this time, I worked on quite a variety of different projects, mostly involving exploring the landscape of competing electronic orders in the cuprate superconductors. In particular, I made substantial contributions to the development of two novel measurement techniques; one exploring the superfluid density under high pressures and the other exploring very high-speed, high-field caloric measurements. While these techniques have not yet reached full maturity, progress continues to be made and will hopefully bear fruit eventually (as is often the way of research).

Since July 2023, I have been working in the group of Prof. Simon Bending at the University of Bath. Here my research has been focused on an unusual family of iron-based superconductors that, in addition to being superconducting, also exhibit coexisting magnetic order (both ferro- and antiferromagnetic). Superconductivity and magnetism (particularly ferromagnetism) are usually antagonistic phenomena, which often leads to the destruction of one or the other as a consequence. However, in these materials, the two orders are able to coexist over a surprisingly wide range of temperatures, which gives rise to some very unusual behaviour. You can read about my latest research on the topic here.