Judith Driscoll

Judith Driscoll is a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge and a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. She is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and has held visiting appointments at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 2003. Her career spans roles at Imperial College London (1995-2003) and postdoctoral research at Stanford University and IBM Almaden Research Center.

Driscoll's research focuses on functional oxide thin films for applications in superconductors, ferroics, multiferroics, ionics, and semiconductors. Her work demonstrates innovative approaches to strain engineering, heterostructure design, and defect control to optimize performance in advanced memory, energy storage, and neuromorphic computing devices.

Recent publications highlight breakthroughs in resistive switching devices with 512 stable levels, ferroelectric HfZrO2 films with controlled coercive fields, and self-powered photodetectors leveraging the ferro-pyro-phototronic effect. These studies emphasize interdisciplinary methodologies combining atomic-scale characterization, laser annealing, and interfacial engineering.

Scientific Awards:

• Fellow of the Royal Society (2025)
• CNR Rao Award Lecture (2025)
• Royal Society of Chemistry Interdisciplinary Award (2024)
• IEEE James Wong Award (2017)
• Institute of Physics Joule Medal and Prize (2015)
• Materials Research Society Fellow (2015)

Driscoll's patents and leadership in founding the journal APL Materials (2013-2023) underscore her impact on materials innovation. She has pioneered vertically aligned nanocomposite architectures and explored oxygen vacancy dynamics in memristors, with implications for quantum and neuromorphic technologies.