Dr Colin Leach

Colin Leach graduated in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge in 1980 and was awarded PhD in mineralogy at Imperial College in 1984. He was Morgan Crucible lecturer at Imperial College prior to moving to his current position at the University of Manchester, where he was promoted to Reader in 2002. His current research interests are in the structure and properties of ceramic grain boundaries, particularly with regard to conduction mechanisms in semiconducting ceramics. Specialist skills include local property measurement, conductive mode microscopy, EBSP, SEM and modelling of interfaces.

• Local electrical property measurements in electroceramics
• Study of grain boundary structures in ceramics using EBSP
• Conductive mode microscopy of electroceramics
• New PTC thermistor materials with improved microstructures
• Gas sensors for environmental applications
• DLTS studies of varistors
• Improved stability in NTC thermistors
• Physics of the conduction mechanism across grain boundary barriers in electroceramics
• Modelling of internal stress caused by heterogeneous electrical conduction in electroceramics

• Formation and retention of low Σ interfaces in PTC thermistors, J.Seaton and C.Leach, Acta Materialia, 53, (2005), 2751-2758.
• Grain boundary structures in zinc oxide varistors, C.Leach, Acta Materialia, 53, (2005), 237-245.
• The structures and properties of grain boundaries in semiconducting ceramics, R.Freer and C.Leach, Solid State Ionics, 173, (2004), 41-50.
• The effect of relative humidity on the NO2 sensitivity of a SnO2/WO3 heterojunction sensor, Z.Ling and C.Leach, Sensors and Actuators (B), 102, (2004), 102-106.
• Local property measurement in PTC thermistors, J. Seaton and C. Leach, Acta Materialia, 51, (2003), 6027-6034.
• NO2 sensitivity of a heterojunction sensor based on WO3 and doped SnO2, Z.Ling, C.Leach, R.Freer, J.Europ.Ceram.Soc. 23, (2003), 1881-1891.
• A time resolved study of the response of a WO3 gas sensor to NO2 using AC impedance spectroscopy, Z.Ling, C.Leach, R.Freer, Sensors and Actuators (B). 87, (2002), 215-221.
• A Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction Study of the Structure of Ba4.5Nd9Ti18O54 Microwave Dielectric Ceramic (10-290K), C.C. Tang, M.A. Roberts, F. Azough, C. Leach and R. Freer, Journal of Materials Research. 17, (2002), 675-682.
• The effect of voltage bias on EBIC contrast at varistor grain boundaries, C.Leach, Interface Science, 8, (2000), 383-396.