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Chaiyawat Kaewmeechai

Postdoctoral Researcher · University of Birmingham

I am a computational materials physicist working on defects, amorphous structures, and defect creation mechanisms in wide-bandgap oxide semiconductors. My research combines density-functional theory, ab initio and classical molecular dynamics, and machine-learning interatomic potentials to understand how local atomic structure controls electronic behaviour in functional materials.

I completed my PhD in the Condensed Matter & Materials Physics at UCL.

Research interests

  • Point defects, polarons, and charge trapping in oxide semiconductors
  • Amorphous and crystalline metal oxides
  • Machine-learning interatomic potentials for amorphous materials
  • Halide perovskites for photovoltaic applications
  • Nitride semiconductors

Before UCL, I obtained my BSc and MSc in Physics at Chiang Mai University, working on band alignment of wurtzite semiconductors and non-toxic halide perovskites for solar cells.

selected publications

  1. PRB
    Hole trapping facilitates the formation of Frenkel pairs in crystalline and amorphous Ga_2O_3 films
    Chaiyawat Kaewmeechai, Jack Strand, and Alexander L. Shluger
    Physical Review B, Nov 2025
  2. PRB
    Electronic structure and properties of trapped holes in crystalline and amorphous Ga_2O_3
    Chaiyawat Kaewmeechai, Jack Strand, and Alexander L. Shluger
    Physical Review B, Jan 2025
  3. PRM
    Role of local structure in the optical and electronic properties of oxygen vacancies in different crystal phases of Ga_2O_3
    Chaiyawat Kaewmeechai, Jack Strand, and Alexander L. Shluger
    Physical Review Materials, 2024
  4. pssb
    Structure and migration mechanisms of oxygen interstitial defects in β-Ga_2O_3
    Chaiyawat Kaewmeechai, Jack Strand, and Alexander L. Shluger
    Physica Status Solidi (b), Feb 2025