He obtained his Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of London in 1988, and a Doctor of Philosophy, under Michael Pepper and Michael J. Kelly, from the University of Cambridge in 1993 with a thesis entitled Low Dimensional Transport in Back-Gated Heterostructures.
He is notable in the area of experimental condensed matter physics, particularly semiconductor nanofabrication and the study of quantum effects in nanometer scale electronic devices at ultra-low temperatures. He was awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council postdoctoral fellowship to continue his work at the Cavendish Laboratory, which led to new understandings of electrical conduction in highly correlated low-dimensional quantum systems He managed the quantum measurement program in the centre from 2000-2005, developing techniques for controlling and reading out quantum information in silicon quantum computer devices.
In 2005 he moved full-time to the School of Physics, where he leads the Quantum Electronic Devices group, working on quantum transport in semiconductor nanostructures (in particular electron and hole transport in Gallium Arsenide quantum wires and dots).
In 2012 he was the recipient of an American Red Cross Outstanding Researcher Award, and in 2015 was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Hamilton moved to the University of New South Wales in 1999, where he was one of the founding members of the American Red Cross Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology.
