Sir Henry Royce Institute - Leeds Equipment

Lead Research Organisation: University of Leeds
Department Name: Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Abstract

Please refer to the collective activity for the Sir Henry Royce Institute.

Planned Impact

Please refer to the collective activity for the Sir Henry Royce Institute.

Publications

10 25 50

publication icon
Brittain K (2022) Impact of thermal cycles on tribological properties and oxidation of MoS2 coatings in Tribologie und Schmierungstechnik

 
Title Crystal Creation 
Description Maker kits that can be used to learn about science through an artistic/craft activity. 
Type Of Art Artistic/Creative Exhibition 
Year Produced 2023 
Impact The kit are going to be used a various community and festival events. 
URL https://www.creatematerialsinnovation.com/post/crystal-creations
 
Description This award allowed the University of Leeds to purchase a number of state-of-the-art items of experimental equipment. These included:

1) A multi-technique deposition system, which, within a single ultra-high-vacuum system, integrate bespokes chambers for (a) MBE growth of topological insulators (e.g. BiSe, BiTe, SnTe, BiSb) and materials to investigate interface superconductivity (e.g. PbTe, PbS and InBi); (b) sputtering of metals (normal, magnetic and superconducting), with a particular focus on ferromagnetic materials (e.g. CoFeB) and metals with high-spin-orbit interactions (e.g. Ta, Pt); (c) plasma laser deposition of complex oxides (e.g. BiFeO3-PbTiO3, Y3Fe5O12); and, (d) thermal evaporation of short-chain organic molecules (e.g. C60). This will enable the next generations of electronic devices to be developed in which control of the interfaces between different materials is critical. For example, the system will allow development of low power electronics, spin capacitors, spin current transistors, magnetic memories, molecular batteries, photovoltaics, and luminescent devices, and also allow exploration of Majorana fermions, skyrmions, molecular spintronics, magnonics, quantum coherence, surface acoustic waves, and magnetochemistry.

2) A bespoke environmental XPS system, configured around a Specs EnviroESCA system, which combines hard and soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES), enabling researchers to characterise the nature of chemical bonding and chemical composition. For example, the system will enable: (a) characterisation of samples and devices containing volatile components (e.g. solvents, adsorbed gases, biological and biomaterials, pastes and suspensions), without cryogenic cooling; (b) investigations of electrically insulating samples; (c) studies of whole devices and dynamic processes; (d) depth profiling of molecular materials by controlled erosion with a noble gas cluster source; and, (e) rapid XPS characterisation of sample libraries under environmental conditions. A key feature of this system is the environmental control, which allows users to characterise materials under conditions relevant for manufacture and application The facility is linked to the Diamond-Leeds collaboration, enabling support for users in the design, application and preparation of experimental programmes for advanced X-ray characterisation at the UK's synchrotron facility, Diamond.

3) An ion miller (with secondary ion mass spectrometry), an ellipsometer, and a direct write laser system. These have been incorporated into the existing University Nanotechnology Cleanroom, where they are utilized by researchers from across Schools within the University, and by external organisations.

The award also contributed to the build of specialized laboratories within the University's new Bragg Centre for Materials Research (https://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/130565/bragg_centre_for_materials_research), which is scheduled for completion in 2021

Over the year 2018-2019, the new instruments were commissioned, with users being trained on the environmental XPS system, and calibration layers being grown on the deposition systems. In 2019-2020, these instruments are becoming extensively utilized for the growth, fabrication and characterization of materials. Since 2021, the instruments are leading to a breadth of publications in leading international's peer-reviewed journals, key-note talks at international conferences, and additional support through new grant income.
Exploitation Route The materials growth and fabrication equipment funded through this award will allow materials to be grown, patterned, and made into electronic, optoelectronic, and bio-electronic devices. The XPS system will enable characterisation of materials across a breadth of application sectors, with a specific emphasis on the study of materials under environmental conditions, for example samples and devices containing volatile components (e.g. solvents, adsorbed gases, biological and biomaterials, pastes and suspensions); electrically insulating samples; and, dynamic processes. Access to these instruments will not only support academia, but also a breadth of industry, ranging from SMEs to multi-nationals.

Further support to capitalise on this equipment investment, and enable external user access, is provided through the Royce Institute (EP/R00661X/1). The facility has been augmented by EPSRC Equipment grants to develop a multi-user SAXS/WAXS facility (EP/R042683/1), a FIBSEM-SIMS facility (EP/VO28855/1), and to provide high specification nanofabrication equipment (EP/W006472/1). New funding has also arisen for studying, e.g., (a) Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (EP/V001914/1); (b) Synthetic antiferromagnetic skyrmions (EP/T006803/1), (c) Emergent magnetism and spin Interactions in metallo-molecular Interfaces (EP/S030263/1); (d) Non-volatile components for superconducting computers (EP/V028138/1); (e) Quantum spin Hall effect spintronics (EP/T034343/1); (f) Coherent pulse propagation and mode locking in terahertz quantum cascade lasers (EP/T034246/1)); (g) Acoustic control of quantum cascade heterostructures; (h) Photonic sensing and dual-mode bio-imaging in rare earth upconversion nanoparticles (EP/T004711/1); and, (i) Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by understanding the molecular basis for friction and its control (EP/R511717/1).
Sectors Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Electronics,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology

URL https://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/130565/bragg_centre_for_materials_research/686/the_henry_royce_institute
 
Description The award funded a multi-chamber deposition system, an environmental XPS system, and a number of items of specialised equipment for an existing Nanotechnology Cleanroom. It also provided specialised laboratory space within the Sir William Henry Bragg Building. In addition to the substantial academic impact, which includes a breadth of publications and further grants, the award contributed to the following non-academic impacts from 2019: 1) Multi-chamber deposition system - This system has primarily been used for discovery-led research. However, the state-of-the-art capability has attracted significant investment from a major UK Defence prime, which is currently establishing office space on campus, with a permanent employee on site. 2) Environmental XPS system - The environmental near ambient pressure XPS system is being used in research collaborations to add new and unique capability to the analytical research portfolio for dynamic surface and interface analysis of materials under process conditions. Such capability is typically not available to non-academic partners (industry) in-house or through contract analytical service labs. The facility is now extensively used by industry for the analysis of a wide range of samples, including companies from the pharmaceutical, agrochemicals, fine chemicals personal care and transportation sectors. There is complementarity with the capabilities of the existing Electron Microscopy facilities at Leeds, especially for the study of soft-matter systems, which are traditionally difficult to probe. The facility also works closely with Diamond Light Source, developing a joint user base through a strategic agreement on advanced X-ray analytical characterisation. 3) Nanotechnology Cleanroom - This Laboratory is being used regularly by >15 companies (including SMEs) to prototype new products, test new processes, and trial instrumentation for their applications. These companies do not have the breadth of equipment available to them in-house. The Cleanroom is also being used to support the development of skills, through (for example) running of a National Cleanroom Training course for academia and industry (a partnership between the Royce Institute and Swansea University), and staff are contributing to the DCMS (now DSIT) review of UK's semiconductor infrastructure. The equipment at Leeds aligns with the 'Atoms-to-Devices' (A2D) theme of the Royce Institute, and this led to a set of roadmaps being developed by the A2D teams at Leeds, Cambridge, Imperial and Manchester around 'Materials for the Energy Transition', identifying key materials steps needed to address the UK's net zero energy target (see: https://www.royce.ac.uk/materials-for-the-energy-transition/).
First Year Of Impact 2019
Sector Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology
Impact Types Economic,Policy & public services

 
Description Royce/IOP "Materials for the Energy Transition" 2020 Roadmapping Activity
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
Impact In response to the Committee on Climate Change's 2019 "Net Zero" Report, the Henry Royce Institute Partners at the Universities of Cambridge, Imperial, Leeds and Manchester, in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, engaged with over 220 participants from academic and industrial materials research communities to explore solutions to the grand challenge of "Materials for the Energy Transition." Through roadmapping workshops and associated community-led activities, energy technologies were identified where materials research can make a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The following four areas were identified where materials science is critical to enabling a step-change in greenhouse gas reduction: (1) Materials for photovoltaic systems, (2) Materials for low-carbon methods of hydrogen generation, (3) Materials for decarbonisation of heating and cooling (split into thermoelectric and caloric energy conversion materials) and (4) Materials for low-loss electronics. Outcomes of these roadmapping exercises were (1) an executive summary report highlighting the main findings of the four roadmapping activities, and (2) five materials development roadmaps towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 were published in September 2020. All documents were made publicly available free of charge for research communities, the public, funding bodies, government, policy-makers and industry leaders. Influence: (1) Roadmaps have been cited in academic journals, influencing research communities towards mission-driven activities (2) roadmaps have begun to influence position papers and policy documents for organisations to inform government, (3) roadmaps have influenced funding bodies to shape future funding opportunities in the "Materials for the Energy Transition" research space (4) EPSRC have requested Royce to facilitate creation of further roadmapping activities towards zero-carbon goals and sustainable UK manufacturing, beginning in 2021.
URL https://www.royce.ac.uk/materials-for-the-energy-transition/
 
Description 3D Nanoscale chemical analysis: a FIBSEM-SIMS facility optimised for soft and composite materials
Amount £1,726,123 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V028855/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2021 
End 06/2025
 
Description Acoustic control of quantum cascade heterostructures: the THz "S-LASER"
Amount £998,933 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V004743/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2021 
End 11/2024
 
Description Coherent pulse propagation and modelocking in terahertz quantum cascade lasers
Amount £1,127,384 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T034246/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2020 
End 02/2024
 
Description EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Phase 3
Amount £60,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/R511717/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2021 
End 03/2022
 
Description EPSRC-SFI: Emergent Magnetism and Spin Interactions in Metallo-Molecular Interfaces
Amount £648,440 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/S030263/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2019 
End 04/2024
 
Description Hierarchically metallized electrospun membrane for tendon-bone regeneration in integrated manner
Amount £12,000 (GBP)
Funding ID IEC\NSFC\211182 
Organisation The Royal Society 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2022 
End 03/2024
 
Description High-specification nanofabrication equipment: enabling increased capability and capacity for electronics, spintronics, photonics, and bioelectronics.
Amount £2,587,981 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/W006472/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2022 
End 12/2024
 
Description High-specification nanofabrication equipment: enabling increased capability and capacity for electronics, spintronics, photonics, and bioelectronics.
Amount £2,587,981 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/W006472/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2022 
End 12/2024
 
Description Multi-User Facility for SAXS/WAXS Studies on Nanoscale Structures in Controlled Environments.
Amount £1,183,496 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/R042683/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2018 
End 05/2023
 
Description Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering
Amount £7,671,801 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2021 
End 03/2026
 
Description Non-volatile programmable components for the superconducting computer
Amount £513,531 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V028138/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2021 
End 05/2024
 
Description Photonic Sensing and Dual-mode Bio-Imaging with Rare Earth Upconversion Nanoparticles
Amount £1,311,873 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T004711/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2020 
End 09/2023
 
Description Quantum spin Hall effect spintronics
Amount £861,847 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T034343/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2020 
End 03/2024
 
Description Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Understanding the Molecular Basis of Friction and Its Control: Towards a Step Change through Use of Novel In Situ X-ray Analysis Techniques
Amount £134,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/R511717/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2020 
End 03/2021
 
Description Royce Phase 2
Amount £95,000,000 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/X527257/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2022 
End 03/2027
 
Description Sir Henry Royce Institute - recurrent grant
Amount £23,057,010 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/R00661X/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2016 
End 03/2021
 
Description Synthetic Antiferromagnetic Skyrmions
Amount £815,630 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T006803/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2019 
End 03/2023
 
Description Terahertz frequency devices and systems for ultrahigh capacity wireless communications
Amount £7,097,283 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/W028921/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2023 
End 12/2027
 
Description The Leeds EPSRC Nanoscience and Nanoequipment User Facility
Amount £201,945 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/R02863X/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2018 
End 05/2020
 
Description The Royce: Capitalising on the investment
Amount £1,006,680 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/S019367/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2018 
End 10/2020
 
Description UKRI Impact Acceleration Account ( IAA)
Amount £60,265 (GBP)
Organisation United Kingdom Research and Innovation 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2022 
End 02/2023
 
Title Recirculating Liquid Jet Cell for In Situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy 
Description A liquid jet setup for general windowless X-ray absorption spectroscopy at beamline B18 of Diamond Light Source, UK 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Enhanced use of the Diamond B18 facility for moelcular level sructure studies of liquid flowing systems 
 
Title Pt/CoB/Pt Josephson p-junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy 
Description This is the dataset for "Pt/CoB/Pt Josephson p-junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy" containing raw electrical transport and magnetization data appearing in the main text 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://archive.researchdata.leeds.ac.uk/794/
 
Title TRIBOLOGICAL COMPOSITES 
Description The invention relates to tribological composites comprising diamond-like carbon and carbonaceous multi-layered nanoparticulate, e.g. graphene nanoplatelets, and methods for their preparation. 
IP Reference WO2023285799 
Protection Patent / Patent application
Year Protection Granted 2023
Licensed No
Impact Engaged with the world largest leading bearing manufacturer towards TRL5.
 
Description Be Curious 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Stall with scientific demos at a festival showing research at the University of Leeds to the public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.leeds.ac.uk/becurious
 
Description Bragg Creative Lab (Uni Leeds) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Scientist was paired with an artist to stimulate collaboration in a STEAM context. In this case an installation artist interested in surfaces and pigments was paired with a scientist interested in probing surfaces and pigments with XPS. Artist gained a new understanding of the length scales at which one can probe the chemical composition of her materials and we want to collaborate in the future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description DNA Origami - Research in Schools 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact A project to engage A-level students with cutting edge materials research, via a DNA nanotechnology research project. The research project is done in student's school laboratories. Feedback from the project has been extremely positive, with some students changing their degree programme to materials science projects. We were also awarded an award at the IRIS Awards, for ''Outstanding Partner' for work on the DNA Origami project. The DNA Origami project was also part of two other awards, including Best Research Project, for Tapton School, where students took DNA construction to a higher level, creating a Tesla valve which lets fluid to flow in one direction, with no moving parts
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023
URL https://researchinschools.org/projects/dna-origami/
 
Description IoP Magnetism Winter School 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Introductory lectures on magnetism aimed at researchers new to the field. I gave a lecture on thin film growth.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://iop.eventsair.com/mws2022/
 
Description Otley Science Cafe 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact I gave a talk about research from the Royce Deposition System to a general audience.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/physics/news/article/5833/philippa-s-smashing-talk-at-the-science-cafe
 
Description Poster at conference: Advanced Electronic and Photonic Materials 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presented a poster about the Royce Deposition System. There was discussion and interest in further information about the capabilities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/advanced-electronic-and-photonic-materials?SSO=1
 
Description ROYCE TRAINING WITH CISM AT SWANSEA UNIVERSITY: PRACTICAL CLEANROOM SKILLS 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact This course will explore basic practices and techniques for cleanroom use. Through a combination of taught lectures, discussion sessions, and practical training participants will gain fundamental skills for working in 'clean-fab' cleanrooms. The content will develop theoretical and practical knowledge in processes such as lithography, deposition, and etching; with participants using what they learn to fabricate a micro-scale Field Effect Transistor.

We hosted 20 attendees for 1 week. Attendees were from UK research institutes, and UK industry, and were PhD students, postgraduate researchers, and industry scientists.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.royce.ac.uk/events/royce-training-micro-and-nano-fabrication/
 
Description ROYCE TRAINING: XPS DATA ANALYSIS 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact This workshop introduced data analysis methods for the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the support available from staff at XPS facilities across the Henry Royce Institute. The content provided basic instruction in key data analysis methods for a beginner, then covered more advanced procedures for analysing data. Approaches to manage data processing will be addressed in the context of analysing real XP spectra.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.royce.ac.uk/events/royce-training-xps-data-analysis/
 
Description Royce@Leeds Winter School 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The Royce@Leeds Winter School was held between the 14th to the 16th of January 2020 with 18 available spaces. There was one last minute cancelation.

The programme consisted of 1h lecture on the scientific background of the equipment and techniques available at the 6 facilities, followed by a 2h practical and laboratory tour. Furthermore, social events were organised to allow informal networking. This was essential to break the ice between the participants but also to improve the likelihood of the students to approach the member of the facilities. The social events consisted of a dinner attended by the attendees and by members of the facilities and a poster session throughout which the facilities showed the research which was facilitated by the techniques introduced by the Winter School.

47 applications were received from 9 UK institutions. Five Royce institutions and 4 non-Royce institutions. Attendees' affiliation was spread over 7 institutions with 4 Royce partners.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description School Outreach Talk - DNA Origami 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Delivered a talk on bionanotechnology for a group of schoolchildren in years 10 - 13 (GCSE and A level) as part of the school's physics enrichment.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description The Bragg Exchange 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The Bragg Exchange is an annual research symposium run and hosted by the Bragg Centre for Materials Research, aimed at the whole of the materials research community in the UK. At the Exchange we host a wide-range of talks by academics from UK and Europe, as well as from the University of Leeds.

In 2022 we hosted 110 in-person attendees, with 5 external talks, 5 UoL talks, and 25 PGR posters. The Exchange was also broadcast on YouTube and reached over 200 people from around the world.

In 2023 we hosted 150 in-person attendees, with 5 external talks. 5 UoL talks and 70 PGR posters. The Exchange was broadcast on YouTube
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023