Queen's University Belfast Imaging and Patterning Centre

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) has a proud track record in using microscopy and microfabrication capabilities to both generate world-class academic research and support the needs of local and multinational industry. However, our university-level Field Emission Gun Transmission Electron Microscope (FEGTEM) and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) microscopes are now over 15 years old and rapidly approaching the end of their working lives. There is a pressing need to replace and refresh these instruments and the major part of the equipment fund sought in this application (~£1.5M) will be used for this purpose. The remaining funds (~£360k) will be used to improve our university-level microfabrication facilities, by commissioning a direct-write laser lithography and 3D printing tool with submicron feature resolution capability. Together, the equipment sought will constitute the QUB Imaging and Patterning Centre (IPC) which will run on an open access model (with access priorities and user access fees set by a new IPC management board). QUB already has relevant academic expertise, facility managers and trained technicians to support the running of these machines and advise general users on how they might best help facilitate their research. The IPC will hence be run such that even novice users will be able to apply for (and be granted) facility time and be supported through equipment use and data interpretation.

The new equipment will underpin a large portfolio of ongoing world-class research across Physics, Chemistry, Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering. In addition, it will act as a cornerstone capability in supporting key aspects of the institutional research strategy for the next decade as it pushes forward its interdisciplinary Global Research Institutes (GRIs) and Pioneering Research Programmes (PRPs).

In this context the IPC will underpin:
(i) materials, catalysis and green chemistry aspects of the largest PRP ("Sustainable Energy": £5.2M of investment);
(ii) devices and sensors research associated with our GRI in "Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT)";
(iii) biomaterials aspects of our PRP in "Advanced Technologies for Healthcare" and
(iv) characterisation of radiation-matter interactions in our PRP "Centre for Applied and Interdisciplinary Radiation Research" (CIARR).

The IPC will also help ensure that we continue to deliver cutting-edge research within relevant conventional academic disciplines defined by our School structures for at least the next decade.

Economic: A significant number of manufacturing companies with bases in N. Ireland (which may often be multinationals such as Seagate Technology, Oxford Instruments [Andor], Thales, Montupet and Kyocera [AVX Ltd.] for example) will be able to use the new Imaging and Patterning Centre (IPC) to help them in their product-related R&D (open access models will allow for direct use, as well as commissioning of QUB-based researchers). This will help in product optimization, failure analysis and improved manufacturing efficiency / yield, with knock-on consequences for profits and growth. Seagate have an extremely strong ongoing relationship with QUB, donating ~£10M in equipment, and supporting both research and PhD training with ~£3M in cash over recent years. By the very nature of the hard-drive manufacturing business, Seagate-related research needs access to submicron patterning and high resolution microscopy techniques. Andor (part of Oxford Instruments) are currently involved in a ~£2M collaborative research programme with QUB, which will push forward their camera development. They will benefit from having a microscope platform in which they can test their camera performance (the TEM camera market is one that is relevant for their new camera ranges). SME's and spin-out companies (such as Green Lizard and Causeway Sensors) will also benefit, as in-house patterning and imaging on tools of this level in sophistication will simply be beyond their budgets.

Knowledge: QUB has world-class research activity in materials and devices which makes regular use of patterning and imaging tools. Ready access to the kinds of facilities associated with the Imaging and Patterning Centre (IPC) is essential if their research, and the new knowledge they generate, is to continue and grow. Without the proposed investment there is a serious risk that the FEGTEM and FIB capability will be lost (the machines are now over 15 years old) and this would have disastrous consequences.

People: We expect to train well over 100 PhD students over the next 5-6 years in aspects of imaging and patterning using the IPC. Such research students will be associated with a mixture of activity: some will come from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Photonic Integration and Advanced Data Storage; some from the new interdisciplinary research initiatives that QUB have recently established (Global Research Initiatives [GRI] and Pioneering Research Programmes [PRP]); and some from areas of disciplinary excellence across the university. Scores of PDRAs and other early stage researchers (such as research fellows) will also be trained in facility use and benefit from the cutting edge research possible on the new IPC tools.

Societal: The new equipment in the IPC will directly support research on materials and devices: research with often quite short-term implications for society in terms of improvements in electronics for transport, healthcare, communications and leisure. A major thrust is to support the PRP in Sustainable Energy; given the threats of fossil fuel-related climate change this is key for our society. In the very short term, access to powerful microscopy and patterning capability is extremely useful for the police service and for museums, such that impacts on crime and culture should be almost immediate. We will also develop "public understanding of science" in a programme coordinated through our IPC management board.