From rings to nanostructures

The modern world works because of the huge developments in electronics over the last fifty years. The many devices we take for granted - mobile phones, tablets, laptops - are all dependent on the ability of the electronics industry to make smaller and smaller components on which the performance of these devices depends. For fifty years the industry has been able to double the number of components per chip every two years; this astonishing performance is colloquially known as Moore's Law, named after Gordon Moore the founder of Intel.

This project is to use chemistry in a unique way to extend Moore's Law further in the future. The applicant's group has a remarkable control over the synthesis of a class of compounds known as heterometallic rings. These rings show huge promise in two areas related to Moore's Law. Firstly, they can be used in the fabrication of the types of nanostructures already used by the electronics industry. The electronics industry uses lithography to write nanostructures, and our ring materials can be used to create the pattern used for lithography. Through our chemistry we can meet many of the requirements of this industry already, in terms of the resolution of the pattern written, how smooth the edges of the lines of the pattern are, and, in particular, how resistant the material is to the conditions used to "etch" the underlying silicon substrate to make the nanostructures. Our materials out-perform all competitor materials in one or more of these parameters. The main task for the Fellowship will be to increase the speed with which our materials can be written so that they will be adopted by the electronics industry. The industry is hugely dependent on this speed, i.e. how many "chips" can be made every hour is a key factor in the profitability of companies such as Intel.

Secondly, we can use our rings as possible qubits for quantum information processing (QIP). QIP would be a new means of carrying out certain computational tasks (e.g. searching directories, breaking codes) and a qubit is the equivalent for QIP of a bit in classical computing. Our synthetic control allows us to bring together many qubits - which are magnetic - in one supramolecule, and during the Fellowship we will develop equivalent but non-magnetic hosts into which we can insert these multiple qubit supramolecules. This will allow us to make materials where individual qubits only speak to neighbouring qubits under our control, and hence we can begin to think about carrying out simple computational tasks. No other group could seriously propose this synthetic work.

Greater detail is given in the Pathways to Impact document. Four distinct areas of impact are envisaged:

1. Economic
This work has a clear pathway to impact in the lithographic work. The initial results on which the proposal is based have been the subject of patents and has led to a spinout company Sci-Tron Ltd, which won the RSC Prize for Emerging Technologies in 2016.
We are presently carrying out an exploratory project with Intel and a further project has been submitted to Intel for more substantial funding. These projects do not involve any new chemistry, merely exploitation of results we have already achieved. We are also in confidential discussions with a local SME about scale-up of existing chemistry, and with a major international chemical company which supplies the electronics market. These discussions all focus on molecules we have previously made and on issues such as cost of process and quality control of product.

The new chemistry and new processes developed in WP2, WP3 and WP4 during this Fellowship will therefore be immediately fed through our existing spinout and use established contacts.

The potential economic impact of the research on QIP within WP1 is further off, but potentially profound. The fact that we have now established contacts with Intel could also be important in exploiting this area. However it is not realistic to expect function devices during the timescale of this Fellowship.

Hence, the nature of the project is such that different strands have potential economic impacts in the short and in the long term.

2. Academic
Some of this is covered in academic beneficaries. In addition: early access to results from the project will be via papers on preprint servers and a project webpage, which will be regularly updated.
We will organize small select workshops in Manchester in 2019 and 2021. We have previously organized such meetings and our intention is invite between 30 and 40 visitors. Our colleagues will fund themselves to attend such meetings as they enjoy such in-depth and informal meetings. We will apply to host one of these meetings at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre. REPW is also the Conference Chair for the 17th International Conference on Molecule-Based Magnets, which will take place in Manchester in September 2020. This will be an ideal opportunity for the PDRAs and PhD students involved in the project to network with world-leaders in this field.

3. Societal
The School of Chemistry is developing a YouTube Channel (Chemistry At Manchester Explains Research Achievements - CAMERA); it will be launched in June 2017 with around 15 videos. During this Fellowship we will continue this practice, and request funds to produce 12 such videos in support specifically of this project. We believe that such an approach is the best way of reaching a very large audience.
We will also develop an exhibition for a Royal Society Summer Exhibition, probably for 2020. This activity will be led by a Project Manager funded by the University of Manchester. We believe that our unique approach to nanofabrication should provide a very exciting experience. If we are successful we will then seek to use that exhibition at local museums (e.g. Manchester Science Festival, Manchester Museum of Science and Industry).

4. People
This is also covered in academic beneficaries. We have a long track record of training outstanding PhD students and post-doctoral researchers who go on to significant independent academic careers. These include professors at several UK universities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull) and international universities (Windsor, Canada; IIT Bombay, India; Barcelona, Spain). This impact is achieved by involving the PhD students and PDRAs in conference presentations so that they get the credit for their work.