Lancaster EPP Capital bid 2018
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
This grant will allow Lancaster to build a new facility that will allow state of the art semiconductor devices to the electronics required to control and read them out. it will also help develop new infrared detectors., The 'flip chip' bonding technique will allow the devices to be tested in a more efficient way, with fewer poor bonds and damaged devices, and yet will allow binding in a shorter time.
It will also provide for the UK for the first time a two photon absorption method to measure the radiation damage in semiconductor devices. Only very few places in the world have such a facility, and it will provide a very precise method to test the devices at specific points and at well defined depths into the volume. The precision will allow place the UK at the forefront of sensor development.
Finally, the grant will allow new integrated techniques to provide high capacity computer storage and processing to be adapted to support the very large volumes of data coming from particle physics and astronomy projects in a flexible and stable way. These developments will also inform 'real world' applcations.
It will also provide for the UK for the first time a two photon absorption method to measure the radiation damage in semiconductor devices. Only very few places in the world have such a facility, and it will provide a very precise method to test the devices at specific points and at well defined depths into the volume. The precision will allow place the UK at the forefront of sensor development.
Finally, the grant will allow new integrated techniques to provide high capacity computer storage and processing to be adapted to support the very large volumes of data coming from particle physics and astronomy projects in a flexible and stable way. These developments will also inform 'real world' applcations.
Planned Impact
Flip-chip bump-bonding: The ability to perform bump-bonding on substrates with <=50microns pitch is not commonly commercially available. In particular, many groups lack the ability to deposit fine-pitch bumps and perform flip-chip on the individual sensor/die level, while prototyping is the most important method to advance our knowledge about detector issues. The process will allow rapid testing of new devices, any of which cold have significant commercial impact.
We believe there is a market for the deposition of (ultra-)fine-pitch bumps and the associated flip-chip, and will aim to commercially exploit our ability.
Two-photon absorption TCT allows the characterisation of any sensor bulk in three dimensions with a resolution of few microns in two dimensions & ~10-15 microns in the third dimension. This is a large step forward to classical TCT or also edge-TCT, which only probed a line profile.
Several sensor materials would profit from a high-resolution 3D-capable characterisation method, in particular those with many crystal defects and/or grain boundaries. Areas of reduced efficiency could be mapped and corrected for, which is particularly useful for large area/volume sensors, where only small sub- volumes deteriorate an otherwise good efficiency.
Once the setup has been established, we will aim to commence a joint PhD project with a UK-based sensor manufacturer to establish proof that a TPA-TCT characterisation of all of their detectors prior to sale will enable offline correction for low-efficiency regions and thereby increase their energy resolution, which would be economically highly interesting and far superior to currently employed characterisation methods.
Integrated OpenStack Solution: The provision of a flexible and stable integrated solution for high throughput, high data volume scientific computing is a general problem to be solved, and has attracted commercial interest. We were working with Data Centred, who were trying to provide commercial solutions in this space; sadly, they have ceased trading after loosing an HMRC contract, but we are talking with other providers who are keen to work with us to find common solutions.
We will engage in knowledge exchange with:
- Researchers from other academic communities who are interested in Grid and cloud computing, virtualization and containerization;
- Researchers & industrialists from other academic communities who are interested in radiation hard silicon detectors;
- Industrialists with whom we intend to develop components for the ATLAS upgrade (e.g. silicon detector manufacturers such as LFoundry in Europe.
- Computer hardware companies, particularly Viglen, Dell and NVidia. This allows direct two-way exchange from and to the benefit of our GridPP and ATLAS upgrade computing activities. We had an active research partnership with DataCentred, investigating Openstack solutions for science clients, until their recent liquidation. Jones was an NVidia Fellow.
We will engage in public engagement and outreach activities with:
- The general public
- Worldwide through media, the web, apps and international festivals o In the UK through the same means and national festivals and events
- Locally with those in the Lancashire & Cumbria;
- Teachers & school students, especially but not exclusively those in Lancashire & Cumbria.
Collaboration Knowledge exchange & public outreach activities are the joint responsibility of the PI and the Co-I's on this grant application. The PI ensures that all objectives are met and delegates specific responsibilities to individual members of the research group.
Exploitation & Application: We do hold a Newton Fund grant to work on thin films with Mexico, and are alert to opportunities under GCRF and the ISRF. We regularly review our outreach activities, and benefit from the support of a dedicated Departmental Outreach Committee and KE is also under regular review by our KE Committee and Business Partnerships and Engagement team.
We believe there is a market for the deposition of (ultra-)fine-pitch bumps and the associated flip-chip, and will aim to commercially exploit our ability.
Two-photon absorption TCT allows the characterisation of any sensor bulk in three dimensions with a resolution of few microns in two dimensions & ~10-15 microns in the third dimension. This is a large step forward to classical TCT or also edge-TCT, which only probed a line profile.
Several sensor materials would profit from a high-resolution 3D-capable characterisation method, in particular those with many crystal defects and/or grain boundaries. Areas of reduced efficiency could be mapped and corrected for, which is particularly useful for large area/volume sensors, where only small sub- volumes deteriorate an otherwise good efficiency.
Once the setup has been established, we will aim to commence a joint PhD project with a UK-based sensor manufacturer to establish proof that a TPA-TCT characterisation of all of their detectors prior to sale will enable offline correction for low-efficiency regions and thereby increase their energy resolution, which would be economically highly interesting and far superior to currently employed characterisation methods.
Integrated OpenStack Solution: The provision of a flexible and stable integrated solution for high throughput, high data volume scientific computing is a general problem to be solved, and has attracted commercial interest. We were working with Data Centred, who were trying to provide commercial solutions in this space; sadly, they have ceased trading after loosing an HMRC contract, but we are talking with other providers who are keen to work with us to find common solutions.
We will engage in knowledge exchange with:
- Researchers from other academic communities who are interested in Grid and cloud computing, virtualization and containerization;
- Researchers & industrialists from other academic communities who are interested in radiation hard silicon detectors;
- Industrialists with whom we intend to develop components for the ATLAS upgrade (e.g. silicon detector manufacturers such as LFoundry in Europe.
- Computer hardware companies, particularly Viglen, Dell and NVidia. This allows direct two-way exchange from and to the benefit of our GridPP and ATLAS upgrade computing activities. We had an active research partnership with DataCentred, investigating Openstack solutions for science clients, until their recent liquidation. Jones was an NVidia Fellow.
We will engage in public engagement and outreach activities with:
- The general public
- Worldwide through media, the web, apps and international festivals o In the UK through the same means and national festivals and events
- Locally with those in the Lancashire & Cumbria;
- Teachers & school students, especially but not exclusively those in Lancashire & Cumbria.
Collaboration Knowledge exchange & public outreach activities are the joint responsibility of the PI and the Co-I's on this grant application. The PI ensures that all objectives are met and delegates specific responsibilities to individual members of the research group.
Exploitation & Application: We do hold a Newton Fund grant to work on thin films with Mexico, and are alert to opportunities under GCRF and the ISRF. We regularly review our outreach activities, and benefit from the support of a dedicated Departmental Outreach Committee and KE is also under regular review by our KE Committee and Business Partnerships and Engagement team.
