Manufacturing R&D Facility: Electron Beam Epitaxy

The UK hosts a broad range of world-leading research on nanostructured and epitaxial thin films of functional and device materials. However, there are insufficient facilities for the scale-up and production of devices arising from this work, which substantially limits IP licensing and commercial exploitation opportunities. According to our letter of support from Imperial Innovations, "a technology development gap often exists between academic research and industry", but "in the engineering disciplines, industry is risk-averse and requires that initial proof of new technologies be carried out by the academic institute itself". To bridge this gap, we plan to set up a new large-area electron beam epitaxy manufacturing system for the development, analysis, scale-up and test production of both new and existing devices. This facility will be capable of developing and utilising materials that cannot be grown easily using existing commercial techniques (e.g. molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE)). Our broad materials deposition capability would promote successful scale-up work on cheaper, large-area substrates, which often need new intermediate 'buffer' materials. It would also increase the breadth and scope of device research in the UK, offering excellent prospects for new IP generation and enabling the UK to extend its world leading position in device research into the area of device development, scale up and production.

Our research is intended to facilitate the scale-up and development of UK materials and device work from Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 1 and 2 to TRLs 3 - 5. Subsequent development from TRLs 5 - 9 will be facilitated by Imperial Innovations.

Our primary impact will come from the scale-up to production-ready devices from small-area prototypes which could not otherwise meet the price/performance ratio required to deliver commercial success. As pointed out by Imperial Innovations, access to this system would "enable academics to demonstrate the production and operation of their novel devices at a larger, more industrially relevant, scale".

Following successful scale-up activities, we will (i) build industrial partnerships to transfer and develop our technology further, e.g. through TSB-funded projects, (ii) make applications for follow-on funding from sources such as the EPSRC Follow-on Fund and the Royal Society Brian Mercer Fund, or (iii) start-up funding from Imperial Innovations, who have confirmed that they are "capable of backing proof-of-concept projects" and who are ideally placed to liaise with venture capitalists. Any patentable inventions will be protected and licensed through Imperial Innovations.

Outreach and transparency of access will be ensured by wide advertising within the UK, by highlighting the facility's capabilities at UK conferences and seminars, and by maintaining an up-to-date and comprehensive website containing full information about facility capabilities, technical details and access procedures. We will also organise conferences and public outreach activities centering on the work of the facility, at the earliest available opportunity (facilitated by the Imperial Outreach Office).

Most data will be collected (mainly through automatic wafer mapping techniques) and will be shared securely with users within 24 hours of sample growth.

Our Key Performance Indicators include measures designed to incentivise and monitor high sample throughput, to maximise facility usage and to ensure the highest possible impact.