Advanced Functional Materials

这项提议是平台赠款续签。我们之前的赠款使我们能够开发关键的表征设施，并使我们能够充分了解作为赠款研究的材料。这些材料是低损耗微波介质、铁电材料和这些材料的薄膜。平台更新将建立在团队(包括关键的PDRA)在过去4年中取得的一些非凡发现的基础上，并围绕从微波到毫米波或从MHz到THz的设备运行的功能材料。首先，重要的是解释材料科学的进展，它构成了使我们能够使用平台赠款来制造新设备的基础技术。微波器件的核心是需要低介质损耗或非常高Q因数的谐振器，目标是制造非常高Q的介质。我们之前的平台资助以及EPSRC之前的支持使我们能够发现非常低的损失、高Q的材料。这最终导致了两项重大发现。1首先，我们能够使用低损耗谐振器作为液体传感传感器2其次，我们证明了通过使用非常高的Q谐振器，我们可以在室温和地球磁场中实现脉泽作用-发表在《自然》2012年。这一平台赠款将使我们能够建立在这些发现的基础上1)高级表征：在第一个主题中，目标是进行一系列合格的实验，以确定在我们可用的宽频率范围内(赫兹到太赫兹)2)微波和毫米波传感器的最佳可能条件和材料：第三个主题将科学应用。我们将使用谐振器来分析离子、生物分子、蛋白质和细胞。3)“UMPF”和“HEP”腔：在第二个主题中，我们的目标是制造UMPF(超高磁Purcell因子)和“Hep”(高电Purcell)腔。这些是具有非常高Q的小型谐振腔，考虑到非常小的模式体积，这里的成功将使我们能够显着地改进电子顺磁检测，并使单电池检测成为可能。该平台在这些新主题上的成功将代表着一项了不起的步骤--技术变革。

This proposal is a Platform Grant renewal. Our previous grant allowed us to develop the key characterisation facilities and enabled us to understand fully the materials that were the study of the grant. These materials were low loss microwave dielectrics, ferroelectric materials and thin films of these materials.The Platform renewal will build upon some remarkable discoveries that the team, including the key PDRAs, has made over the last 4 years and centre around functional materials for devices operating from microwave to millimetre wave or from MHz to THz. First it is important to explain the Materials Science progress that forms the underpinning technologies that will enable us to use the Platform grant to build new devices. At the heart of microwave devices are resonators that require low dielectric loss or very high Q factor and the target is to aim for very high Q dielectrics. Our previous Platform grant and indeed prior support from EPSRC allowed us to discover very low loss, high Q materials. This culminated in two significant discoveries.1 First we were able to use low loss resonators as sensors for liquid sensing2 Second, we demonstrated that by using a very high Q resonator we could achieve maser action at room temperatureand in Earth's field - published in Nature 2012.This platform grant will enable us to build upon these discoveries.1) Advanced Characterisation: In the first theme the aim will be to carry out a series of qualifying experiments to determine the best possible conditions and materials for sensing over the wide range of frequencies available to us (Hz to THz)2) Microwave and mm wave sensors: The third theme takes the science to application. We will use the resonators for analysis of ions, biomolecules, proteins and cells. The sensitivity of the resonators allows nanolitre quantities to be analyzed very rapidly for possible cancer cell detection in blood and bacteria in water.3) "UMPF" and "HEP" Cavities: In the second theme we aim to make UMPF (Ultrahigh Magnetic Purcell Factor) and "HEP" (High Electric Purcell) cavities. These are small resonant cavities with a very high Q given the very small mode volume and success here will enable us to improve electron paramagnetic sensing dramatically and enable single cell detection. Success in these new themes for the Platform would represent a remarkable step-change in technology.