Platform for Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (P-NAME)

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Most advanced materials are actually composite systems where each part is specifically tailored to provide a particular functionality often via doping. In electronic devices this may be p- or n-type behaviour (the preference to conduct positive of negative charges), in optical devices the ability to emit light at a given wavelength (such as in the infrared for optical fibre communications), or in magnetic materials the ability to store information based on the direction of a magnetic field for example. To enable the realisation of new devices it is essential to increase the density of functionality within a given device volume. Simple miniaturisation (i.e. to fit more devices of the same type but of smaller size) is limited in scope as the nanoscale regime is reached, not only by the well-known emergence of quantum effects, but by the simple capability to control the materials engineering on this scale. Self-assembly methods for example enable the creation of 0D (so called 'quantum dots' or 'artificial atoms'), 1D (wire-like) and 2D (sheet-like) materials with unique properties, but the subsequent control and modification of these is non-trivial and has yet to be demonstrated in many cases. This research aims to establish a Platform for Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (P-NAME) facility that incorporates a new tool which will provide the capability required to deliver a fundamental change in our ability to design and engineer materials. The principle of the technique that we will adapt, is that which revolutionised the micro-electronics industry in the 20th century (ion-doping) but applied on the nanoscale for the first time. Furthermore, the P-NAME tool will be compatible with a scalable technology platform and therefore compatible with its use in high-tech device manufacture. Without this capability the production of increasingly complex materials offering enhance functionality at lower-power consumption will be difficult to achieve.The P-NAME facility will be established within a new UK National Laboratory for Advanced Materials (the Henry Royce Institute) at the University of Manchester. Access to the tool will be made available to UK academics and industry undertaking research into advanced functional materials and devices development.