Platform Grant Application: Nanoscale Processing and Characterisation of Magnetic Materials

本申请是由剑桥大学材料科学系设备材料组(DMG)提交的材料课程平台基金续期申请。在历史上，该小组的工作一直集中在超导方面，但随着最近在具有相关组成和/或结构的材料中发现了令人兴奋的新功能，我们已经能够将我们的技能和设施转移到这些材料上，并取得了巨大的成功。目前的Platform Grant允许我们通过研究新的材料和功能类别以及引入新的生长技术来采取几个重要的进化步骤。在最基本的层面上，我们的目标是提高对物理性质如何取决于材料和界面的纳米级结构的理解，以及这些如何通过加工来控制。我们的大部分工作依赖于通过在同一研究环境中结合处理和功能表征而实现的协同和快速反馈。随着我们对更小长度尺度工作的日益重视，在纳米尺度上理解性质和结构之间的关系是绝对必要的。因此，发展和整合本集团的结构特征能力是我们今后五年战略的核心。集团的持续成功有赖于三个核心领域的专业知识和基础设施的发展：(1)显微镜和特征我们将任命一家拥有透射电子显微镜(TEM)专业知识的PDRA。这将支持广泛的项目，同时协助小组其他成员发展其在显微镜技术方面的能力。除电子显微镜外，该职位还将为我们的聚焦离子束系统提供专业知识和支持。我们相信，通过这一倡议，我们将能够在新材料系统的调查中获得更快的反馈，并能够对我们正在开发的材料有更深入的了解。Alison Twitchett博士是一名电子显微镜专家，已在该部门工作多年；她非常适合这项活动，并被命名为PDRA。(2)测量和仪器为我们广泛的研究计划支持和开发电磁测量技术的任务只有由具有相当专业知识的经验丰富的工人才能有效地完成。我们将利用新平台赠款上要求的第二个PDRA职位，为这一领域提供灵活的连续性支持。这将以与目前平台赠款相同的方式运作，使目前受雇于EPSRC其他项目的主要研究人员(例如将于2006年4月重返平台资助的G.Burnell博士)能够在获得资金后进入和退出平台支持，进入其他具体项目。这一角色将包括软件和仪器开发以及参与当前和未来的各种探索性研究项目，但由于我们希望在这一领域保持灵活性，因此没有确定为特定的命名为PDRA。(3)薄膜沉积集团依赖于多年建立的大型沉积设备基础。我们请求为Nadia Stelmashenko博士提供部分支持，以管理大部分设备的培训、安全和维护，并使获得资助的项目和该小组的大量学术访问者能够有效地工作并在短时间内取得成果。未来的平台补助金不仅将确保研究组合的持续发展，还将为其他资助安排难以支持的长期和短期研究提供机会。

This application for renewal of a Materials Programme Platform Grant is submitted by the Device Materials Group (DMG) at the Department of Materials Science, University of Cambridge. Historically the work of the Group has concentrated on superconductivity, but with recent exciting discoveries of new functions in materials having related compositions and/or structures we have been able to transfer our skills and facilities to these with great success. The current Platform Grant allowed us to take several important evolutionary steps by studying new classes of materials and functions and introducing new growth techniques.At the most fundamental level, we aim to improve the understanding of how physical properties depend on the nanoscale structure of materials and interfaces, and how these may be controlled by processing. Much of our work is dependent on the synergy and rapid feedback enabled by combining processing and functional characterisation within the same research environment. With the increased emphasis of our work on smaller lengthscales, understanding the relationship between properties and structure at the nm-scale is absolutely necessary. The development and integration of structural characterisation capabilities within the Group therefore lies at the heart of our strategy for the next five years. The continued success of the group depends upon the development of expertise and infrastructure in three core areas:(1) Microscopy and characterisationWe will appoint a PDRA with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) expertise. This will support a wide range of projects whilst assisting other members of the Group in developing their capabilities in microscopy techniques. In addition to TEM the post will provide expertise and support for our focused ion beam system. We believe that through this initiative we will be able to achieve much more rapid feedback in the investigation of new materials systems and be able to gain greater insights into the materials we are developing. Dr. Alison Twitchett is an electron microscopist who has worked in the Department for several years; she is ideally suited to this activity and is the named PDRA.(2) Measurement and instrumentationThe task of supporting and developing electrical and magnetic measurement techniques for our wide range of research programmes can only effectively be performed by experienced workers with considerable expertise. We will use the second PDRA position requested on the new Platform Grant to provide flexible continuity support for this area. This will be operated in the same way as under the current Platform Grant by enabling key researchers currently employed on other EPSRC projects (for example Dr. G. Burnell, who will return to Platform funding in April 2006) to move in and out of Platform support into other specific projects as funding became available. This role will include software and instrument development as well as participation in a variety of current and future exploratory research projects but is not identified for a particular named PDRA as we wish to retain flexibility in this area.(3) Thin film deposition The group is dependent on a large deposition equipment base which has been built up over many years. We are requesting partial support for Dr. Nadia Stelmashenko to manage the training, safety and maintenance for much of this equipment and enable both funded projects and the large number of academic visitors to the Group to work effectively and gain results in a short time. A future Platform Grant will not only ensure the continued development of the research portfolio, but offer opportunities for both long-term and short-term research which are difficult to support within other funding arrangements.