• Location: University of Manchester

• The University of Manchester (UoM) has an outstanding electron microscopy facility with 13 scanning electron microscopes (SEM), 6 focussed ion beam (FIB) systems and 5 transmission electron microscopes (TEM). With class 100 cleanrooms and £13 million of equipment in the national graphene institute (NGI), well-established connections to other national facilities (such as superstem, ePSIC and Rosalind franklin institute (RFI)), and over 40,000 total students, the UoM is unrivalled in its capacity to conduct high-impact, novel research.

Key capabilities:

• In situ aberration-corrected electron microscopy

• High throughput EELS and EDS spectral acquisition and data processing

• 4D STEM and precession electron microscopy

• Plasma-FIB (PFIB) for large-volume milling and tomography

• 1500m2 of ISO class 5 and 6 cleanrooms across two floors

• World-renowned labs in 2D materials fabrication, photonics, nanocomposites, modelling, and optoelectronic transport

Lead academic: Prof. Sarah Haigh
Technical Specialist: Dr. Evan Tillotson

• Location: University of Manchester

• The Cryogenic Ultrafast Scattering-type Terahertz-probe Optical Microscopy (CUSTOM) facility provides optoelectronic characterisation at 3 extremes: nanoscale length scales, low temperatures and ultrafast timescales. Our unique suite of scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopes (s-SNOM) enables simultaneous imaging and spectroscopy across a wide wavelength range and forms a key tool for characterising the new quantum materials and devices developed in NAME.

Key capabilities:

• time-scales <1ps

• temperatures <10K

• length scales <30nm

• wavelength range – from visible to THz

• pump-probe operation

Lead academic: Dr. Jessica Boland
Technical Specialist: Dr. Keir Murphy

Link: Cryogenic Ultrafast Scattering-type Terahertz-probe Optical-pump Microscopy (CUSTOM) - Henry Royce Institute

Link: View Top Publications

• Location: University of Manchester

• The Platform for Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (or P-NAME) enables the electronic, optical and magnetic doping of advanced materials to provide localised control of functionality with sub-20nm precision. The tool has 2 beams: 1) a multi-ion liquid metal alloy ion source FIB for sample doping and patterning; 2) an electron beam for sample imaging and exposure (SEM).

Key capabilities:

• sub-5nm resolution e-beam imaging enabling the target for doping to be identified without ion contamination

• isotopically-selected ion doping of species from liquid metal ion sources with sub-20nm resolution

• deterministic single ion to high dose (e.g. 1019 ions/cm2) doping at energies from ~5 to 75 keV (species dependent)

• 150mm (6-inch) sample handling with vacuum suitcase compatibility

• in-situ electrical measurements possible

Lead academic: Prof. Richard Curry
Senior Technical Specialist: Dr. Maddison Coke

Link: Platform for Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (P-NAME) - Henry Royce Institute

• Location: University of Leeds

• The Deposition System at the University of Leeds is a multi-chamber, multi-technique system for growth of thin film materials, with four growth chambers (Pulsed Laser Deposition, Sputtering, Organics MBE, Topological Insulator MBE) that are connected via ultra-high vacuum transfer chambers. In NAME we are using the Deposition System to grow topological insulator thin films for ion implantation and material property measurements.

Key capabilities:

• Preparation chamber for heating and ion milling

• MBE chamber for topological insulator thin films (e.g. Bi2Se3, (BixSb1-x)2Te3)

• Sample holders for wafers up to 2 inches

• Sample temperature control -100 to 1000 °C

• In situ RHEED for monitoring epitaxial growth

Lead academic: Prof. Bryan Hickey
Technical Specialists: Dr. Philippa Shepley, Dr. Matthew Rogers

Link: Multi Chamber Deposition - Henry Royce Institute

• Location: Imperial College London

• The Thin Film Device Materials facility at Imperial College London is comprised of a 140m2 Class 1000 Clean Room & Labs for Preparation, Deposition, Patterning & Device Characterisation. The co-location of instruments to perform each step of this process enables us to repeat the research life cycle to generate proof of principle plasmonic devices for NAME partners.

Key capabilities:

• We can conduct target preparation, thin film deposition, device patterning & characterisation all in the same location, enabling an idea to become a device in two weeks

• Depositions systems include Pulsed Laser Deposition, Magnetron Sputtering, HIPIMS & E-Beam Deposition and FIB

• Patterning capabilities comprise ion milling, etching and photolithography

• Full spectrum electronic device characterisation as well as surface and bulk, including XRD and SEM

• The unique localisation of necessary instrumentation to create, test and analyse thin film devices and iterate, as necessary

Lead academic: Prof. Neil Alford
Technical Specialist: Dr. Peter Petrov

Link: Royce at Imperial | Research groups | Imperial College London [imperial.ac.uk]

• Locations: University of Leeds & University of Manchester

• At Leeds and Manchester, we have extensive terahertz facilities for material characterisation. These include: broadband terahertz-time domain spectrometers operating in 0.1 - 8 THz range; optical-pump terahertz probe spectroscopy systems that utilize ultrafast amplifier systems to examine photo-induced dynamics on sub-picosecond temporal resolution; temperature-dependent terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (including within dilution refrigerator); and terahertz quantum cascade laser sources. Utilising these techniques, you can examine key material properties, such as conductivity, phonon modes, spin dynamics, carrier dynamics, etc.

Contact: Dr Jessica Boland (UoM) or Dr Joshua Freeman (UoL)

Link: Our research | Terahertz electronics and photonics | School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering | University of Leeds [eps.leeds.ac.uk]

• Location: University of Leeds 

• At the heart of the Sir William Henry Bragg Building is an 800m², state of the art cleanroom suite. The cleanroom is a chase-and-bay arrangement, divided into seven rooms which broadly separate equipment into specialisation, including: Wet Etch, Dry Etch, Photolithography, Electron-beam Lithography, Metrology, Deposition, and Test and Packaging. Other infrastructure includes separate systems for general, solvent and acid extract; bulk, purge-grade N2 from boil off; 1-2-1 specification compressed dry air; and house supplies including process cooling water, vacuum system and type 1 ultra-pure water with < 10ppm TOC. 

• Contact: Manager of the Leeds Nanotechnology Cleanroom – Dr. Chris Wood 

• Click here to learn more

Link: Equipment & Facilities - Henry Royce Institute