乱伦秀

Improvements in electronic materials and the development of ever-more advanced device design and fabrication strategies lie at the heart of the Information Revolution.

Overview

Much of the EMD Group research is driven by the following fundamental technological questions:

• How can the spectacular performance of Si integrated circuits be sustained as fundamental physical limitations arise?

• What alternative electronic device technologies can achieve performance specifications which exceed the capabilities of Si?

• There is an increasing need to integrate electronics and semiconductor-based sensor technology in extreme environments where high temperatures or high radiation levels may be encountered, how can we provide devices for this?

• How can quantum phenomena be harnessed in micro- and听nano-electronic devices to yield new technologies, such as quantum computers听and biotechnology?听

Since the gate length of today鈥檚 silicon MOS devices are听below 10 nm, addressing these issues necessarily requires expertise in all aspects of Nanotechnology 鈥� from nanofabrication using photon, ion and electron beams听to self-assembly of organic molecular monolayers, to听understanding and harnessing quantum mechanical behaviour present in such nanoscale devices.

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People

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Biographies of group members

Dr Neil Curson

Dr Curson is the 乱伦秀 Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Characterisation of Materials, a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the London Centre for Nanotechnology and a visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey. His research interests are centred around understanding and controlling the behaviour of atoms and molecules at surfaces and the development and deployment of new scanning probe lithography techniques, towards fabrication of nanoscale electronic devices and atomic-scale components for quantum information processing. Topics of current interest include microscopy, spectroscopy and optical characterisation of singe dopants and dopant nanostructures in Group IV semiconductors, surface chemistry of dopant precursors, and surface modification of organic single crystals

Prof Richard Jackman

Professor Jackman heads 乱伦秀鈥檚 Diamond Electronics team whose laboratories are within the听. Diamond is a wide-band gap semiconductor with unrivaled carrier transport properties, can sustain very high breakdown fields, is resilient to radiation and tolerant to a wide range of extreme environments.听 This leads to its potential use within the diverse areas such as high frequency electronics; high power electronics; 鈥榬adiation hard鈥� electronics; high temperature electronics; Corrosion resistant electronics; biocompatible electronics; space-bound electronics; radiation detectors; biosensors; electrochemical sensors; quantum computing.

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Prof Anthony Kenyon

Prof Kenyon鈥檚 research interests focus mainly on nanostructured materials and devices and their applications in electronics and photonics. Particular areas of interest include: Resistive switching/ RRAM; Resistive switching in silicon oxides; Si-based RRAM; Neuromorphic applications of RRAM devices; Light-triggered resistance switching; Resistive switching in polymer nanofibers; Memristors.听 Other topics of interest include Self-assembled arrays of metallic nanoparticles for photonics, electronics and plasmonics, silicon photonics and rare-earth doped photonic materials.

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Dr Hidekazu Kurebayashi

Dr Kurebayashi鈥檚 Research areas of interest include: Spin transport; Spin excitation by the spin-orbit interaction; Developing low-power spin memory devices; Magnonics.

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Prof John Morton

Prof Morton's research takes spins of electrons and nuclei in a range of nano-scale materials and devices to develop a new generation of quantum technologies, including quantum sensors, quantum memories, and quantum computers.

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Dr Ioannis Papakonstantinou

Dr Papakonstantinou鈥檚 research interests include: Smart, 鈥渢hermochromic鈥� windows; Nanophotonics for solar cells; Luminescent Solar Concentrators; Biomedical Devices; Visible Light Communications; Micro- nanofabrication

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Dr Ed Romans

Dr Roman's research areas include听i)听Pulsed laser deposition of high temperature superconductor thin films and new oxide materials for nanoscale devices.

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Prof Paul Warburton

Prof Warburton works on the physics and applications of superconductor and semiconductor nanodevices. He has a specific focus on quantum annealing using superconducting devices, and on high-mobility oxide interfaces.

In addition, the LCN involves over 200 听full-time staff across three central London sites: Bloomsbury (乱伦秀), South Kensington (Imperial College) and The Strand (King's College London). Academic, research and support staff contribute their skills across the LCN鈥檚 four main themes.

Research Themes

EMD staff are key within the LCN, with its four main themes, which help the Centre deliver its science and technology mission:

Theory and Modelling

Leading techniques and technologies to simulate visualize and design nano-scale structures and devices in the biological and non-biological areas; first principles atomic/molecular level theory, systems modelling and other powerful computational tools

Nano-characterisation

The full range of optical, electron, ion and scan-probe based technologies required to image and understand nanostructures in both the biological and non-biological materials including silicon, III-V, organics and diamond, and unconventional substrates such as plastic and metal foils.

Nano-fabrication

Large clean room space with the ability to produce nano-materials and devices using various biological and non-biological materials; silicon, III-V fabrication and unconventional fabrication 鈥� e.g. organics and diamond

Systems

The range of techniques and technologies required to translate nanotechnology into workable products for industry; hybridisation and integration techniques, error handling and re-routing algorithms, methods to connect bio- and non-bio systems.

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Research Projects

EMD has a flourishing & diverse portfolio of areas technological excellence including:

• Quantum annealing using superconducting qubits听
• Diamond Electronics听- exploring the use of this wide-band gap semiconductor for听nano-electronics, power electronics, and electronics that must withstand high temperatures and/or high听radiation听levels,听including the use of听diamond听sensors.听
• Resistive switching materials and devices for novel memory systems and computation听
• Neuromorphic devices and circuits 鈥� devices that perform computation in ways inspired by the brain,听and the use of听nano-materials such diamond for the formation of living cellular neural networks.听
• Quantum control of spins in molecular materials and silicon devices.听
• Building devices atom by atom for applications in nanoelectronics and quantum information processing.听
• Exploration of new quantum effects in low dimensional semiconductor systems and devices fabricated using advanced growth techniques.

Our future strategy includes the following:

• Development听and exploitation听of new听suite of听cleanroom听tools in the LCN (including 100keV EBL, direct write optical听lithography and dedicated silicon furnace stack)听aimed for the fabrication of quantum devices听
• Investigation of new materials and strategies for semiconducting, superconducting and magnetic devices, switches, Josephson junctions, and memories.
• Exploration of听new device structures in diamond,听including听nanowires which support ballistic transport for nanoelectronics, power devices and听plasmonics..听
• Neuromorphic devices for non-von Neumann computing.听
• Development of quantum technologies including quantum memories, sensors, and processors in silicon devices,听and diamond quantum device neural interfaces for the study of neurodegenerative听diseases.
• Exploration of new quantised electron transport phenomena and fractional charges when electrons are free to adopt a minimum energy configuration including Many Body Localization.
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Collaboration

The EMD plays a key role in the鈥�, a joint 乱伦秀 鈥� Imperial College collaboration with over听拢31M听of infrastructure funding; this has recently been supplemented by an investment in Quantum Technology, which within the LCN at 乱伦秀 alone amounts to more than 拢13M. The 乱伦秀 Quantum Science & Technology Institute (乱伦秀Q), Directed from within the EMD group, inaugurated in May 2014, serves to coordinate and support research across the university across a range of departments and disciplines, helping to develop this fast-advancing field of research.听 This has led to collaboration with scientists听and engineers听from an increasingly diverse range of disciplines, including not only physicists and materials scientists, but also those from the Life Sciences.

The group is also very active within the 乱伦秀 Centre for Micro-Biochemical Engineering and is co-investigating development programmes to fundamentally change many biopharmaceutical processes.听The interaction of electronics with cellular materials is facilitated through the links with听the 乱伦秀 Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH) which, together with its clinical partner Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH), forms the largest concentration of children's health research in Europe.

Industrial engagement is strong, for example, with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and听Photonis as examples. Activities are also associated with international institutes, such as for the LHC at CERN, Geneva and the JET Fusion facility in Oxfordshire. Many current projects being pursued are pan-European being supported by the EC鈥檚 Horizon 2020 programme. This includes activities in Power Electronics and the important emergent technology known as 鈥榤em-ristors鈥�

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