Ultrafast Laser Plasma Implantation- Seamless Integration of Functional Materials for Advanced Photonics

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Residential and commercial)
Not Energy Related

Basic and strategic applied research

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Physics)
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (General Engineering and Mineral & Mining Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Professor G Jose
Institute of Materials Research
University of Leeds

Standard

EPSRC

01 April 2015

31 December 2020

69 months

£2,484,937

Info. & commun. Technol.

Yorkshire & Humberside

Manufacturing : Manufacturing

Professor G Jose, Institute of Materials Research, University of Leeds

Professor RA Hogg, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield
Professor A Jha, Institute of Materials Research, University of Leeds
Dr KL Kennedy, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield
Professor T Krauss, Physics, University of York
Professor R Penty, Engineering, University of Cambridge
Dr DP Steenson, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds
Professor I White, Engineering, University of Cambridge

Project Contact, Xyratex Technology Limited
Project Contact, PVD Products, Inc., USA
Project Contact, Glass Technology Services Ltd
Project Contact, Compound Semiconductor Tech Global Ltd
Project Contact, Gooch & Housego Plc
Project Contact, Product Evolution Ltd
Project Contact, Glucosense Diagnostics Ltd
Project Contact, Semtech Corporation
Project Contact, IQE Plc
Project Contact, DSTL - Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Project Contact, Dow Corning Ltd

SeaMatics is an "advanced materials manufacturing project for photonic integrated circuits" for a range of emerging applications in optical communication, sensors, imaging technology for healthcare, and lighting. Unlike the integration in electronic circuits in which electrons flow seamlessly, in photonic integrated circuits at the light does not flow seamlessly due to mismatch of refractive index and materials dissimilarity. In order to facilitate a way forward for fabricating light circuits, the SeaMatics team has embarked on research which will exploit a novel "ultrafast laser plasma implantation (ULPI)" based technique for fabricating complex structures, using following materials: rare-earth ion doped glass, polymers and silicon and GaAs semiconductors. Such a combinatorial approach for materials fabrication will yield photonic circuit for engineering range energy-efficient devices for cross-sectorial applications (health, manufacturing, energy, digital).The project is led by the University of Leeds and is supported by has four academic partners by the Universities of Cambridge, Sheffield and York in the respective areas of research on polymeric devices, III-V semiconductors, and silicon photonics. The EPSRC National Centre for III-V Technologies will be accessed for materials and device fabrication.Eleven industry partners directly involved in the project are: DSTL, GTS/British Glass, Glucosense/NetScientific, Product Evolution, PVD Products, CST, IQE, Dow Corning, Xyratex, Gooch and Housego and Semtech. The industry links covers from materials manufacturing to optical components and their applications in optical/data communication, sensors for healthcare, energy for lighting. In this partnership the manufacturing is linked with different levels of supply chain, which we aim to demonstrate by researching on exemplar devices as end points.The main goals of the project area) Set up a ULPI manufacturing capability at Leeds which will serve the needs of academic and industrial communities in UK to start with and then expand for international collaboration.b) Our first application led manufacturing example will demonstrate ULPI based RE-earth doped glass photonic circuits with light splitting, lasing and amplification functions on a chip.c) In another example we will demonstrate electrically pumped semiconductor lasers (VCSEL and VECSEL) and integrated with rare-earth ion doped glass for broadband and tunable lasers.d) Approaches developed in b) and c) will be then expanded for manufacturing larger scale photonic integrated circuits on silicon, embodying multiple functions using the techniques developed in a).e) ULPI as technique will be applied for engineering novel range of polymer-glass sensor devices which will be used for health care.f) The final goal of project is to provide training, dissemination, and outreach opportunities for new researchers in SeaMatics. Dissemination related activities will be via the standard peer-review publications in prestigious journals, conferences and workshops. Dedicated symposia are planned for dissemination, and also the outreach activities involving UG/PG interns, PhD students and Sixth form pupils.

17/07/15