QDUKI and MTIF Partnership
To benefit the life and semiconductor market sectors and research labs, and to accelerate the development of new, innovative technologies
The partnership agreement between Quantum Design, UK and Ireland (QD) and Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF) gives customers the ability to view and utilise the J A Woollam IR VASE II Spectroscopic Ellipsometer. Scroll down for more information about getting your bespoke one-off measurements on the IR VASE II.
“This partnership provides companies with a unique opportunity to use cutting edge Ellipsometry technology supported by renowned research expertise. These capabilities are usually unavailable to all but the largest organisations. This partnership allows organisations of every size the opportunity to accelerate their development programmes.” Professor Mike Hannay, Managing Director of the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF).
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MTIF is a medical devices and advanced materials technology facility offering ‘ bench to bedside ‘ research and development services for innovative medical technologies, cell and tissue therapies and pharmaceuticals as well as in thin film technology, printed electronics, nano-photonics, opto-electronic properties of materials and devices and laser processing. With ISO 13485 certified facilities MTIF can design and deliver end-to-end development projects, including product design, product development, technical dossier compilation, process scale-up and facilities for clinical trial manufacture.
MTIF is a dual site facility. The research facility is a 2265m2 two storey purpose built building, located at NTU’s Clifton campus. It features laboratories, clean rooms and an extensive range of specialist equipment to provide industry with the resources to accelerate its research and development.
MTIF´s clean rooms house the latest in micro and nano-fabrication processes and equipment. The facility works on silica, glass, metal and polymer substrates using a range of deposition techniques including spin coaters, magnetron sputtering and Atomic Layer Deposition followed by annealing, curing, and sintering as required. A wide range of patterning processes are available including mask-less photolithography, laser ablation and laser processing.
A variety of assistive technologies for materials deposition, including physical and chemical deposition techniques, such as RF magnetron sputtering, atomic layer deposition and thermal evaporation of nano-engineered coatings and thin films. These are applicable across a broad range of industrial applications such as, optical coatings, plasmonic thin films, SERS sensors and large-area electronic devices.
QDUKI and MTIF have teamed up to bring users and customers the annual Woollam Workshops and CompleteEase software short courses in person (after a brief hiatus in 2020!). These annual events are now in their third decade.
“We were delighted at MTIF to be able to collaborate with Quantum Design UK and Ireland, and J A Woollam to host the workshop and CompleteEase software course here at our facilities. It was encouraging to see so many attendees keen to attend face to face now that COVID restrictions have been lifted and it was satisfying to be able to welcome so many in to see our laboratories and facilities. We look forward to hosting more events in conjunction with QD in the future.”
Dr Max Bardwell, Senior Business Development Manager, MTIF
Did you know you can get one-off bespoke measurements through the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility at Nottingham Trent University?
Seeking to better understand the optical and electronic properties of materials or thin films for nanophotonic or electronic applications?
The recent work carried out by Dr. Kalfagiannis, utilising spectroscopic ellipsometry in an extended spectral range, has enabled clarification of the conduction mechanisms of different materials and range of applications.
MTIF – with a strong academic pedigree and expertise in nanofabrication – can conduct such analysis on your behalf offering a bespoke and individualised service. Please reach out to discuss your needs today.
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Applications
Optical Coatings
Characterise thickness and IR index of single and multilayer films. Bulk uncoated substrates. Infrared optical systems. AR, HR, single-layer and multilayer coatings. High-index and low-index.
Epitaxial Layers, Doping Concentration and Doping Profiles
At infrared wavelengths, the difference in free-carrier levels can cause optical contrast between epitaxial or implanted layers. This gives IR-VASE® excellent sensitivity to epitaxial layer thickness and substrate doping concentration. The ellipsometer also has good sensitivity to carrier gradients at interfaces. Carrier profiles show near-perfect in agreement when nondestructive IR-VASE® and destructive SIMS measurements are compared.
Multilayer Characterisation
Multilayer films can be extensively studied using the wide spectral range and variable angle capability of the IR-VASE®. Multiple angles provide additional information by changing the light’s path length through each layer. The following results show sensitivity to 3 layers. Infrared optical contrast between similar materials allows measurement of each layer’s thickness.
Phonon Structure (Compound Semiconductors)
The Wide spectral range IR-VASE® is important for phonon absorption studies. Data on the left show phonon modes of a GaN / AlGaN laser structure, modelled to determine alloy ratios, doping concentrations, and film quality.
Molecular Bond Vibrations
Like standard FTIR spectroscopy, IR ellipsometry relies on the information about molecular bond vibrations. Infrared absorption caused by these vibrations can be studied in bulk or thin film materials. IR ellipsometry offers increased sensitivity over FTIR spectroscopy. It also presents the advantage of obtaining both n and k rather than just absorbance values. Figures below show measured optical constants of a silicone thin film with vibrational absorptions labeled.
