Ireland has been exceptionally successful in attracting and embedding leading international ICT companies, including Intel, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Analog Devices (all of whom partner with INSPIRE Institutions). This strong manufacturing industrial base is strategically driving the focus areas for Science Foundation Ireland and other funding agencies in the ICT area, with the long term goal of enabling these companies to establish significant research facilities in Ireland. Nanoelectronics is recognised as a key component of Ireland’s economic growth.

Mirroring this industrial critical mass is the development of significant research capabilities at CRANN, TYNDALL, MSSI and FOCAS through investment from previous PRTLI cycles, SFI and the EU commission.

Despite these advances key identified infrastructural gaps need to be addressed. In doing so, PRTLI will enable INSPIRE to further develop its capabilities in nanoelectronics and to achieve the following goals:

1. Advanced synthesis and characterisation to enable the engineering of nanomaterials with novel physical, electrical and mechanical properties
2. Development of prototype next-generation nanoscale devices, incorporating these nanoscale component materials, specifically targeted to impact relevant industry roadmaps

CRANN and TYNDALL have exceptional track records in the development of nanoscience research with applications in electronics. CRANN places its emphasis on fundamental research with particular focus on utilising novel materials (nanotubes, nanowires, nanoparticles, block co-polymers) and innovative processes (nano-imprinting, self-assembly, multi-layer deposition) to develop new and improved device structures. TYNDALL has a more applied capability and operates Ireland’s only research silicon wafer fabrication facility. TYNDALL’s focus is the drive to develop systems based upon leading research in materials (especially nanomaterials), electronic materials and advanced packaging/sub-systems integration. This research is supported by strong activities in theory, modelling and design.

The synergistic nature of the research focus of CRANN and TYNDALL is the basis for a coherent national capability to enable both early stage research and the transition of this capability to industry. The two Institutes are collaborating on a project with Intel to develop scaleable bottom-up fabrication of nanoelectronic devices on silicon and will leverage the capabilities of MSSI and FOCUS, particularly the leading edge abilities of MSSI to characterise surfaces and interfaces using HREM, together with its expertise in interconnects, electrochemical nanotechnology, novel assembly of nanomaterials and computational materials science. FOCAS, in turn provides expertise in material characterisation, particularly microscopic characterisation and high throughput spectroscopic methods.

The shared resources and capabilities developed under PRTLI will be the basis for a dramatically enhanced national R&D capacity in nanoelectronics.  CRANN, Tyndall and MSSI are already working with the leading multinational companies and Government agencies to develop a proposal to establish a new national facility for nanotechnology – NANOFAB. The proposed facility will serve as an interface between fundamental research and new product development, and will serve as a model to translate the outputs of university research to the marketplace. The advanced infrastructure capacity enabled by PRTLI will considerably strengthen and enhance this translational capability.

A key mechanism to understanding the physical and electrical properties of nanomaterials is to investigate their behaviour under optical excitation. This approach – a component of nanophotonics – provides unique insights into the composition and behaviour of nanomaterials and can provide critical information to optimise the performance of these materials. This provides an important link between nanoelectronics and the second research domain of this proposal: nanophotonics.

The immediate goal of the strand is to build up a national access network of instrumentation that is mutually complimentary for the electrical and structural (including optoelectronic) characterization of nanoelectronics-related materials providing a platform for:

• Sample preparation and analysis
• Enabling other institutions to enter the nanoelectronics-research area
• Training and exchange of students

From a graduate school perspective the strand is committed to:

• Finding a balance in graduate courses to enable the course to appeal to both a wider audience of chemists, physicists and engineers and more specialist topics