11th ASCENT+ Newsletter – July 2024
Contents
Successful Research Accelerator at Tyndall
In Spring, from Tuesday 23rd to Thursday 25th April, six early-career researchers and PhD students from Spain, Italy, Germany and Greece attended a special ASCENT+ event at Tyndall: the ASCENT+ Research Accelerator. This event focused on nanoelectronics fabrication, characterisation and devices, with 3 days dedicated to hands-on practical training, discussions with Tyndall researchers and visits to the cleanroom labs and exposure to different technologies available at Tyndall through ASCENT+.
In particular, attendees learned about these three areas::
- Nanofabrication: e-beam lithography, molecular doping, etching, and metal/dielectric deposition in the nanoscale
- Characterisation techniques: electrical, optical and magnetic, physical
- Materials growth (ALD, CVD, MOVPE) and device fabrication (2D materials and quantum devices)
Attendees were delighted with the 3 days spent at Tyndall, which was funded by the EU. This event has given attendees valuable new knowledge of various technologies and inspired them to consider using ASCENT+ infrastructure facilities to further enhance their own work and research.
Remote and In-person Access
You may know that through the ASCENT+ Programme you can access in-person cutting-edge technologies in Europe, free of charge. However, did you know that remote access is also possible?
Both visiting the research partners facilities and remote access are part of the ASCENT+ toolbox. Sometimes you may not have time to visit the facilities or don’t have the necessary knowledge to use the tools, it is therefore possible to request remote access to ASCENT+ sending your samples, talking to experts and receiving the characterisation results directly from the research facility.
Virtual access provides access to modelling tools and databases.
You can navigate our Online Showroom to discover the possibilities, or simply contact our team and express your needs and requirements – we will tell you what we can arrange to help your research reach the next level.
Webinar: Overcome Technical Hurdles with European Research Facilities
The ASCENT+ team is presenting two webinars in the coming weeks: one on the 19th of July to present the ASCENT+ European Access Programme, and one on September 9th during which we will invite ASCENT+ users (both SMEs and PhDs) to share their experience of accessing research facilities and expertise through the ASCENT+ Programme.
Join us on July 19th to discover the benefits and opportunities ASCENT+ offers, with testimonials from former users and a special focus on Eastern Europe. Engage with our project team and hear directly from the project coordinator, Dr. Giorgos Fagas (Tyndall National Institute).
XPS Surface Analysis: Success Story with INL
In the ASCENT+ portfolio, you can access XPS surface Analysis and SEM tools at INL, to conduct characterisation of different materials and surfaces. Recently, Dmytro Savvakin from the Institute for Metal Physics (IMP), NAS of Ukraine in Kyiv, used these facilities at INL to obtain important data to support their research.
Dmytro’s team is developing powder metallurgy technologies to create titanium-based materials with improved characteristics. This is what they had to say:
“The surface condition of metallic powders, including their phase and chemical composition, presence of surface oxide layers and absorbed impurities is extremely important for physical properties and chemical activity of powders. Moreover, noted surface characteristics of powders affect their sintering ability and characteristics of final product obtained with powder metallurgy technologies.
We needed help with the comparative investigation of absorbed impurities, surface and sub-surface nano-structured oxide layers at titanium Ti-Al-Cr-Nb alloy and corresponding hydrogenated alloy powders. The surface characteristics of titanium-based powders were studied using XPS, XPS Ar ion beam depth profiling and SEM methods to develop approaches for powder cleaning and sintering activation.”
Through ASCENT+ and INL, Dmytro’s research team obtained important data about surface structure and surface oxide layers at titanium Ti-Al-Cr-Nb alloy and corresponding hydrogenated alloy powders.
Discover more about XPS surface Analysis at INL
Discover more testimonials from ASCENT+ users.
Nano-fabrication and DFT Modelling at Tyndall
Kimberly Intonti from the Electronic Nanodevices group at the University of Salerno in Italy visited INL through the Research Accelerator, discovering the tools she could use for her own research in nanofabrication and characterisation. This experience led her to apply to the ASCENT+ Programme and get access to the specific tools which would advance her research. Kimberly was successful in her application to ASCENT+ and was awarded access and also visited Tyndall to conduct work in nano-fabrication and DFT modelling.
“I’m a PhD student in Physics and emerging technologies at the University of Salerno (Italy). My research project focuses on the electrical and optical characterisation of 2D material-based nanodevices. Through ASCENT+, I had the possibility to access the laboratories of Tyndall National Institute and collaborate with an excellent group of professionals who helped me in the realisation of ReS2/Si heterostructures for efficient photodetection. Exciting experimental results from the study project, accompanied by the DFT simulation provided by the hosting group, are suitable for publishing and will be helpful for my PhD project. Thanks to ASCENT+ covering all of my costs, I was able to benefit from this opportunity for free. All PhD candidates who wish to work with other institutions and gain new research skills should definitely take advantage of this experience!”
We hope many PhD students and other researchers will follow Kimberly’s advice. You can find her full story, research background and testimonial in our Success Stories
Previous Issues:
Feb 2024 | Oct 2023 | Jul 2023 | Feb 2023 | Sep 2022 | May 2022 | Jan 2022 | Sep 2021 | Jul 2021 | Mar 2021
Jul 2019 / Apr 2019 / Jan 2019 / Oct 2018 / Jul 2018 / Apr 2018 / Jan 2018 / Oct 2017 / Jul 2017 / Apr 2017 / Jan 2017 / Sep 2016 / Jun 2016 / Feb 2016
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements 871130 and 654384.