A recent event showcased the cutting-edge facilities at Royce Imperial and how researchers, start-ups and companies can access these facilities.

Royce at Imperial is a hub for the making, testing, and characterisation of materials, components, and systems in the Sir Michael Uren Hub on Imperial’s White City Campus.

This facility is part of the Henry Royce Institute, a national centre for research and innovation in advanced materials funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The facilities at Imperial and the Universities of Cambridge, Leeds and Manchester support the 'Atoms to Devices' (A2D) theme, focusing on the rapid development of new functional materials, so users can facilitate the journey from 'Atoms to Devices' and create the next generation of devices for computing, memory harvesting, storage and more.

All Royce hubs, including Royce Imperial, currently provide access schemes to researchers, companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Royce at Imperial is equipped with cutting-edge tools for nanoscale thin film deposition, nanolithography, device patterning, material characterization, and device testing. It also has instrumentation that can analyse a wide variety of surfaces, from scanning electron microscopy to X-ray techniques and a range of tools for prototyping nanodevices. 

Discovering Royce facilities and how to access them

On Wednesday 18 September, Royce at Imperial hosted a networking event at ScaleSpace, White City Campus.

Highlights of the event included a look at the advanced equipment and resources available for research and development, discussions on access pathways, and opportunities to connect with industry leaders, researchers, and facility experts. 

The event featured expert speakers from Royce at Imperial, including Dr Michael Leverentz, Research Facility Manager, and Professor Neil Alford, Lead for Royce Imperial. Dr Leverentz and Professor Alford welcomed attendees and outlined the capabilities of the 'Atoms to Devices' facilities and the benefits of vertical integration at Royce Imperial.

The event also welcomed expert speakers from Royce 'Atoms to Devices' partner institutions, who highlighted their facilities and the advantages of the broader Royce ecosystem. Speakers included Dr Andrew Dobrzanski from Royce Cambridge on the Ambient Processing Cluster Facility, Professor Edmund Linfield from Royce Leeds on the Leeds Deposition Tool, and Dr Maddison Coke from Royce Manchester on PNAME and deterministic and specific ion doping.

Guest speakers David Lee (GJE Intellectual Property), Chloe Zhang (CPI Enterprises), and Prema Gurunathan (Upstream) also highlighted other forms of support available, such as developing IP and connecting with the Centre for Process Innovation.

Dr Leverentz, Research Development Manager at Royce Imperial, said: 

We are excited to present the combined capabilities of Royce’s Atoms to Devices research areas to academic and SME communities.   Dr Michael Leverentz Research Development Manager at Royce Imperial

“We are excited to present the combined capabilities of Royce’s Atoms to Devices research areas to academic and SME communities.  

Our partners, Imperial, Cambridge, Manchester, and Leeds, can provide the facilities to make next-generation devices from novel materials, including deterministically doped materials and exquisitely precise thin films.

We look forward to welcoming new users to our facilities and encourage you to get in touch if you'd like to know more about our cutting-edge facilities and access.”

Access to our Royce facilities 

Access to Royce Imperial is managed through contracts arranged by Imperial Consultants. SMEs can benefit from subsidised access, allowing them to work on projects at the facility for three to six months, depending on the hours required and the funding available at Royce Imperial at the time of the request.

If you'd like to know more about the facilities at Royce Imperial and how to access these, please visit the Royce at Imperial website.

Visit this article to learn more about the facility and hear from researchers who have used the facility.