Royce at Imperial hosts first thin-film device manufacturing training course

Royce at Imperial hosted participants for a new three-day thin-film device manufacturing training course at White City Campus.

Thin-film growth is a fundamental step in device fabrication and plays a key role in modern technologies, including the development of computing, communications hardware, and sustainable energy solutions. As these fields advance, specialised technical skills are becoming increasingly in demand across research and industry.

Royce at Imperial hosted a training course on Thin-Film Device Manufacturing to provide attendees with an overview of microfabrication methods such as thin film deposition, photolithography and ion milling, essential for advanced research and thin-film device manufacturing. Participants were able to gain theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, equipping them to use the state-of-the-art facilities at Royce Imperial and in the wider research and industrial world.

The course also showcased the state-of-the-art equipment at Royce at Imperial, along with the expertise and capabilities available across all Royce Partners.

Tom Hancocks, Training and Skills Manager at the Henry Royce Institute, commented:

"It was great to support this event, Imperial has amazing facilities and staff. Thank you to Dr Peter Petrov from Royce Imperial and Dr Philippa Shepley from the University of Leeds for organising this event.

From day one, I could see that we had a very interesting group of attendees, with a wide mix of backgrounds and brilliant energy."

Attendees came from diverse backgrounds, including PhD students, Research Associates, Business Development Managers, Founders, Application Scientists, and Industrial Technical Experts. They came from a range of academic institutions, such as the University of Cambridge, University of Kent, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of Sheffield, University of Oxford, as well as industrial companies, scientific equipment suppliers, R&D and manufacuring.

Dr Peter Petrov, Royce Technology Platform Lead for Diverse Thin Film Device Materials Facility at Royce Imperial, co-organised the training event.

He comments, "I was delighted to work with such a diverse group of researchers. During the training course, we had PhD students, individuals from academia, and professionals from the industry.

I am also very thankful to my colleagues Dr Bruno Rente, Dr Abul Hasnath, Dr Ryan Bower, Dr Andrey Berenov, Dr Jure Aleksejev and the support from the Royce Hub (Andrea and Tom). Without their help, this course would not have been possible."

The training session also received positive feedback from attendees. One participant shared:

Everyone I spoke to would like to come back and most found uses for the facilities in their work Course participant

"Excellent work to the team who were very accommodating and extremely knowledgeable.

Everyone I spoke to would like to come back, and most found uses for the facilities in their work.

There was a lot to cover in three days, but smaller groups with step-by-step processes and strong context from first principles made the experts at this facility particularly exceptional."

Learn more about Royce

Royce at Imperial is a hub for start-ups, industry, and academia to develop, test, and characterise materials, components, and systems. It provides access to cutting-edge facilities at a fraction of the cost of ownership, enabling both academic and industry users to utilise state-of-the-art equipment.

Royce at Imperial is one of nine partners in the Henry Royce Institute, an institute open to all academia and industry in the U.K.

Find out more about upcoming events at the Henry Royce Institute: https://www.royce.ac.uk/events