The futurestarts here
Facilities
Explore the map to find out more about our world-class facilities and some of the devices we make.
Each colour line on the map represents the creation of a novel device developed by our researchers. Follow its journey through our Cleanroom Complex, specialist application laboratories and partner facilities. Click on the facilities and devices to find out more.
The Printed Electronics and Materials facility realises novel electronic sensors, actuators, circuits and systems printed with a DEK248 screen printer and Dimatix DMP2831 inkjet printer on a variety of substrates using commercial and in-house inks and pastes. The printed devices developed within the facility include micropumps, heaters, multi-layer flexible printed circuit boards, accelerometers, gas and liquid sensors, electroluminescent displays, pressure sensors and energy harvesters. A Netzsch Microcer Bead Mill is used to develop our own printed electrically active materials and materials analysis tools such as the Malvern Mastersizer and Zetasizer are used to study the effects of particle size and distribution upon electrical performance.
Read more about the Printed Electronics and Materials facility
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The flame hydrolysis deposition tool (FHD) is a state-of-the-art system for the growth of silica to form waveguide structures for integrated photonic circuits. The system allows the precise doping of germanium, phosphorous and boron within the silica films and is particularly optimised for the growth of films with high photosensitivity for direct UV laser writing of advanced photonic circuits. The tool can grow films ranging from 2 to 50 microns in thickness. The system is designed to deposit onto 150mm silicon wafers (other substrates can also be used) and has a high throughput of up to 30 wafers per day.
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The rapid prototyping room (RPR) is a class 10,000 cleanroom designed for rapid prototyping of simple systems and for initial training of new cleanroom users. The RPR houses similar equipment to that in the main Nanofabrication facility, such as plasma tools, wet decks, optical lithography and metrology but allows more flexible working for the production of simple devices, including microfluidic chips. The facility also houses the two-photon lithography tool (Nanoscribe) that is used to produce three dimensional structures from resist materials on the nano-scale and environmental scanning electron microscope (Zeiss EVO SEM), which is able to image a wide variety of non-conducting materials and is specially designed to allow imaging in liquids, lending itself to MEMS and microfluidics research.
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Our nanofabrication facility offers industry-compatible nanoelectronics/nanophotonics processing, including 150mm and 200mm wafer capability. Our lithography capability combines photo- and electron beam lithography from 20nm with nano-imprint and hot embossing. Self-assembly of nanostructures is used to grow carbon nanotubes, nanowires and quantum dots. Thin film deposition is performed by ALD or PECVD. We can deposit optical layers using Plasma Assisted Reactive Magnetron Sputtering, and fabricate multi-stack devices using wafer-to-wafer aligning and bonding. We offer device fabrication for silicon electronics, photonics, MEMS, lab-on-a-chip, and spintronics. Fabrication/characterisation capability includes FIB with integrated SEM and SIMS. The range of other measurement tools available include ellipsometry, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, cryogenic prober, RF measurements up to 60GHz, Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), AFMs and a Helium Ion Microscope.
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The integrated photonics facility is a 200m2 cleanroom designed for planar processing of a very wide range of materials not normally found in silicon processing facilities, from PTFE to germanium telluride, KY1-x-yGdxLuy(WO4)2 to Pyrex, and from ytterbium metal to lutetium biphthalocyanine. The prime purpose of this facility is to take raw and commercial materials, as well as those made by our researchers, and process them to realise photonic devices for use in applications from telecommunications to all-optical data processing and from biochemical sensing to the lab-on-a-chip. Thin film deposition, photolithography, etching and diffusion processes can all be applied to full wafers or unconventionally small or irregular samples.
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The novel and compound glass facility offers a wide range of specialised glass making and fibre drawing equipment including a variety of horizontal and vertical tube furnaces, chamber furnaces, ovens, vacuum processing, glove box systems for batching, melting, annealing and casting of glass under dry inert atmosphere, extrusion and hot pressing equipment. A suite of thermal, mechanical, optical and electrical test equipment supports material characterisation. Advanced glasses are realised from raw materials and can be used to form novel optical fibres, integrated optical circuits and micro-optical components, providing almost unlimited materials flexibility for device research. We are continuously improving the quality of our facilities and our upgraded process gas distribution system has seen moisture levels in our glass drop to less than 500 parts per billion.
For more information click here
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The focused ion beam facility (FIB) specialises in rapid nanostructuring of metallic, semiconducting and dielectric materials and devices, from free-standing nano-membranes to multilayer structures and optical fibres for nanophotonics/electronics, metamaterials and plasmonics research. Our two gallium FIB systems provide milling resolution down to 30nm, and additional capabilities including high-resolution electron microscopy and electron beam lithography, beam-induced deposition of platinum, tungsten, carbon and silicon dioxide, and chemically accelerated milling of insulators, all on substrates up to 150mm in diameter. The Helium Ion Microscope provides FIB milling at even smaller scales, enabling precise material modification in the sub-10nm range.
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The silica fibre facility occupies over 160m2 of class 10,000 cleanroom space and comprises state-of-the-art fabrication equipment complemented by cutting-edge process advances. The facility includes a modified-chemical-vapour-deposition (MCVD) lathe, outside-vapour-deposition (OVD) equipment, a six metre high dual-sided fibre drawing tower and dedicated chemical preparation areas for glass etching and machining. The facility is capable of producing industry standard passive and active preforms and fibres, and a wide variety of specialist fibres with complex structures, enabling research into high-power fibre lasers and advanced telecommunications and sensing devices. Complete post-processing and characterisation of silica fibre includes preform and fibre index profilers, fibre proof-testing and high-resolution optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR).
For more information click here
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The Zepler Institute Cleanroom Complex is our state-of-the-art multidisciplinary centre for materials and device research in electronics, photonics, and nanotechnology.
Our extensive cleanrooms are used by researchers and engineers from across academia and industry. Integrated with specialist application development laboratories in areas such as communications, lasers, sensors and biotechnology and advanced characterisation facilities across the University, research at the Zepler Institute impacts the entire value chain.
If you are interested in using our facilities, please contact us. University of Southampton staff can find out how to access the facilities by visiting the Zepler Institute Facilities Sharepoint.
