Tag Archives: Patrick Desjardins

Nanomaterial growth system sold to L’École Polytechnique et L’Universite de Montreal

NanoGrowth-Catalyst produced by Surrey Nanosystems has been sold to L’École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Université de Montréal, and the University of Surrey’s (England) Advanced Technology Institute. From the Jan. 10, 2011 news item on Azonano,

These leading research organisations have chosen the NanoGrowth-Catalyst as a platform for their work on materials including carbon nanotubes, silicon nanowires, graphene and nanoparticles for semiconductor, optical device and other applications. The growth system’s multi-chamber design ensures the purest nanomaterial processing conditions by continuously maintaining the substrate under vacuum, from the deposition of catalysts to growth of materials.

The Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) is a partner to Surrey NanoSystems and has already been using an earlier version of the NanoGrowth system for around four years to support its research into next-generation semiconductor and photonic device technologies. ATI is the first customer to receive the new NanoGrowth-Catalyst, and the system’s advanced processing resources are now starting to play a role in its work. Facilities including the rapid infrared heating process and a water-cooled chuck are helping ATI to grow ordered carbon nanotube (CNT) structures while maintaining the substrate below 350 degrees C. Low temperature processing is critical as CNTs are typically grown at around 700 degrees C – a level that is incompatible with CMOS semiconductor fabrication. This pioneering semiconductor-related work is currently the subject of a current ATI paper in the journal Carbon†.

“The top-down infrared heating technique provided by this tool allows us to localise energy delivery very accurately”, says Professor Ravi Silva, Head of the Nano-Electronics Centre at the Advanced Technology Institute. “The system provides unparalleled control of processing parameters, giving the required flexibility to support research into nanoelectronic materials – including carbon nanotubes, graphene and silicon nanowires – enabling us to overcome roadblocks to ongoing semiconductor development.”

“Some researchers are still relying on simple thermal furnaces to develop nanomaterials”, explains Ben Jensen of Surrey NanoSystems. “The NanoGrowth system’s comprehensive suite of deposition and processing capabilities, plus end-to-end processing in vacuum, gives both researchers and commercial developers precise and automated control over catalyst deposition and material growth, to explore nanomaterial capabilities and turn ideas into repeatable production processes.”

The folks in Montréal will have a special function added to their system (from the news item),

It will also incorporate a unique form of rapid thermal growth for nanomaterials developed to prevent the agglomeration of catalyst particles. The configuration of the tool was specified by Professor Patrick Desjardins, Director of the École Polytechnique’s Department of Engineering Physics.