Tyndall Annual Report 2012

Annual Report 2012 Impact From Excellence

www.tyndall.ie

“One of the main reasons that Hittite Microwave chose Cork as the location for this exciting €4m, 30 person R&D investment was because of proximity to integrated circuit design capabilities in Tyndall. We had done due diligence on MCCI capabilities before making a decision and with a good research alignment to Hittite, we requested to join MCCI on the day we announced the Irish investment.”

Jason Lynch, Managing Director, Hittite Ireland Hittite is a world leader in MW IC design.

“Tyndall invested the necessary time and resources to understand our requirements and has delivered to an exceptional standard.”

Neville Freeman, CEO NanoFlex Limited

NanoFlex is a leading manufacturer of high performance electrodes for electrochemical research.

“Tyndall has the capability to design, fabricate, test, package and integrate onto our minimally invasive devices and importantly, it can also function as a gatekeeper, keeping us abreast of developments at other research centres across Ireland.”

John Harris, Vice President Outside US Operations and R&D, Lake Region Medical A world leader in the manufacture of medical device guidewires and related products.

Report Contents ....................

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Message from the Chairman Message from the CEO 2012 Highlights Research

– Micro/Nanoelectronics ............................. 8 – Photonics

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– Microsystems

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– Theory Modelling & Design ................... 14 Tyndall Sector Opportunities

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Industry ..................................................... 18 Technology Support Services

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National Access Programme ................... 33 Graduate Education

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Prizes, Awards & Conferences Financial

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Key Figures

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Tyndall Board

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www.tyndall.ie

Message from the Chairman “Tyndall researchers continue to contribute significantly to building Ireland’s international scientific reputation. Tyndall has a global scientific reach with over 120 academic collaborations spanning 40 countries.”

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yndall National Institute continued supporting our economic recovery and growth during 2012, as well as increasing its international profile through excellence in ICT research and development.

Tyndall continues to develop its state-of-the-art infrastructure based on the needs of its industry and academic partners. It recently opened its Flexifab facility based on demand to integrate novel materials into real processes, with the ultimate objective to transfer technology processes and skill sets to production.

Following the retirement of Prof. Roger Whatmore as CEO of Tyndall in February 2012, I enjoyed taking on the role of acting CEO for the remainder of the year.

It was a great opportunity to be closely involved in Tyndall operationally and to get to know the people and the programmes in much greater depth.

I wish to thank the Tyndall Board members for ongoing support, guidance and leadership. Their vast experience is invaluable in developing the Institute. I worked closely with the Tyndall management team throughout the year and thank them for their support and dedication to delivering excellent research and creating value for the Irish economy.

The research excellence, driven by the passion and purpose of staff and students, never ceases to impress me. When this bolsters a desire to support Ireland’s economic growth and build our international reputation, the results are positive not only for Tyndall but also have a national impact.

I am delighted to welcome Tyndall’s newly appointed CEO, Dr. Kieran Drain. Kieran is Irish born, but has served most of his career in industry in the United States and Europe as a researcher, research manager and executive of major international corporations and start-up companies. He has had extensive interactions with the academic research community and understands how to align research capabilities with industrial needs. Kieran will bring a new dimension to Tyndall as we increase our efforts to deliver value to Irish industry and to bring new discoveries more rapidly from the research lab to product. His skills and experience are exactly what Tyndall and Ireland needs at this time.

Tyndall researchers continue to contribute significantly to building Ireland’s international scientific reputation.

Tyndall has a global scientific reach with over 120 academic collaborations spanning 40 countries.

This report is rich in examples of world leading work carried out in areas from theoretical simulations to novel materials, devices and systems.

Engagement with over 200 multinational companies and SMEs, together with our industry researcher-inresidence programme, keeps Tyndall focused on creating value, providing relevant expertise, leading technologies and generating a pipeline of suitable graduates for integration into industry R&D.

Dr. Alastair Glass Chairman

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Message from the CEO

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Graduate student numbers are steady at 134 at the end of 2012, roughly double what they were in 2006, with a diverse spread of disciplines and nationalities.

s I begin our next chapter as Tyndall’s new CEO I am excited to report on many significant achievements and give a first glimpse of very impressive developments already underway in 2013. Impact continued to be clearly demonstrated in 2012 through our scientific excellence, state of the art infrastructure and intense industry engagement. Key successes include incubation of United Technologies Research Centre Ireland. UTRC Ireland was successfully incubated at Tyndall growing to 30 staff from inception in 2010.

The sustainability and research strength of the institute is demonstrated by renewal of the Collaboration and IP agreement with Intel for an additional three years. Similarly Analog Devices executed a three-year renewal of its contract for our provision of product characterisation support and evaluation services to its Limerick plant.

We established Prospect Incubation Centre at Lee Mills House as a dedicated incubation unit on-site for new spin-outs and spin-ins during the year. Already the unit has its first incubation tenant and a second is due to commence early in 2013.

Three potential new start-ups were being actively supported in the pipeline at the end of 2012.

Six commercial licenses were concluded, with an additional seven in active negotiation at the end of the year.

Kieran F. Drain Ph.D., CEO, Tyndall.

“The Tyndall “brand” is increasingly recognised around the world as synonymous with disruptive and deployable technological solutions to society’s challenges in communications, energy, health and the environment”

Tyndall has broadened and deepened its engagement with European partners right throughout the EU Framework Seven Programme. We have collaborated in over 81 EU projects with nearly 400 partners from approximately 30 European countries. Tyndall has secured €42m in EU funding: €34m to Tyndall and €8m to Irish industry and academia since the beginning of FP7. We now look to preparing our contribution as a key player in the next phase of EU research and innovation, Horizon 2020.

Tyndall’s institutional and technological strength was recognised with Tyndall being selected as host for the International Energy Research Centre IERC. The Irish Photonic Integration Research Centre (I-PIC) was one of our two shortlisted SFI centre proposals made during 2012, and was one of the seven centres funded by SFI at the end of February 2013. This centre will be a significant player in developing next generation photonic integration technologies in the key areas of communications and biomedical applications.

Tyndall continues to develop its graduate education function. Tyndall co-ordinates two unique nanoscale science and engineering national graduate education programmes, ICGEE and INSPIRE. 3

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“There is no more efficient investment in the future than research and innovation”.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Union Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.

Health has been prioritised as a focus area for cross-cutting multidisciplinary research and has yielded several initial successes in diagnostics, monitoring and medical devices.

The SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG) Programme recognises excellent early stage career research scientists. Tyndall won 5 SIRG awards in the recent round representing 25% of the number of awards made nationally. Prof. Paul Townsend and Prof. Cian Ó Mathúna were appointed UCC Research Professors as acknowledged leaders in their research disciplines.

2012 saw Tyndall’s technology find increasing interest and success internationally beyond of Europe. Tyndall welcomed its first researcher in residence from China with its wireless sensor network technology supporting LED lighting manufacturer Sengled.

I am honoured to take on the challenge as leader for the institute with the responsibility to guide it in its next phase of development. I would like to thank and acknowledge my predecessor Professor Roger Whatmore for leading Tyndall to its current strong position since 2006. Tyndall plays an important role in the research output of University College Cork.

I am pleased to recognise the strong support of UCC staff in research and administration and I appreciate the personal support of President Michael Murphy since my arrival.

“Tyndall’s unique operating environment housing both basic and applied researchers continues to demonstrate that economic impact can be achieved through research excellence”

Tyndall enjoys fruitful partnerships with many academic institutions in Ireland, but most especially I would like to acknowledge the important collaboration we have with Cork Institute of Technology.

Many thanks go to CIT President Brendan Murphy for his support.

Tyndall has continued to fulfil its mission as the leading ICT institute in the national research infrastructure, successful as: • A catalyst for the generation of new businesses and growth for the Irish economy; • An international leader with a reputation for research excellence; • A source of highly trained post-graduates & post-doctoral researchers; • A national Institute, operating globally to facilitate and enable R&D & innovation in Ireland.

Tyndall’s ability to deliver on its national responsibility is facilitated by the financial support we receive from the Irish government through the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. We thank the DJEI and intend to continue to earn the trust and support of the government through our research output and impact.

I am excited about the next stage in Tyndall’s development as our team sets off on a path to perform at ever higher levels on the global stage.

Our staff and students remain committed to excellence. Professor Jim Greer, Head of Electronics Theory and Graduate Studies at Tyndall and Dr. Paul Hurley, Senior Staff Researcher and Head of High-k Research, were recognised by Intel with the Intel Outstanding Researcher Award 2012.

Prof. Cian Ó Mathúna, Head of Microsystems Centre, was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Kieran F. Drain, Ph.D., Tyndall CEO

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2012 Highlights Highlight

The goal of the Centre will be to provide technological solutions via photonic integration to enable continued growth of the internet and take advanced photonics into new application areas such as point-of-care diagnostics, and minimally invasive patient monitoring and screening procedures.

Funding Secured for Irish Photonics Integration Centre (I-PIC) As we go to press with this report we are delighted to report on a new chapter for Tyndall with the SFI funding of the Irish Photonics Integration Centre I-PIC. Photonics is an enabling technology that underpins a wide range of application areas. The European photonics market alone is worth â‚Ź58bn and is estimated to impact 10% of the European economy.

I-PIC brings together internationally recognised Irish research capabilities in Photonics and Biomedical Science and 16 initial industry partners, many of whom are indigenous SMEs. The Centre will address major scientific and technological challenges confronting these industries, working in close partnership within world class facilities.

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Prof. Mark Ferguson, Director General SFI; Mr. Richard Bruton, TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; Mr. Sean Sherlock, TD, Minister of State with resposibility for Research and Innovation; Prof. Paul Townsend, Head of Photonics at Tyndall and Lead PI in I-PIC.

Intel Outstanding Researcher Award Dr. Paul Hurley, Senior Staff Researcher and Head of High-k Research at Tyndall, and Professor Jim Greer, Head of Electronics Theory and Graduate Studies at Tyndall, were recognised by Intel during 2012 with Intel Outstanding Researcher Awards.

Prof. Greer and Dr. Hurley are the only two researchers outside the USA to receive this inaugural award. The award was created to recognize truly outstanding contributions by researchers funded

by Intel’s Semiconductor Technology Council and associated Strategic Research Sectors.

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Mr. Eamonn Sinnott, Vice President and General Manager, Intel Ireland; Dr. Paul Hurley, Tyndall; Prof. Jim Greer, Tyndall; Dr. Kelin J. Kuhn, Intel, and Mr. Leonard Hobbs, Intel Ireland.

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As the minimum size of MOSFETs shrinks below 22nm, there is a concerted research effort to incorporate new materials into the heart of the MOSFET structure to reduce the power dissipation associated with individual MOSFETs, and consequently, to reduce the overall power dissipation associated with integrated circuits. One such material is the compound semiconductor indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), which has very high electron mobility and could be used to reduce supply voltages and power dissipation.

Controlling the electronic properties of the interface between the InGaAs semiconductor and the oxide of the MOSFET is recognised as one of the main challenges in this research field.

The Use of New Materials for More Energy Efficient Transistors

The last fifty years have witnessed dramatic developments in computing power, information storage and digital communication technologies.

A significant driving force behind these developments has been the on-going miniaturisation of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), which represent the fundamental switching elements of integrated circuits.

Researchers at Tyndall funded by SFI through the FORME and INVENT projects, have developed a new approach to prepare the InGaAs surface which results in a marked improvement of the interface between it and the insulating oxide of the MOSFET. This research opens up the real possibility that such materials will enter common use in future energy efficient integrated circuits.

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The research, published in the Journal of Applied Physics (J. Appl. Phys. 109, 024101 (2011); was one of the top ten cited papers of the journal in 2012.

(d) Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of Al2O3 deposited by atomic layer deposition on (a) n-type and (b) p-type InGaAs surface following an optimized surface preparation.

The capacitance-voltage characteristics as a function of the AC signal frequency in figures (c) and (d) demonstrate that the properties of the Al2O3/InGaAs surface are close to those required for real device applications.

Analog Acquires Tyndall High Performance Frequency Synthesizer Technology

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Tyndall has licensed to Analog Devices its patented design for an advanced fractional-N frequency synthesizer chip, allowing synthesis of exact frequencies in oscillators, a considerable advance on current technologies where unavoidable minor frequency errors degrade performance. Prof. Peter Kennedy’s work on High Performance Frequency Synthesizers promises to have near-term impact. This highly valuable invention is a disruptive technology with global application that will change the way that frequency synthesizers, which provide wireless communication signals, will operate in the future.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Power spectrum of the output of a fractional-N frequency synthesizer without (yellow) and with (cyan) exact frequency mode enabled.

With the wireless communications market worth billions of dollars, this invention has already attracted the interest of leading global players in the electronics industry. The technology is currently being prototyped

by Analog Devices at its Limerick plant, providing an important proof point for continued collaboration

by Tyndall with a long-time partner.

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Delivering A National Platform For Graduate Education As coordinator of national initiatives on nanoscale science and engineering education, Tyndall, along with its partner universities and institutes of technology, has developed a virtual learning environment (VLE) customised to deliver graduate education and professional training to enhance the educational options for all Irish graduates and professionals.

This web-based platform supports remote course delivery and on-line learning with emphasis on flexibility and ease of use for students and lecturers. Self-contained modules in technical and transferrable skills are currently available to all students in Irish universities and institutes of technology.

Tyndall is at the forefront of inter-institutional doctoral training in Ireland.

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Introduced only two years ago, the VLE’s popularity is rapidly gaining pace, with over 45,000 visits from students in Irish universities and institutes of technology during the last year alone.

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Walton Fellow Visitor Tyndall National Institute hosted Prof. Z. John Shen, from the University of Central Florida (UCF), USA, under the SFI Walton Visiting Fellow Programme during 2012. Working with Prof. Cian Ó Mathúna, Head of Tyndall’s Microsystems Centre, Prof. Shen worked on ground-breaking research in the design and fabrication of megawatt class, power semiconductor devices for SMART Grid and high speed electric train applications.

Prof Shen is the inventor of the world’s first submilliohm power MOSFET and holds 13 issued and several pending or provisional US patents. An IEEE Fellow, Prof. Shen's research at Tyndall is part of a drive to establish an advanced power semiconductor research programme at Tyndall which will be a key element of a strategic research activity in ICT for Energy Efficiency.

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Prof. Cian Ó’Mathúna welcomes Prof. Z John Shen, (SFI Walton Fellow) to Tyndall.

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Micro/Nanoelectronics An actual sample image of part of an “Alectrika” mask set die that is critical for the electrical characterisation of Tyndall’s high potential MIM capacitor technology.

Major Step Forward in MIM Capacitor Technology “…Tyndall technology has the potential to produce the best MIM capacitors in the world” – private report communication, Elucidare Ltd (www.elucidare.co.uk).

In 2012 a Tyndall-based research team was awarded an Enterprise Ireland commercialisation award to further develop industry-ready high-k metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors that improve permittivity values without the normal and significant detrimental effects of high leakage and low breakdown fields. This work was built upon prize-winning research performed by the team (Drs. Monaghan and Povey), and relies on a novel dielectric system grown by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process that they devised. The higher permittivity of the oxide material presently allows at least a 2.5 – 4 times increase in capacitance without performance loss compared to present industry-level capacitors of the same area and insulator thickness.

Introduction

Research in the Micro/Nanoelectronics Centre focuses on the preparation of materials and nanostructures for future electronic devices, a leading jobs and growth sector. Micro and nanoelectronics are also enabling technologies for many sectors across society. Tyndall has extensive expertise and capabilities to examine nano manufacturing solutions in collaboration with our industry and academic partners. In the past year the centre has developed a range of materials for technologically important applications including advanced CMOS devices, photovoltaic and other sustainable energy devices, ferroelectric and ferromagnetic sensors, actuators and memory devices and advanced battery technologies.

2012 has been another exceptional year for researchers in the centre. A number of new SFI and EU grants have been won and the centre has received extensive external recognition for its research. Our work with Intel culminated in the Intel Outstanding Academic Researcher of the Year Award which was presented to Dr. Paul Hurley for his on-going contributions to understanding the characteristics of new material CMOS device structures after being considered as setting state-of-the-art for high-k/III-V interfaces and their electrical performance.

The ongoing commercialisation project “Alectrika” aims to transfer thin-film 1-3D capability to industry, speed up the total ALD processing time for thicker films to meet the RF and analogue industry processing timescales, further improve the metal/insulator interfaces, boost the permittivity increase to a higher level, and maintain a linear VCC, but also achieve a controlled non-linear VCC when required for specific applications. The work was a cover-page feature in the IET journal Electronics Letters.The breakthrough is currently the subject of a US/EU patent application and an international Patent Cooperation Treaty application (PCT/EP2012/070899).

Rapid, Reliable Production Method for Photonic Crystal Fabrication

Photonic crystals are materials that can be used to manipulate and control the propagation of light. Opal gemstones and iridescent butterfly wings are excellent Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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examples of natural photonic crystals. Prof. Martyn Pemble’s work on colloidal photonic crystals continues via his third SFI Principal Investigator award, which focuses heavily on the development of commercially viable applications of these materials for use in solar concentrator devices and solar cells (light trapping), improved optical sensors such as Raman-based detection of hazardous materials and reduced power consumption higher brightness lasers and LEDs. Conventional approaches to making photonic crystals use expensive, ‘top-down’ lithographic approaches.

However Tyndall makes such materials using a ‘bottom-up’ approach, which mimics natural opal formation.

Electronics) have successfully identified a new ferroelectric material based on so-called Aurivillius phase materials - complex pseudo-perovskite layered oxides which possess additional periodicity induced via the insertion of oxide layers. These materials may find application in a range of ferroelectric devices including new types of energy-efficient computer memory. (a)

(b)

Via the use of a piezo-force response microscope, complex ferroelectric patterns can be ‘written’ (b) without changing the surface topography (a), and stored in the films as computer data.

This research breakthrough appeared on the cover of the Journal of Applied Physics.

Nano Patterns Fight Counterfeiting

Security labelling and security tagging is of critical importance in terms of the on-going fight against counterfeiting, be it of bank notes, pharmaceuticals and even food. In the case of bank notes for example, in the second half of 2012, a total of 280,000 counterfeit euro banknotes (representing €13m) were withdrawn from circulation by the European Central Bank (ECB press release) as a result of security concerns.

While there are a number of security features on these notes, counterfeiters are getting more accomplished at replicating/reproducing them, thus driving the need for new, more sophisticated anti-counterfeiting technologies. In this context, Dr. Alan O’Riordan Mr. Daniel Jones and Dr. Pierre Lovera have developed extremely thin gold films (50 nm) that transmit different colours when illuminated by polarised white light. This colour arises from plasmonic effects created by the structured nano-patterns in the gold film. These nano-patterns can be tailored to transmit different colours at different angles of rotation (colours can be either visible or in the near infrared) that create unique spectral signatures that are very challenging to counterfeit. These films can be easily lifted off the substrates on which they are fabricated and transferred onto any other surfaces such as bank notes or other high value goods, e.g. food packaging where they may function as security tags.

Prof. Martyn Pemble with artificial opal thin films of colloidal photonic crystals made by his collaborator Dr. Hiroshi Fudouzi of the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan.

FORME Strategic Research Cluster Achieves Breakthrough in the Area of Ferroelectric Materials

Growth in the creation of digital data continues to outpace the growth of storage capacity. The rapid increase in consumer demand and the miniaturisation of electronic devices requires a new data storage technology to reconcile this evolving gap. This new technology needs to combine higher storage densities, non-volatility and faster responses with lower power consumption than current memory technologies, which are approaching their physical storage limitations as decreased scaling continues. The two key challenges in the development of modern computer memory are achieving true non-volatility (i.e. the ability to retain stored information even when the power is turned off) and increasing storage densities into the terabit range.

‘Ferroelectric’ thin film materials address the first of these challenges, since information can be stored in the materials and potentially encoded into rapid, energy efficient computer memory that persists even when powered-off (non-volatile random access memory).

This is an advantage over silicon RAM, which needs mains/battery power.

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(b)

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(a) Optical micrograph of the active area of the electrochemical sensor device showing integrated on-chip gold counter electrode (CE) and platinum pseudo reference electrode (PRE) along with twelve nanowire electrode regions. (b) Optical micrograph of a single nanowire electrochemical working electrode. (c) Silicon chip holder with electrical contact pins.

Dr. Lynette Keeney and colleagues working within the SFI-funded Strategic Research Cluster FORME (Functional Oxides and Related Materials for 9

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Photonics Transfer Printing for Low-Cost Lasers on Silicon

In the data storage and electronics industries, increasing use is being made of the properties of light for power transfer and data signalling. However, the integration of silicon electronics with lasers remains a challenge, because practical monolithic silicon lasers are not currently available. Now Brian Corbett's team at Tyndall has demonstrated a strategy for this integration, using an elastomeric stamp to lift lasers from the Gallium Arsenide substrate on which they were fabricated and transfer them to a silicon substrate in a wafer-scale printing process.

Introduction

Photonics is the generation, manipulation and utilisation of light, and forms an important enabling technology that underpins a wide range of application areas. The European photonics market alone is worth €58bn and is estimated to impact 10% of the European economy. Over the last decade SFI and other state agencies have made major investments in photonic science and engineering in Ireland which have brought the national capability in this area to a position of international competitiveness and selected leadership. For example, Tyndall has created a world-class photonics research community and equipment infrastructure since the Institute’s inception in 2004, building upon the foundations laid by the National Microelectronics Research Centre. Tyndall currently supports a vibrant community of 120 photonics researchers and students with capabilities that span from ‘atoms to systems’ and is recognised as one of Europe’s leading photonics research centres.

During 2012 the centre continued to deliver new advances in core photonic science and technology whilst growing its involvement with and support for Irish industry. This evolution will continue in 2013 with the establishment of a new €27m Irish Photonic Integration Research Centre (I-PIC) at Tyndall together with UCC, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), Dublin City University (DCU) and 16 industry partners.

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This work was carried out in collaboration with the hard drive manufacturer Seagate to develop their heat-assisted magnetic recording technology, but has much wider significance because it opens a route to the low-cost integration of III–V photonic devices with circuits on silicon or other substrates. The work was reported in the August edition of the high impact journal, Nature Photonics.

Schematic of the transfer of unprocessed coupons of epitaxial material from a native III–V wafer (containing the desired layer structure) to the host substrate.

Integrated Wavelength Comb Source for High Capacity Fibre Systems

Tyndall’s coherent wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology enables the information carrying capacity of a fibre system to be increased by minimising inter-channel interference and thereby allowing

closer packing of the wavelength channels into the available bandwidth. The transmitter requires a coherent wavelength comb, but no compact, integrated source for its generation has so far been available.

Now Tyndall-UCC researchers led by Frank Peters and Brian Corbett, working under the SFI CTVR programme, have demonstrated the first step in developing an integrated comb source. They have realised a monolithic photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that separates a comb into its constituent wavelength lines and amplifies each while maintaining their coherence. The device uses an array of injection locked lasers to achieve this function, the first time that such an approach has been realised in a monolithic PIC.

develop a new class of III-V semiconductor materials and devices to work in the new wavelength band.

Tyndall is playing a key role by developing materials and components, packaging them and performing system demonstrations. In 2012, the team at Tyndall carried out the world’s first WDM experiment over the new fibre and contributed to three prestigious post-deadline papers at the European Optical Communications Conference (ECOC).

Mach-Zehnder modulators for high speed communications at 2µm.

Novel Resonator Technology for Sensor Applications

High resolution sensing devices and tunable lasers employ optical resonator structures whose performance can be raised by improving the quality of their mirrors. With this aim, a team led by Stephen Hegarty, working on the EU Marie Curie project PROPHET, are developing high contrast gratings that provide controlled high reflectivity with a single patterned layer, a fraction of a wavelength in thickness. The shaped reflector uses the inherent stress of the layered material to form a curved mirror and is capable of confining light in tiny volumes. These technologies will find use in the food industry, gas sensing and industrial process control.

A set of multiple coherent PICs plus test structures as fabricated on a semiconductor quarter wafer.

Next Generation High Capacity Fibre Systems – EU Project MODEGAP

The information carrying capacity of the 1.5-micron waveband used by today’s fibre telecommunications systems, which once seemed virtually limitless, is now approaching a “capacity crunch” as a result of the continuing exponential growth in internet traffic.

The EU FP7 MODEGAP project aims to increase capacity 100- to 1000-fold by developing a new type of hollow-core, photonic bandgap fibre (HC-PBF) and the new transceiver components it will require.

In HC-PBF, light is confined almost entirely to the hollow, air-filled core and experiences much less nonlinear interaction with the silica structure than in a conventional solid core fibre. Higher powers can be launched without nonlinear distortion and the higher signal-to-noise ratio allows more information to be transmitted.

However, the low loss wavelength window of HC-PBF is centred on 2 microns rather than 1.5 microns as in standard fibre. The project must, therefore, also

Electron micrograph of a shaped reflector for a high quality resonator.

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Microsystems Wireless Sensors Connecting to the World

Introduction

The Microsystems centre is investigating the embedding of intelligence into every aspect of our lives with the objective of enhancing the quality of people’s lives, the surrounding built and natural environment and the long term sustainability of the planet. Key research activities include:

As part of the EU Catrene Programme, the objective of the eGo project “Easily Connect to the World”, is to enable very intuitive simple applications where the act of touching an electronic device turns into a personalisation of the device which installs the user's rights and credentials. A novel aspect of this technology is the establishment of a secure, person-specific, channel of communication using the conductivity of the skin -"what you touch is yours". Tyndall research engineers, led by Brendan O’Flynn, have developed technology that identifies user management and authentication including wireless communication, sensors and associated electronic packaging for the eGo demonstrators. With a large number of industrial partners including Irish SMEs, Lincor Solutions, Yougetitback and Decawave, the Tyndall team has focused on the design, modelling, fabrication, assembly test and validation of the proof-of-concept demonstrators of eGo. eGo - which allows touch activated secure, wireless communication between objects.

• The convergence of microelectronics and microsystems whereby CMOS provides an intelligent platform for the miniaturisation and integration of functions such as sensors, actuators, power management and cooling.

• System integration and miniaturisation of wireless sensor modules for remote environmental monitoring, energy management in buildings, personal health based on wearable and “in-thebody” intelligent sensor systems for both diagnostics and therapeutics.

Low Cost Energy Harvesting Solutions for Power Hungry Machines

• Miniaturised power management systems for energy harvesting/scavenging and power supply on chip (PwrSoC) based on thin film magnetics on silicon.

During 2012, the centre’s activities in communications, energy, health and the environment grew in strength with notable successes in technology licensing to industry, and in research funding from industry, EU FP7, SFI and Enterprise Ireland (EI).

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Existing commercial, conditional monitoring platforms for industrial machines are expensive and power hungry. The FP7 SME project MOSYCOUSIS has developed a low-cost, retrofittable, conditional monitoring platform for machines. This incorporates acoustic sensors, ‘listening’ to the machine to detect anomalous behaviour indicating inefficiency and possible breakdowns. Under the leadership of Michael Hayes, Tyndall has developed an energy harvesting solution which eliminates the need for

regular battery replacement in the integrated wireless sensor units being researched for next generation conditional monitoring. Working with SME partner Endeco, energy harvesting platforms with ambient energies in excess of 2mW (the industry target) were achieved for application to cold storage, where monitoring of compressors is critical to ensure high standards of chilled and frozen food.

The micro-transformers have been evaluated by a major multi national semiconductor company and the results have the highest reported performance to date for micro-transformer devices, including 78.2% efficiency at output power 0.5W and frequency 20MHz.

Aluminium Nitride-based Energy Harvesting Device

A major challenge in wireless sensors is to be able to “deploy and forget” the devices through the replacement of batteries by energy harvesting from the environment. The main challenges associated with vibrational energy harvesting devices are that the vibrational source can have varying resonant frequencies and their ability to generate enough energy to power a wireless sensor network. A team led by Dr. Alan Mathewson have optimised the deposition of Aluminium Nitride (AlN) to increase its piezoelectric properties. In addition the team used finite element modelling (FEM) to optimise the design of a cantilever structure to enhance its power density.

This work was funded through the Collaborative Centre for Applied Nanotechnology (CCAN), with industrial partner, Analog Devices. The devices fabricated by the team achieved power densities of 2.55mW/cm3/g2, a result which puts Tyndall amongst the leading institutes in the world for piezoelectric energy harvesting. A know-how license on the deposition of AlN has been transferred to Analog Devices.

Tyndall indoor solar and thermoelectric generators developed for self-powering of sensors in an Endeco managed compressor and cold storage unit.

High Inductance Density Micro-transformers

Electric isolation is necessary in many applications, such as electric vehicles, power supplies, etc.

Magnetic or inductive isolation has many advantages compared to other solutions (optical and capacitive couplers), such as good immunity against noise, and an ability to transfer both signal and power.

Transformers for inductive isolation can be very bulky and a major challenge for the industry has been the integration of transformers on silicon using a CMOS compatible process. Researchers at Tyndall have developed on-silicon, integrated micro-transformer technology using accurate device analytical models and advanced fabrication processes. The Tyndall team, led by Prof. Cian Ó’Mathúna, has developed a customised CAD tool which has been deployed to guide the process development as well as in device design and optimisation.

Nanostructuring on Silicon for Energy Applications

ICT devices require energy to operate. To minimise the energy device footprint and maximise the power delivery there is a need to nanostructure the active materials. Nanostructuring of high aspect ratio energy materials is a challenge for the global scientific community. Anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) templates with sub-100 nm dimensions provide an inexpensive route to functional nanostructures.

Researchers at Tyndall achieved AAO fabrication on silicon by developing a novel anodisation and barrier layer removal technique. This was used to structure Pt nanowire catalysts suitable for use in micro fuel cells or sensors. Nanostructuring yielded a 70 fold increase in peak current density for methanol oxidation compared to planar platinum. This work, published in Solid State Ionics, is listed in the top 25 ‘hottest articles’ in that journal based on downloads from Science Direct and Sciverse in Q3 2012.

New dual layer metal scheme including proprietary magnetic core deposition.

In order to improve inductance density and efficiency, the team went on to develop specialised fabrication processes using a new dual-layer metal scheme along with proprietary magnetic core deposition techniques.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

An array of trapezoidal shaped CMOS compatible MEMS piezoelectric energy harvesting cantilevers using Aluminium Nitride packaged on a PCB.

Theory Modelling & Design A snapshot of an atomic structure during simulations of atomic layer deposition of hafnia thin films (grey=Hf, red=O, white=H).

Accuracy in Multi-scale Modelling of Thin Film Deposition Attracts Interest

Mahdi Shirazi and Simon Elliott have undertaken the largest and most accurate simulations to date of film growth by atomic layer deposition. This has been achieved by using ab-initio data in kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of 20,000 atoms over 20 cycles, corresponding to an experimental timescale of about one minute. The research has identified several aspects of ALD which had not previously been understood but which are critical to successful thin film deposition.

These capabilities are attracting wide interest in the ALD community, and research discussions and interactions with several of the main ALD equipment suppliers.

Introduction

Research in the Theory Modelling & Design centre focuses on Photonics, Micro/Nanoelectronics and Microsystems, and underpins much of the work across Tyndall from fundamental material issues through device proposals and analysis to novel system design and applications. The research addresses both fundamental problems with longer term impact, as well as problems of direct relevance to industry.

Lower Cost, Lower Power, Higher Throughput Digital Signal Processing Via Bus-Splitting

2012 has been a rewarding year for researchers in the centre, with many significant achievements, but also a challenging year, as the research environment becomes more difficult both for securing funding and maintaining collaborations.

The centre hosts four SFI-funded starting investigators - two of these were awarded in 2012, Ivana Savic (who moved to Tyndall from UC Davis) and Damien Thompson (already a researcher in Tyndall). Both of these awards assist in supporting our research development in new directions, with the first project investigating new approaches to energy harvesting and the second undertaking modelling relevant to regenerative medicine.

The maximum throughput of many digital signal processing systems is determined by the time taken to add two words. The greater the number of bits per word, the longer it takes to add them, and consequently the lower the throughput of the system.

In so-called oversampled systems, such as digital audio and video channels, it is common to include a digital delta-sigma modulator (DDSM) in the signal path. The DDSM reduces the number of bits per word, allowing simpler, cheaper, and less powerhungry circuits to be used.

When the DDSM quantises the signal to reduce the number of bits, it introduces quantisation noise; this noise is later removed by a filter.

Hardware Reduction in DDSMs Modulators via Bus-Splitting and Error Masking.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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Peter Kennedy and his group have developed a novel technique called bus-splitting which can be used to improve the performance of a digital signal processing system that includes a DDSM.

In the EU FP7 project FUNMOL (coordinated by Tyndall) Damien Thompson has collaborated with Prof. Marcel Mayor’s group at University of Basel and German fine chemical company Evonik-Degussa to develop a cheap and simple method of producing gold nano-structures with highly reproducible size and shape. These structures provide switches, storage elements and interconnects for molecular electronic devices, and can also be used to deliver drugs to cancer tumors and atherosclerotic plaques.

It’s Not Just About Hydrogen in Amorphous Si Solar Cells

In the EU FP7 Project SiNAPS, coordinated by Tyndall, researchers are working with leading European groups to develop a miniaturised autonomous sensing device (“smart dust”) powered by amorphous silicon solar cells. As part of the work on solar cells, Giorgos Fagas and Michael Nolan have overturned a previously fundamental assumption regarding the behaviour of the optical band gap of a-Si with hydrogen content.

The optical gap is fundamental in solar cells, determining the light absorption properties and solar cell efficiency. Simulations demonstrate unambiguously that as long as an amorphous silicon sample contains the optimum hydrogen saturation content, the optical gap is invariant with hydrogen content in different samples. This result reconciles long-standing issues regarding the hydrogen dependence of the optical gap and provides key insight for sample preparation to optimise the properties of hydrogenated a-Si.

Designed single-molecule nanostructure, which forms exclusively dumbbell structures upon chemical coupling.

Efficient Light Sources from Nitride-based Nanostructures

Nitride-based heterostructures have already been successfully utilized in blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers. However, the emission efficiency of these structures drops significantly when going to the green and yellow spectral region. There are numerous applications in displays and medical diagnostics that would benefit from using efficient green and yellow LED and laser structures. However, a major challenge is to create efficient light emitters in the presence of large electrostatic built-in fields in nitride-based heterostructures with a wurtzite crystal structure. Stefan Schulz and Eoin O'Reilly have analysed the built-in field, the electronic and the optical properties of nitride-based quantum dot molecules. The research showed that, due to dot size and strain relaxation effects, the emission efficiency can significantly increase compared to conventional nitride-based heterostructures. This opens an important route towards the achievement of efficient light emission in the green and yellow spectral region.

Giorgos Fagas and Michael Nolan discussing the next generation of solar cells and their applications as miniaturised energy harvesters.

Single-molecule Building Blocks for Molecular Electronic Devices

The ability to exploit electronic properties of individual molecules together with the ordering effects of self-assembly promises breakthrough applications for nanostructured materials in electronics and health.

Improved carrier overlap in an InGaN/GaN quantum dot molecule.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Tyndall Sector Opportunities Communications The widespread use of electronic devices and communications in our everyday lives is driving demand for new technologies for data storage and higher speed, more energy efficient communications. Tyndall exploits its core competence in ICT research and development to provide new communications solutions that will deliver:• High speed all-optical sampling for device characterisation; • Ultra-secure quantum key distribution networks; • 1 Terabit/in2 magnetic storage technology.

• Reduced cost, energy efficient and high bandwidth next generation Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) networks; • High capacity, Terabit/sec coherent communication systems; • New technologies for beyond standard fibre capacity limits; • High speed electronic solutions for extended reach transmission; • ‘Colourless’, energy efficient metro switching nodes; • Ultrafast on-the-fly all optical packet processing;

Through partnerships with Irish based multi nationals such as BT, Alcatel-Lucent, Intel and Seagate and indigenous Irish companies such as Intune Networks, Eblana Photonics, Firecomms and SensL, Tyndall is delivering its technology for commercial exploitation.

Energy It is recognised that the application of ICT to the integration of systems in our homes, commercial and industrial buildings and our outdoor environment provides major opportunities for energy efficiency and savings. Tyndall applies its ICT technology to deliver solutions for:• Building energy management; • Micro-grid management (generation and storage) and integration with the smart grid; • Energy efficient lighting; • Energy harvesting and storage; • High efficiency solar cells; • Advanced power semiconductors; • Conditional monitoring of devices, machinery and systems to monitor efficiency and enable predictive maintenance and auto-commissioning; • ICT networks for home and industry, from buildings to micro-grids and extending to smart cities and Smart Grid systems.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Through multiple national, EU and industry funded projects such as ITOBO, ME3Gas, MOSYCOUSIS, ERG, GENESI & GreenCom along with the International Energy Research Centre (IERC), Tyndall is developing high impact, commercially realisable solutions with major national and international partners to deliver smarter and greener energy solutions. This delivers important energy and cost savings, increases integration of renewable energy into our ecosystems and improves system reliability, as well as reducing CO2 emissions.

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Healthcare Tyndall is at the forefront of driving the convergence of ICT technology into Healthcare applications. Through its alliances with clinical, industrial and academic partners in biomedical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, Tyndall is creating new advanced solutions in diagnostics, therapeutics and monitoring that will enable:• • • • • •

New portable devices for point of care diagnosis; Implantable electronics for diagnostics and therapy; Wearable wireless electronics for monitoring; Personalised and targeted treatment of illness; New materials for cell and tissue regeneration; Microneedles for painless drug delivery.

These include work with SFI-funded Centres for Science Engineering Technology (CSET), in collaboration with the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute and work with CLARITY (The Sensor Web - Bringing information to life).

Clinical collaborations include Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), UCC College of Medicine and Health and Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Industry partners include Lake Region Medical and Analog Devices.

Tyndall is developing a range of smart technology solutions that will improve health and well-being through industry/academic collaborations funded by SFI, EI, the EU and directly with industry.

Environment As global environmental pressures increase there is a need for new tools and technologies for monitoring, prevention and mitigation of these pressures and their associated health risks. Using its expertise in new materials, sensors, communications systems and modelling, Tyndall is developing new smart systems and demonstrating their impact by deploying them in real environmental scenarios, such as: • • • • • • •

Examples of on-going research collaborations include the SFI-funded CSET, CLARITY; an EI-funded project with Irish SME Biotector under the Collaborative Centre for Applied Nanotechnology (CCAN) and EU FP7 projects ARROWS and SHOAL.

Air, water and soil quality monitoring; Flood risk alert and management; Pollution monitoring and associated health risks; Remote chemical sensing for safe clean harbours; Marine ecology; Smart agriculture; Environmental and border security.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Industry

Introduction As companies want to work with the best – Tyndall has developed a multi-disciplinary team with strong industry experience that offers clients access to a broad base of expertise together with a flexible and open approach built on trust.

While Tyndall has been collaborating successfully with industry since its inception 30 years ago, the emergence of a global knowledge economy has driven the need for strategic partnerships that go beyond the traditional approach of funding finite research. Tyndall has responded by delivering above client expectations, by anticipating client needs, and by ensuring that its industry relationships run deeper, stronger and last longer.

Tyndall hosted some 6,000 visitors in 2012. Many of these were multinational companies (MNCs) and small/medium enterprises (SMEs), in Ireland, or wanting to establish in Ireland.

Industry Income: €5.9m • Direct Income: €2.3m • In Kind: €3.6m

Tyndall has developed a “Tyndall Model” where we form cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams across the different research centres to provide solutions to our customers’ needs. This has been further enhanced by the hiring of industry relevant programme managers to lead project engagements. Tyndall continues to listen to our customers in order to evolve our business practices to better meet their needs going forward.

Industry Collaborations: ca. 200 • Ireland: 70 • International: 130 Industry Researchers -in-Residence: 24

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“Working in true partnership with our industry clients, together we can push the frontiers of research and knowledge to deliver innovation and economic growth.”

Micheal Grufferty, Head of Industry and Innovation, Tyndall National Institute

A sustainable relationship based on trust attracts more investment, looks further ahead and gives client partners a competitive edge while driving growth.

Currently there are 24 researchers with access to the facilities at Tyndall, representing 8 industry partner companies, and they span across all areas of activity.

Due to the success of the programme, demand from companies wishing to benefit continues to grow.

Long-term strategic partnerships with built-in flexibility and access are proven to work best and collaborations are most fruitful when they are managed by people with a deep understanding of the cultures they need to bridge.

Creating Value for Foreign Direct Investment Companies

Tyndall now has a track record that proves it can bridge the cultural and communication barriers that so often inhibit research centre/industry relationships.

Working in true partnership with our industry clients, together we can push the frontiers of research and knowledge to deliver innovation and economic growth.

Tyndall has an excellent working relationship with Ireland’s national agencies, SFI, EI and IDA (Irish Development Agency). This strategic engagement has enabled Tyndall to continue to deliver economic impact through attracting and sustaining new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) initiatives to Ireland. Some of these successes are illustrated below.

During 2012, Tyndall continued to prioritise industry partnerships. The case studies included in this report vary in terms of their objectives and impacts on Tyndall and its industry partners, however each one strongly attests to the benefits of such strategic partnerships.

Lake Region Medical Ltd

Industry Engagement Models: • Technology Support Services

1 Case Study

Lake Region Medical Ltd. is the Irish subsidiary of Minnesota-based Lake Region Medical, a world leader in the manufacture of medical device guidewires and related products for minimally-invasive cardiac surgery and other procedures.

• Research Collaborations • Host to Industry Aligned Technology Centres • EU Programmes

Researchers-in-Residence Programme A key differentiator for Tyndall is its Researchers-inResidence (RnR) programme, which gained significant traction in 2012. Industry partners who participate in this programme gain many advantages. By embedding a researcher at the Institute they enjoy a much closer working relationship with researchers at Tyndall.

It speeds up the process of completing projects, and having a researcher in-situ also helps de-risk projects.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

The medical device sector is extremely important to Ireland, not least because it provides over 25,000 highly skilled jobs and contributes over €8bn to Ireland’s annual exports. As the cost of healthcare rises, healthcare solutions require new innovations.

The convergence of ICT into the healthcare medical device market gains more traction annually. This opportunity positions Ireland and Tyndall as a location well equipped to undertake Research Development and Innovation in conjunction with medical device companies.

Tyndall contacted the R&D arm of Lake Region Medical Ltd. in Galway, regarding the evaluation of a product concept to integrate photonics onto guidewires. This unmet need, driven by a Tyndall Memorandum of Understanding with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, resulted from new ideas, brainstormed between clinicians and engineers. Subsequently, Tyndall was recommended by the IDA to Lake Region Medical, Wexford, with a view to introducing smart technology innovation to its guidewire products.

John Harris, Vice President Outside US Operations and R&D, Lake Region Medical explained that Tyndall ticked a number of boxes because it has a broad base of expertise on-site, with a strong focus on ICT and photonics research. “Tyndall has the capability to design, fabricate, test, package and integrate onto our minimally invasive devices and importantly, it can also function as a gatekeeper, keeping us abreast of developments at other research centres across Ireland".

“Tyndall has the capability to design, fabricate, test, package and integrate onto our minimally invasive devices and importantly, it can also function as a gatekeeper, keeping us abreast of developments at other research centres across Ireland"

He added, “This is a two-way relationship. We give Tyndall the opportunity to engage with a company that understands the market and users’ needs. We can therefore define the problem much better than Tyndall can and we can commercialise Tyndall’s research to create newer, exciting, more cost effective medical device products that increase the value of guidewires to physicians.

John Harris, Vice President Outside US Operations and R&D, Lake Region Medical

Successful commercialisation also means the delivery of new jobs - a critical part of the government’s research funding strategy.”

The relationship between Lake Region and Tyndall has developed at a measured pace. John Harris said, “Part of the benefits of being privately owned is that the owners take a long term view”.

Before engaging Tyndall, the CEO and owner of Minnesota-based Lake Region, together with key members of its management team, visited the Institute.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Lake Region now has a researcher-in-residence based at Tyndall and John Harris confirmed, “We regard Tyndall National Institute as our research partner in the area of smart technology solutions.”

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Henkel

2 Case Study

Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, Henkel has over 47,000 employees worldwide and is among the most internationally aligned German-based companies in the global marketplace. Henkel has leading brands and technologies in three business areas: laundry and home care, beauty care and adhesive technologies, with its best-known brands including Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite.

(a)

Henkel’s Irish business is based in Tallaght, Dublin, where it operates a manufacturing and R&D facility employing over 300 people, supporting the adhesives business.

(b)

Dr. Matthew Holloway, Global Platform Head - Acrylates Technology, chose to work with Tyndall for a number of reasons. He was impressed by the Institute’s infrastructure in semiconductor manufacturing, both in terms of equipment and expertise. Secondly, the quality of Tyndall’s research expertise in the area of atomic layer deposition impressed him, and his final reason was the very positive impression made by the Tyndall Business Development team.

Said Dr. Holloway, “The Business Development team provided an excellent bridge. They understood our needs and clearly articulated them to the researchers.

My experience working with Tyndall was unlike any previously enjoyed with other university research centres either in Ireland, the UK or the USA. What distinguishes Tyndall is its closeness to industry.”

(c)

The key project undertaken for Henkel during 2012 saw Tyndall work on a collaborative basis on the development of key processing technologies for 3D electronics integration, in a project co-funded

by Enterprise Ireland.

Key processing technologies for 3D electronics integration were developed in a Tyndall-wide collaboration with Henkel, co-funded by Enterprise Ireland. (a) High quality vias with diameters as small as 20 μm were successfully etched through 230μm wafers in the MEMS Fab to meet Henkel requirements. (b) The walls of the vias were conformally coated with a nanometre-thin hybrid organic-inorganic film in a ‘molecular layer deposition’ process newly-developed by the Advanced Materials and Surfaces group, using a novel chemical synthesised by Henkel in Ireland for the project. (c) This chemical was designed through atomic-scale simulation by researchers in Electronics Theory specifically to be suitable for depositing organic films.

Importantly, the relationship was further fostered in late 2012, with the launch of a Henkel sponsored PhD at Tyndall.

Dr. Holloway is enthused by Henkel's burgeoning strategic relationship with Tyndall, “In my book Tyndall is one of the top research institutes to deal with in terms of knowing what industry wants and how they interact with industry. We see the Henkel relationship with Tyndall as on-going and our intention is to increase our number of collaborations with Tyndall in the future.”

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Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises

We also have an office in Dublin and more recently we opened an office in Watford to service recent and planned growth in the UK market.

3 Case Study

Endeco believes that the early establishment of a working relationship with Tyndall was instrumental in its ability to attract venture capital. “Thanks to our involvement with Tyndall we were able to sell a product rather than a concept. Concepts are two a penny, especially during recessionary times, whereas products are more difficult to realise.”

Endeco Technologies

Endeco Technologies, based at the Tyndall Incubation Facility, has developed a costeffective, wireless, energy demand optimisation system, targeted at the food retail, food processor and hospitality sectors.

Host to Industry-Led Technology Centres

Endeco’s smart grid algorithms and wireless sensors optimise energy consumption by intensive electrical equipment such as refrigeration, lighting, heating and air-conditioning. By optimising how its business clients manage their power consumption, Endeco solutions can drive reductions in energy bills by up to 25 percent.

Collaborative Centre for Applied Nanotechnology (CCAN), Microelectronics Circuits Centre Ireland (MCCI) and International Energy Research Centre (IERC) are the three industry-led technology centres at Tyndall, and which are funded by EI and IDA.

As Michael Phelan, founder of Endeco explained, “Endeco’s product both optimises and reduces the energy usage and therefore energy costs within a premises. For example, the price of energy varies every 30 minutes on the electricity grid depending on the source. Prices can be as low as one cent or as high as a Euro, with the cheaper prices coming from wind-generated energy. Endeco’s smart algorithms consume this much cheaper wind power efficiently when it is available”.

These centres facilitate the coming together of companies that are not in direct competition with one another, but share a particular set of technology challenges. By combining resources, solutions can be delivered more speedily and efficiently, and all partners can benefit from knowledge transfer, skills transfer and other open collaboration-driven benefits. Tyndall succeeds in attracting these industry clusters due to its impressive resources, the scale and breadth of its research, its track record in Europe, together with its 30 years of experience working successfully in collaborative partnerships with industry.

The food and hospitality sectors, the areas in which Endeco currently specialise, are very dependent on heavy usage heating and cooling assets. The capability to store energy when low cost wind is available on the electricity grid is hugely cost advantageous for its customers.

Having previously worked with Tyndall, Phelan was very aware of Tyndall’s expertise in the area of wireless sensor technology, an important building block in the creation of Endeco’s energy management solutions.

“These centres facilitate the coming together of companies that are not in competition with one another, but share a particular set of technology challenges.”

Endeco established an innovation partnership with Tyndall from its inception and Phelan described the relationship as invaluable. “Start-ups don’t have the resources in-house to develop the breadth of expertise available at Tyndall. We set up an office in the Tyndall Incubation Centre to allow us maximise the benefits of our working relationship. We now have seven people working in our Cork based office”.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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The centre has already completed two commercial licences to Irish companies Redmere and EagleIC. MCCI also works actively with EI and the IDA in supporting start-ups and attracting new foreign direct investment. The centre has been credited by companies for playing an important role in creating at least 90 new jobs during 2012, through new Irish investments from Hittite Microwave and Xilinx.

The Microelectronics Circuits Centre Ireland – established in 2009, carries out world-class industryrelevant circuit research, developing a pool of intellectual property, IP, and skills relevant to its member companies, thereby giving them a competitive advantage.

MCCI works in collaboration with Irish industry, the industry association MIDAS, and the research provider community. Current industry members include; Analog Devices, M/A-COM, Redmere, Silansys, Firecomms, Xilinx, S3 Group, Powervation, On Semi and Ikon Semi.

MCCI’s membership rose to 18 by the end of 2012.

One of its most recent industry members, Hittite Microwave, designs and manufactures high-frequency, analogue and mixed signal electronic components.

The company is set to create 30 jobs at its new International Operations Centre in Cork, 19 of which will be in research and development activities.

Mark Barry, Director of MCCI, reported that the centre is very pleased that Hittite have taken the decision to join. “MCCI will carry out world-class microelectronics circuit research which is relevant to their business.

This will provide both skilled people and intellectual property to fuel Hittite innovation locally, allowing them to grow rapidly in Ireland.”

Collaborative Centre for Applied Nanotechnology The Collaborative Centre for Applied Nanotechnology is co-hosted by Tyndall and CRANN at Trinity Collage Dublin (TCD) and was established to develop nanotechnology enabled products and solutions for the ICT and biomedical industries. Amongst its members are Analog Devices. Aerogen, Audit Diagnostics, Medtronic, Proxy-Biomedical and Seagate Technologies.

To address a skills shortage in the microelectronics sector, MCCI trains staff in areas of relevance to industry and, to date, have delivered six staff to companies located in Ireland.

By operating as a network the combined expertise of all the members can be applied to solve issues on individual projects. This open innovation approach leads to faster project delivery and a more efficient journey from an industry-defined problem to a nanoenabled solution.

CCAN operates as an independent, national organisation making it easy for Irish-based companies to locate and access the best nanotechnology expertise from across the country.

MCCI Principal Investigator Ivan O’Connell.

In support of that approach, the Irish Nanotechnology Expertise Database (www.ccan.ie/ined) was launched in 2012 to provide an instant access service to those seeking a specific analysis tool, or nanotech expertise, in their area. The new resource highlights the depth of nano-expertise available to companies nationally.

CCAN’s membership rose to 15 in 2012 and industry cash contributions exceeded €600,000, of which over €150,000 has been cash co-funding.

Responding to the Irish Microelectronics Industry Association (MIDAS) desire to grow the scale and quality of academic microelectronic circuit research, in 2012 MCCI grew co-funding to over 60% of the MCCI core grant and has been successful in publishing in a top 10 IEEE journal, The Journal of Solid State Circuits. To improve industry access to IP, MCCI established an industry-friendly IP model and boilerplate agreements for licensing acceleration.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Another strong development last year saw a growing number of member companies, previously unknown to each other, working together on product development projects in Tyndall with an aim of developing long term commercial partnerships.

Prof Day, previously Professor of Energy in the Built Environment at London South Bank University, has extensive research and industry consultancy experience in energy technology analysis, as well as measurement and verification of energy systems performance, and strategic energy policy development in the UK. He is currently leading the Task Group for the European Standard for Energy Audits in Buildings, and was Chair of the UK Solar Energy Society 2010 – 2012. With such a strong track record and extensive leadership experience it is envisaged that Prof Day will oversee the IERC’s delivery of high impact solutions to real-world energy problems and ensure that the Centre plays a pivotal role in international energy research in the years ahead.

The first round of CCAN projects are now generating valuable IP and know-how which will form the basis of 2 licenses to CCAN companies in 2013.

Over €1M of further funding can be associated with projects initiated in CCAN. Tyndall has been an active participant in CCAN projects with involvement in over 70% of funded projects.

The IERC is viewed as a game changer within Ireland.

It will generate additional investment from multinational companies and support the development of indigenous companies in the energy efficiency related area. Jobs and investments are expected to follow from the commercialised focus of its research work.

During 2012, work continued on the two initial IERC research projects, Energy-Monitoring Wireless Networked System (EMWiNS) and Phase Change Materials (PCM), while two new projects were funded; Autonomic Home Area Network Infrastructure (AUTHENTIC) and Energy Management for Production Operations (TEMPO). TEMPO is being conducted in close collaboration with the technology centre I2E2.

CCAN carries out a range of activities to assist its member companies in either locating relevant expertise or developing technology solutions.

The four projects in progress all have international collaborators, and currently employ a total of 25 researchers. As the IERC programmes develop the number of core researchers employed within Tyndall will grow, strengthening the capability in Ireland to meet the energy challenges of the future.

International Energy Research Centre The International Energy Research Centre is a new centre of excellence established to support existing companies in Ireland, to encourage new companies into Ireland and facilitate the spin-out of technologies into new start-up companies. Its aim is to drive commercially focused innovations in integrated energy systems.

Meanwhile, 97 delegates, representing industry, academia and state agency stakeholders, attended the second annual IERC conference held in Cork in May 2012. This very successful event included workshops on business model generation. The keynote speakers were Professor Michael Kelly, the Prince Philip Professor of Technology in the University of Cambridge and Jessica Stromback, a Senior Partner at VaasaETT.

The centre works with major national and international partners to deliver smarter and greener energy solutions to help meet the growing global energy demand.

Its areas of research focus are: • Building energy management; • Energy efficient lighting; • Energy harvesting and storage; • High efficiency solar cells; • Advanced power semiconductors; • ICT networks for home, industry and smart grid systems.

In 2012, Professor Tony Day was appointed Executive Director of the IERC, in a move that underpins the Centre’s ambition to become a world-leader in its field.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Prof. Tony Day, Executive Director, IERC.

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Technology Support Services

“The services available from Tyndall include wafer fabrication, test and measurement, intellectual property investigation, microscopy analysis, temperature and environmental characterisation, integration and packaging and many more.”

T

While some services may seem obvious, others have grown in direct response to customer needs.

For example, the Electron Microscopy and Analysis Facility (EMAF) offers contamination testing. Using state-of-the-art equipment unique on the island of Ireland, EMAF’s technical experts have solved a number of contamination puzzles for customers.

This is an invaluable service, particularly for clients operating in the pharma sector, where reputation is paramount.

yndall provides a wide range of strategic services to industry – the lifeblood of Ireland’s economy – who greatly value the opportunity both to access state-of-the-art equipment, thereby reducing their own capital equipment costs, and also to access technical expertise.

The services available from Tyndall include wafer fabrication, test and measurement, intellectual property investigation, microscopy analysis, temperature and environmental characterisation, integration and packaging and many more.

Another important strategic service area experiencing growth in 2012 was IP infringement. Ted O’Shea, who leads the Design Technology Evaluation (DTE) group confirmed, “We are active with several patent attorney companies in the US whereby we perform intellectual property investigation of both IC designs and semiconductor technologies.”

These professional services are provided on a commercial contract basis and are delivered by Tyndall staff. Access to equipment is also available for qualified industry personnel who wish to conduct the work themselves in a Tyndall laboratory. Under the National Access Programme, funded by SFI, Tyndall provides academic researchers throughout Ireland with access to its facilities.

“Through proprietary analytical techniques developed at Tyndall and our in-depth knowledge of technologies, 25

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

we acquire all the technical evidence to compile claim charts that back up our clients’ patent assertion or patent licensing actions.”

Tyndall’s DTE group has demonstrated repeated success in this area and has also developed experience as ‘expert witness’ supporting its acquired technical evidence.

It has a growing collection of successful, cutting-edge case studies to support that claim.

Tyndall Wafer Fabrication Facility – Innovation and Excellence

“We are completely open to trying new ideas and introducing new materials to our fabrication facilities.

Industry and academic clients can come and talk to us about anything that involves fabrication. As far as we are concerned, everything is on the table,” said Brendan O’Neill, Head of Fabrication.

The Tyndall Fabricaton Facilities, which work to an ISO9001;2008 Quality Management System, operates as a single unit to provide seamless access to the facilities for its customers. It encompasses: • Silicon Fabrication; • MEMS or microsystems fabrication; • Compound semiconductor fabrication; • E-beam lithography; • Circuit device and structure layout; • FlexiFab; • Training Fab.

The team has also developed a skill for lateral thinking.

In 2012, they took the technology of a micro-needle, used typically for drug delivery, and adapted it for use as an electron emission source.

The result, for UK-based client Radius Diagnostics, is a ground breaking solid state portable X-ray system with a far-reaching range of applications.

The fabrication unit prides itself on engaging closely with clients to provide the results they want. Often an approach is made by a client seeking a device to perform a particular task – the client has the concept, but no idea how to get from concept to device – in this instance the fabrication team will work closely with the client to create the process to deliver the required solution.

The Wafer Fabrication Facility is fully integrated with other key elements within Tyndall such as packaging, design, test and characterisation. This provides customers with a complete service solution from concept, circuit design, right through to fabricated device, and packaged tested system.

Flexibility is at the heart of the Wafer Fabrication Facility offer at Tyndall, as demonstrated by the team’s openness to new ideas and material introduction.

Importantly, other third level institutions as well as industry clients can access Tyndall’s state-of-the-art fabrication facilities. Once a project is up and running, industry will have access to the whole team involved in the project, in line with Tyndall’s commitment to openness and trust.

Tyndall has a formal relationship with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), which will facilitate a route to clinical trials for devices and structures targeted at the medical market. There is also a long collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and many devices fabricated at Tyndall have flown in ESA missions. In addition, the ESA Microelectronics Technology Support Laboratory (MTSL) at Tyndall undertakes important energy support work for the Materials and Component Division at ESA. In the following section we outline some of the work carried out for our partners during the year.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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Radius Diagnostics Ltd

1 Case Study

It has been a great experience, and has allowed us to move further and faster than we had originally envisaged."

Radius Diagnostics Ltd, recognised by UK Trade & Industry and the UK Technology Strategy Board as one of the UK’s top 20 high potential health technology companies, is about to transform X-ray systems, with the introduction of space heritage technology that will allow systems 20 times smaller and lighter than current generation equipment.

Emitter wafer showing Needle array

The new X-ray sources will weigh less than 10kg and will be no bigger than a laptop. This lightweight low-cost technology will free radiology to travel to the patient in the hospital, accompany paramedics in the ambulance to an accident site or care home, or be deployed in primary care in GP clinics. More importantly the new planar form factor will allow 3D imaging from ‘Planar X-ray Radiology’, a modality that currently only gives 2D information.

Bonded stack comprising, emitter, spacer and target wafer

“It has been a great experience, and has allowed us to move further and faster than we had originally envisaged.”

Tyndall worked in collaboration with Radius Health to manufacture the world first 'solid state' X-ray source that does not require an external high-voltage supply.

The challenge was to bring together multiple technologies that had not previously been integrated. Tyndall’s part included manufacturing multiple ‘stacks’, with each stack comprised of multiple layers of several materials which were anodically bonded.

Mark Evans, CEO, Radius Health

2 Microsaic Systems plc

There was a close collaboration with scientists from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Oxford and the University of California Los Angeles, as well as input from Radius personnel.

Case Study

Microsaic Systems plc is a high technology company that develops and markets next generation mass spectrometry instruments for the analysis of gaseous, liquid and solid samples.

The source that has been developed will transform the economics, portability and form factor of clinical planar X-ray radiology, a modality that makes up 60% of all medical imaging procedures.

Microsaic is the first, and only company to have successfully miniaturised mass spectrometry through the development of its patented chip-based technologies, based on Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), developed at Imperial College London.

Tyndall contributed expertise in relation to fabrication and optimising the design for manufacture, together with the ability to iterate the design quickly in a development fab that operates at standards comparable to those in production foundries.

Tyndall has worked with Microsaic since 2010 to produce a miniaturised Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer funded by the EU FP7 ARROWS project.

Tyndall’s role in the project was to fabricate Microsaic’s MEMS ionchip® and Spraychip® components.

Mark Evans, CEO, Radius Health stated "We initially came to Tyndall to work with the Wafer Fabrication Facility, with a specific design in mind. The fabrication team worked closely with us and as the trust grew the relationship shifted from manufacturing advisory and execution to one of co-creation.

Tyndall was chosen due to its expertise in silicon/ glass bonding and etching. These components were successfully fabricated and integrated in the world’s

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

smallest triple quadrupole mass spectrometer and the result is a lighter, smaller, greener, and deployable MS system.

for NanoFlex that offer a unique platform to electrochemical researchers. The 50nm platinum band electrode delivers the performance of a nanoelectrode with the absolute current of a macroelectrode.

Peter Edwards, Technical Director at Microsaic, said “we have enjoyed working with Tyndall and utilising their expertise and wafer fabrication facility. They helped supply the quality and accuracy demanded by our requirement to make the miniature quadrupole components.

The nano-dimensions are achieved through etch processing without the need for expensive nanoscale lithography. A key feature of the electrodes is that the signal to noise ratio is three orders of magnitude greater than those observed for conventional electrodes. The devices also have very fast electrode kinetics and they are very robust physical structures.

Freeman commented; “The team at Tyndall has been a pleasure to work with. Tyndall invested the necessary time and resources to understand our requirements and has delivered to an exceptional standard. Tyndall worked with us to produce the devices and we now look forward to continue working with the team on second and third generation new product development.”

We are continuing our collaboration with Tyndall over the next two years during the EU FP7 ROSFEN project. This work will again build upon the triple quadrupole components developed with Tyndall during the ARROWS project”.

Component of the Microsaic quadrupole spectrometer.

The core CAVIARETM 303DPt platinum nanoband electrode.

3 NanoFlex Ltd.

Case Study

NanoFlex specialises in the design and manufacture of nanoscale electrode architectures and electrodes for use by the research community across a range of applications including healthcare, energy storage, environmental monitoring and analysis, and chemical analysis.

Having enjoyed a positive experience working with Tyndall previously, NanoFlex CEO, Neville Freeman had no hesitation in choosing Tyndall to work on the fabrication of NanoFlex’s prototype. Over the years NanoFlex and Tyndall have developed a strong, symbiotic working relationship. Tyndall Fabrication is building a range of proprietary electrode designs

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

“Tyndall worked with us to produce the devices and we now look forward to continue working with the team on second and third generation new product development.”

NanoFlex CEO, Neville Freeman

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FlexiFab Eve cleaner/bonder.

FlexiFab Tyndall’s new FlexiFab far exceeds the fabrication facilities and services typically available from university research labs, and the Institute confidently predicts it will lead the way in Europe. Funded under the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) Cycle 5, the new FlexiFab facility at Tyndall is now welcoming its first customers.

Commercial fabrication generally restricts the types of materials you can take into the laboratory because of contamination concerns, and there is often a reluctance to introduce new processes and techniques because they can be disruptive. However, the FlexiFab facility at Tyndall bypasses those limitations by offering its customers the opportunity to introduce new materials and techniques in a very controlled environment with the ultimate objective of possible transfer to production facilities.

Until now researchers undertaking basic research lacked access to fabrication facilities that could integrate their novel materials into real processes.

Now with the FlexiFab’s more open access protocols, which allow for this integration, researchers have the opportunity to demonstrate and test their devices and systems, validating them for industrial applications.

Amongst the possibilities offered by FlexiFab is the introduction of compound semiconductor materials into a silicon processing line.

For commercial companies wishing to bring their technology from demonstration to a production-ready status, a capability to deliver to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 means the FlexiFab facility is the ideal location.

With flexibility at the heart of its offer, FlexiFab provides a number of advantages over traditional (possibly high volume) foundries.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

“The Training FAB has been critical to the progress of our science and technology. Our students have principally accessed it for etching work. It has allowed us to develop etch processes for block copolymer lithography which have then been optimised on larger systems and this has given us considerable technical advantage as well as reducing costs. More importantly, it has allowed students/post-docs to gain a full understanding of the etch technique and has helped us to develop much better systems to use.”

PECVD Demonstration in the Training Fab.

Training Fab When Tyndall moved its compound semiconductor fabrication area to its new research building, all of the services were left intact, and this laboratory has now been re-equipped exclusively for training purposes.

The new training and teaching laboratory – Training Fab-funded under Cycle 4 of the PRTLI, facilitates a complete semiconductor fabrication experience and is fully equipped for photolithography, wet and dry etch, plasma CVD, thermal processing and metal deposition.

Prof M. A. Morris, Head of Department of Chemistry, University College Cork

This training space is available to students and industry customers alike who want to gain hands-on experience in processing. As part of Tyndall’s continued national access policy, the opportunity for hands-on processing experience within the Training Fab facility is available to all postgraduate students in Ireland 10 external students attended Training Fab courses in 2012, under an initiative funded by the Integrated NanoScience Platform for Ireland (INSPIRE) and The International Centre for Graduate Education in Micro and Nano‐Engineering (ICGEE), and feedback from the course was very positive.

New CMP which forms part of Flexifab.

Photonics Packaged Sub-System Delivery to Industry

During 2012 the photonics packaging team, led by Peter O’Brien, delivered a wide range of packaged modules to industry partners. Innovations in integrated photonics are leading to increases in system performance, while the ability to produce multiple functioning devices on a common platform can significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

External demand for the course exceeded supply and the ICGEE has a number of students on a waiting list to take the course in 2013.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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These technical developments also benefit other industries that exploit the unique features of photonics, including medical devices (imaging), biotechnology (diagnostics), consumer electronics (data transfer) and energy efficient lighting (LEDs).

Here are some of the developments over the past year:

Fibre-coupled 5 Channel Fluorescence Detection Modules Prototype Distributed Bragg Fibre Grating Sensor.

Single Photon Detector Arrays and Read-out Electronics

Radisens Diagnostics fluorescence detection module.

Fibre-coupled 5 channel fluorescence detection modules were developed in collaboration with Radisens Diagnostics. These novel prototypes are used to detect fluorescence emission for biosamples contained in microfluidic assay platforms. The design required simulation of complex optical, thermal and mechanical features and the modules incorporated single photon detector Silicon devices that replaced large photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Development of these prototypes has enabled Radisens demonstrate a highly integrated optical detector for point of care diagnostics.

Single photon detector array.

Single Photon Detector arrays and read-out electronics have been packaged in a hybrid thermally controlled module for a LIDAR imaging application. The work was carried out in collaboration with SensL and the modules are currently undergoing reliability testing for space flight qualification.

Packaged InP and Silicon-on-Insulator photonic integrated circuits (PICs)

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Analog Devices

Packaged InP and Silicon-on-Insulator photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for use in a distributed Bragg Fibre Grating sensor were provided to Fibre Technobis.

The PIC devices were fabricated through the European fabrication foundries JEPPIX and ePIXfab, with Tyndall providing expertise in advanced photonics packaging to enable users such as Fibre Technobis to produce working prototypes.

Case Study

Tyndall’s relationship with industry partner Analog Devices Incorporated (ADI) dates back to 1982, when the Institute was known as the NMRC (National Microelectronics Research Centre). Over the years the two organisations have collaborated on a number of projects and the transfer of knowledge, with researchers moving from Tyndall to Analog and staff have also moved in the opposite direction.

Initial prototypes have been successfully demonstrated in working sensor systems and were showcased by the company at Photonics West in San Francisco.

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Bill Lane commented, “You cannot produce a researcher of use and relevant to ADI, unless they have ability and are also used to the tools and techniques of our sector.

The multi disciplinary nature of its environment is advantageous because the researchers who come out of Tyndall have a broader range of skills and thought processes. We are more than happy with all of our recent Tyndall hires.”

For example, Denis Doyle, Vice President Manufacturing and Fellow, at Analog Devices, Limerick studied at the NMRC for his PhD work, and his colleagues Bill Lane, Director Process Development-Ireland, Colin Lyden, Director of Technology for Converters and Fellow were Assistant Directors in the NMRC. Seamus Power, now Director of Engineering Services studied and worked in NMRC as a Research Scientist. Meanwhile, Ted O’Shea, who heads up the Design Technology Evaluation (DTE) group and Brendan O’Neill, who heads up Wafer Fabrication at Tyndall were previously with Analog Devices. This long, interwoven history is at the heart of their relationship and has continued into the present with the recent hire from Tyndall of Jan Kubik, complete with sensor IP, and Claire Barrett for the Process Development and Process Engineering groups. Many other ADI personnel have completed Master’s or PhD’s in Tyndall/UCC as well.

He expanded, “The projects we run in Tyndall are designed to explore process technologies we don’t currently know anything about, in other words emerging new technologies. What we get is a very early introduction and the opportunity to investigate what would be required to bring these new technologies into manufacturing. We have licensed or acquired several technologies over the years from Tyndall / NMRC. Tyndall has the people to help explore those unknown places with us.”

Analog Devices, in business in Ireland for the past 30 years, currently employs over 1,000 people at its Irish headquarters in Limerick, The company is a leading manufacturer of very high precision analog, mixed-signal, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and RF integrated circuits (ICs) used in electronic equipment.

These technologies are used to convert, condition and process real-world phenomena, such as light, sound, temperature, motion, and pressure into electrical signals that computers can use.

Tyndall has worked with Analog Devices on a wide variety of directly funded and co-funded projects since 1982, in the DTE sector under task agreements since 1992, and by way of a formal 3-year cycle contract since 2002, with the latest contract signed in January 2013.

Ted O’Shea, of the DTE group at Tyndall explained that in the lead up to the new contract, Tyndall looked at how ADI’s requirements had changed, and then adapted to what was needed. “In DTE we focus on understanding the changing requirements of our customer and define this by way of a contract. In 2013, we brought new expertise and new focus to the ADI contract.”

“We support Analog’s Limerick manufacturing in two ways. One is in technology analysis, where we investigate technology details from a materials, geometric and processing perspective. Analog uses this information to help make decisions on how performance improvements can be achieved. The other area is in electrical re-design characterisation, wherein DTE takes sample products manufactured by Limerick or its other foundries and extensively characterise them electrically.

Signing of the $1.16m contract between Analog Devices and Tyndall concerning product transfer precision characterisation and new technology development support. Denis Doyle V.P. & General Manager; Ted O'Shea, Tyndall; John Liddy Director, Manufacturing Operations; Larry O’Sullivan Manager, Product Engineering.

According to Denis Doyle the postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers who have emerged from Tyndall have been very successful at ADI. The research undertaken is flexible and multi-faceted and provides a great environment in which to undertake a PhD or post-doctoral study program. “The graduates of these activities are in tune with, and fit in very successfully to our industry environment. While the research undertaken at Tyndall is valuable, ultimately for us, it’s the quality of the people coming out of there that is most important.” ADI also has a researcher embedded at Tyndall as part of the Institute’s Researcher in Residence Programme.”

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

DTE not only works with Analog Devices in Limerick, but also in Boston, San Jose, North Carolina and its UK bases.

According to Ted O’Shea, “What gives Tyndall’s DTE unit its competitive edge is its people and equipment resources. Our people are focused on addressing our client’s requirements and we have extensive electrical measurement and technology analysis equipment, which is further complemented by our new Electron Microscopy Facility.”

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National Access Programme

T

he National Access Programme is the SFIfunded programme that provides access to Tyndall’s state-of-the-art facilities and expertise to researchers throughout Ireland. The programme successfully completed its 8th year of operation in 2012; to date 316 collaborative projects have been funded across all Tyndall’s technology areas in health, communications, energy and the environment. 50% of NAP projects address issues in health ranging from modelling the behaviour of cancer cells through to developing wearable wireless systems for patient monitoring and rehabilitation.

NAP is governed by an independent external Access Committee of 14 senior academics representing all of the Irish Universities and large Institutes of Technology (chaired by Prof. Greg Hughes of DCU). The Access Committee ensures that projects with excellent scientific quality, strong potential impact and representing good value for money are funded and undertaken.

Irish Third Level Institutions participating in the National Access Programme

University of Ulster Letterkenny Institute of Technology

Queen’s University Belfast

Sligo Institute of Technology

Dundalk Institute of Technology

National University Ireland Galway Athlone Institute of Technology

Galway Mayo Institute of Technology

Carlow Institute of Technology

Limerick Institute of Technology

NAP projects continue to demonstrate excelUniversity lent research outputs in terms of project Institute of of Limerick results, collaboration, scientific publicaTechnology Tralee tions and leveraging additional Tyndall National Institute international non-exchequer funding.

University College Cork

National University of Ireland Maynooth

Waterford Institute of Technology

NAP Highlights

•

•

•

•

30% of participants are postgraduate students and 68 completed PhD & Masters theses have

acknowledged NAP.

1,900 researchers have attended NAP talks and Open Days.

•

292 researchers have spent over 632 access days at Tyndall.

•

NAP Projects have seeded collaborations

which have led to follow-on SFI, EI and EU funding.

7 patent applications have been reported resulting directly from NAP projects.

615 publications have resulted from projects to date.

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Dublin City University Trinity College Dublin University College Dublin Institute of Technology, Tallaght

Cork Institute of Technology

• Over 600 researchers have been funded from all 9 Universities (including QUB & UU) and 10 IT’s.

Dublin Institute of Technology

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Blanchardstown Institute of Technology Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

NAP368

Fine tunable integrated photonic crystal filter for WDM optical interconnects on Si chip Anna Baldycheva (Trinity College Dublin) Silicon based photonic devices offer the potential for miniaturised, low cost, low power communication devices. Researchers in TCD are developing unique solutions for the fabrication of silicon-based tunable filters. One of the key constraints is that precise sub-micron definition of the separate channels is required. In this NAP project the silicon fab team at Tyndall produced extremely high quality devices on silicon to further this research. The fab team also devised a new fabrication process to etch deep trenches (80 Âľm) on the same chip allowing precise positioning of the fiber-optic required to couple to the photonic devices.

NAP349

Nano-scale silicon waveguides integrated with micron-scale cavities for fiber-optic coupling.

In-vitro characterisation of orthopaedic PMMA bone cement with multi-walled carbon nanotubes Dr. Nicholas Dunne (Queens University Belfast) A common cause of failure in hip and knee replacements is the cement used to join the bones. The use of multi-walled carbon nanotube powders is being investigated by researchers in QUB due to their potential to improve the mechanical, thermal and handling properties of the bone cement, thereby reducing the number of mechanical failures. This NAP project used the micro-Raman facilitity at Tyndall to quantitatively examine the impact of the carbon nanotubes. The results showed that the nanotube powders significantly improved the mechanical properties of the bone cement when compared to commercially available products.

NAP399

Bone cement improvement analysis using the micro-Raman Spectrometer.

Profiling effective kayak and rowing paddle strokes using wireless technology Dr. John Bradley (University College Cork) Kayaking depends as much on the paddling technique as physical strength. In order to improve performance the paddling technique must be linked to actual movement of the boat in the water as well as understanding the movement of the paddle. Researchers in UCC and Tyndall have developed a novel wireless system that, for the first time, enables boat/paddle movement analysis in water. In this NAP project wireless inertial measurement units (WIMUs) were designed and placed in water-proof packages in key positions on the boat and paddles, and a software interface was designed to allow analysis of the captured data.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Wireless sensing on a kayak used to improve paddling performance.

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Graduate Education

Graduate students at Tyndall.

“Tyndall continues to attract students nationally and internationally with a student body drawn from over 20 nations”

P

The event, “Enabling the Smart Economy/Taking Your Research To New Heights” took place in September, 2012 in Dublin. Over 50 science and engineering PhD candidates participated with representation from all seven Irish universities and several ITs, and the event featured international speakers from the world of business and innovation.

roviding highly skilled graduates that will become tomorrow’s technology and business leaders is the priority for our graduate education programmes. To aid in this objective, Tyndall introduced the PhD in Engineering Sciences in partnership with UCC, and the first year student intake has progressed successfully through the new programme during 2012. Tyndall’s PhD in Engineering Science is a leading model for Ireland’s introduction of structured PhD programmes, as the nationwide adoption of this new philosophy for graduate education is introduced.

A particularly appealing feature of the Engineering Science programme is the collaboration between Tyndall and the UCC Colleges of Science, Engineering & Food Sciences and Business & Law to provide technical and business modules for science and engineering graduate students. In collaboration with Irish universities and institutes of technology, the Tyndall-led ICGEE and INSPIRE graduate research education programmes also organised the 2012 business and innovation training workshop in partnership with the Dublin-based Innovation Academy.

Tyndall remains Ireland’s focal point for graduate education in ICT technologies. At the end of 2012, Tyndall was host to 134 students with approximately 90% pursuing PhDs with the remainder registered for Masters programmes. Tyndall continues to attract students nationally and internationally with a student body drawn from over 20 nations: 48% of our students are Irish, 21% are from other EU countries and 31% are from non-EU countries. The majority of these graduate students are registered with UCC, but 6% register with our partner in research and education, Cork Institute of Technology.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

The newly developed Learning Management System can include one or a combination of the following:

A National Curriculum in Nanoscience and Nanoscale Engineering

• Self paced on-line modules pre-recorded by lecturers. Students can access the lectures at any time with internet access and login details.

Interaction and communication is hosted via VLE as well as through a forum, messages and tutorials (face to face or online).

Tyndall continues to co-ordinate two national interinstitutional graduate education programmes: Graduate Education in Micro and Nano-engineering (ICGEE) and the Integrated NanoScience Platform for Ireland (INSPIRE). The joint national curriculum in nanoscience and engineering combines the individual strengths of our partner institutions and pools the combined expertise of Irish 4th level education into a single offering to students. The structured training offered covers graduate courses in technical topics in micro- and nano-electronics, nanoscience, photonics and biotechnology. The curriculum includes transferable skills courses such as communication and presentation skills, and business related courses in innovation, commercialisation and entrepreneurship.

The INSPIRE and ICGEE graduate programmes continue to act as a sponsor for UCC’s IGNITE initiative which provides training and resources to entrepreneurs seeking to develop a business for any market. Tyndall graduate students are then in turn offered places at the seminars given by successful entrepreneurs, investors and venture capitalists.

• Real time video-streamed lectures delivered via VLE and online collaboration tools or video conferencing systems. All meetings are recorded and made available to course attendees on the course page for future reference. Students can interact with the lecturer during the online sessions or via a forum on the VLE. • Intensive block-delivery courses run over 4/5 days to complete the entire syllabus of a module. This option is best suited or inevitable for modules where laboratory work is mandatory. Examples include the compound semiconductor processing course in which students receive “hands-on” training in device fabrication in the Tyndall Traning Fab. Since its establishment in 2010, the VLE is approaching 500 registered users and hosts over 20 graduate level modules. Tyndall offers access to this unique national education environment to all Irish academic partners.

“ I used the ICGEE Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to take a UCC module on Radio Frequency IC Design in 2010/2011. I found the VLE for this course to be very beneficial. Dr. McCarthy's recorded lectures are extremely useful along with his availability to the VLE students. His willingness to answer questions via email, phone or in person helped to ensure that VLE course quality was in keeping with the quality of the traditional learning environment.”

Innovative Training the eLearning Way Working with its academic partners, Tyndall is developing a virtual learning environment (VLE) as a national resource to provide technology and infrastructure for on-line or blended course delivery. The VLE can be used by Irish 4th level trainers to facilitate on-line, secure communication between lecturers and students, student enrolment, progress tracking, assignment submission and content management.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Eamonn Martin, PhD student in Dublin City University 36

One of the lecturers using the VLE for module delivery is Dr Prof. Clem Higginbotham, Director, Materials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology. He says “For more than two years, I have been using the virtual learning environment (VLE) developed by ICGEE to teach PhD level courses in Polymer and Biomedical Materials. I am in Athlone Institute of Technology but my students are spread out across several Irish Universities. I therefore used the VLE platform to deliver lectures and periodical online meetings for more indepth discussions when required by the student.

I find the platform very simple and intuitive and have also received very positive endorsement from the students on same. It’s been a great experience for me and my students and we will recommend it or a similar platform as a basis for inter-institutional teaching & learning”

The committee also arranged the annual student survey, the purpose of which is to access student satisfaction with all aspects of life in Tyndall.

The committee is also active in organising regular social events for students.

Graduate Student Committee We are very fortunate in Tyndall to have a really strong Graduate Student Committee to represent the interests of all our graduate students. In 2012, the committee was chaired by Monika Zygowska and the members included Conor Coughlan, Gangotri Dey, Barry Hutchinson, Merid Legesse, Ethel Noonan and Tuhin Maity. Each year, the committee take on the considerable task of organising and managing the Student Poster Competition and they always rise to the challenge even with the ever growing number of entries.

PhD Theses 2012 Azrilawani Ahmad “Development of biosensors for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental monitoring of water” Francesco Brandonisio “Noise-shaping all-digital phase-locked-loops: modeling, simulation, analysis and design” Nicola Brandonisio “Dynamics of dual-mode semiconductor lasers with current modulation and delayed optical feedback”

Members of 2012 Student Committee: Merid Legesse, Conor Coughlan, Gangotri Dey, Barry Hutchinson and Tuhin Maity. Missing from photograph are Monika Zygowska and Ethel Noonan.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Student Awards & Prizes 2012

David Burke “Porous carbon nanomaterials as heavy metal ion adsorbents”

The annual Tyndall postgraduate poster competition attracted a record number of 42 entries this year.

The event is organised by the postgraduate student committee and judged by the members of the Tyndall Board. The Board praised the high level of science and quality in the preparation and presentation of the posters. First, second and third prizes were awarded to Michael Burke, Colm Barrett and Keith Linehan respectively, all students in Tyndall’s Nanotechnology Group. Michael received first prize for his poster entitled “Passivation and non-covalent functionalisation of graphene using self-assembly of alkane-amines”.

Colm received second prize for his poster entitled “Replication of micro-needles for electro-biochemical applications”. The title of Keith’s poster was “Size control of silicon nanocrystals using cationic surfactants”.

Ragh Charash “Design and characterisation of GaN based Light emitting devices” Chris Daunt "The optimisation of electro-absorption modulators for photonics integrated circuits" Brian Fitzgibbon “Contributions to the understanding and application of digital delta-sigma modulators” Paola Frascella “High-capacity direct detected coherent WDM” Tatiana Habruseva “Quantum-dot mode locked lasers with optical injection”

The board also shortlisted 3 additional students in recognition of the quality of their posters. Carola Schopf, a PhD student in the Nanotechnolog group, for her poster titled “Correlated electron microscopy /optical imaging and spectroscopy of single Au nanorods and 2D nanorod assemblies”; Monika Zygowska, a PhD student in the Life Science Interface group, for her poster entitled “Mathematical model for the catalytic system of enzymatic biofuel cells” and Gangotri Dey, a PhD student in the Electronics Theory group, for her poster entitled “Transmetalation reaction mechanism for ALD of Cu to be used in interconnects – A study through density functional theory”. 2012 was a very successful year for Gangotri as she also won the student poster prize at both the ALD conference in Dresden, Gangotri Dey. Germany 2012 and the Chemistry Colloqium 2012, University of Limerick, Ireland for her poster entitled “Mechanism for ALD reaction of Cu”.

Clive Harris “Application of pseudopotential and tight binding methods to the theory of semiconductor materials” Patrycja Heinricht “Wavelength switching in a two-colour semiconductor laser” Nick Holubowitch “Platinum nanomaterials for direct methanol fuel cells” Feroze Nazneen “Nanoscale engineering of biomedical surfaces for cardiovascular applications” Roberto Pagano “Design and characterisation of high power semiconductor laser diodes” Danish Rafique “Electronic signal processing in optical communications analysis and application of nonlinear transmission limits”

The 2012 BOC Gases Bursary Award was presented to Lida Ansari, a PhD student in the Electronics Theory group. The title of Lida’s PhD thesis is “Atomic scale simulation of nanowire and nanotube transistors”.

Shaikh Khurram Saghir “Theory of the optical properties of novel micro cavity structures” Justin Varghese “Nanostructured ferroelectric materials” Lida Ansari

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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Una Crowley, a PhD Student in the Life Science Interface group, was awarded the Overall Best Student Award at the NanoBio Europe Conference in Varesse, Italy, June 2012 for her presentation titled “Toner-based microchips with luminol chemiluminescence detection and in-channel amperometric detection”.

What Our Students Say About Tyndall

Una Crowley

Naoise MacSuibhne: Undergraduate PhD Research:

Naoise MacSuibhne, PhD student in the Photonics Systems group, was part of a Tyndall team (Jian Zhao, Vivian Bessler, Naoise Mac Suibhne, Andrew Ellis, Patrick Morrissey) that was highly commended at the first Bells Labs Open Innovation Entrepreneurial Bootcamp. The goal of the bootcamp was to identify high potential, high-tech start-ups that Ireland has to offer. Naoise’s team developed an innovative transceiver design that it is hoped can help reduce cost and increase performance of transceivers that are the backbone of today’s metro and cloud computing networks.

Photonics Centre Electronic Engineering, UCC Photonics for providing ultra high capacity fibre optic networks

“Tyndall has a great diversity of characters and a large student population so there’s always a strong youthful undercurrent, no matter how much you feel that last set of data aged you!

I’d advise potential students not to be afraid of not knowing – with research there’s no answer at the back of the book!”

Danish Rafique, PhD student in the Photonics Systems group, was a semi-finalist for the Corning Outstanding Student Paper Competition at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) for his paper titled “Nonlinearity compensation via spectral inversion and digital back-propagation: A practical approach.”

Michele Conroy: Micro-Nanoelectronics Centre Undergraduate Degree: Chemistry, UCC PhD Research: Processing and structural characterisation of semiconductor nanowires

Ehsan Sooudi, PhD student in the Optoelectronics group, was a semi-finalist for the Corning Outstanding Student Paper Competition at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) for his paper titled “Phase synchronization of a two-channel phase-sensitive amplifier based on optical injection-locking of InP quantum-dash modelocked lasers.”

“I chose Tyndall for PhD study after I spent a really enjoyable summer here as a UREKA undergraduate intern. The main thing I enjoy about Tyndall is the interdisciplinary research. In a single project you can have researchers from theoretical physics to applied biology, making you, as a student, think outside your comfort zone.”

Mark Szepienic, PhD student in the Electronics Theory group, received the David Poster Prize for Theory posters at the Trends in Nanotechnology conference in Madrid in September 2012. The title of Mark’s poster is “Influence of electron correlation on single particle state energies and lifetimes in an atomic chain model of a tunnel junction”.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Jing Tao: Undergraduate & Masters Degrees: PhD Research:

Microsystems Centre Master of Engineering in Electronics, Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Germany Nanowires for 3D silicon interconnection

“I was really attracted to the research projects offered as they combine exciting technology and industry trends. Tyndall is a multinational research environment where you can make your ideas into reality. People are very friendly and helpful. I can define my own experiments knowing there’s always plenty professional expertise to advise when needed”.

Irene Yeriskin: Theory, Modelling and Design Centre Undergraduate Degree: Chemistry, UCC PhD Research: Properties of molecules in molecular tunnel junctions

“For me, what makes Tyndall special is meeting so many friendly and highly intelligent people from different research fields who are all willing to collaborate and offer their expertise to each other.

My PhD research in Tyndall has opened many avenues of potential employment with leading semiconductor manufacturers and much more. ”

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

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Prizes, Awards & Conferences Outstanding Leadership in Energy Management Award for Tyndall

Prizes & Awards

Tyndall won the 2012 Outstanding Leadership in Energy Management national award, presented by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

Cian Ó Mathúna Elevated To IEEE Fellow

Prof. Cian Ó Mathúna has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for his outstanding contribution to the field of power electronics with the citation highlighting his “leadership in the development of power supply using micromagnetics on silicon”. Cian is the only award recipient in Ireland in 2013 and now joins eight IEEE Fellows in Ireland to date. He is the first UCC PhD graduate to receive this prestigious award.

Since 2008, Tyndall has embarked on a proactive and intensive energy reduction campaign at its city centre site in Cork.

Brid Horan, Executive Director, Electric Ireland; Brendan Halligan, Chairman, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Pat Mehigan, Tyndall and Mr. Pat Rabbitte TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Prof. Cian Ó Mathúna

Ms Mary-Claire O’Regan of the Advanced Materials and Surfaces Group at Tyndall was awarded the UCC Research Support Person of the Year Award for 2012.

This campaign has realised real savings of 16 GWhrs up to the end of 2011, the equivalent of 2 years energy use for the site. The focussed energy management emphasis continues to be an outstanding success in delivering sustained savings in energy consumption, creating a strong awareness from the CEO to researcher level.

The award was based on the outstanding support provided for the Advanced Materials and Surfaces Group, the FORME Science Foundation Ireland Strategic Research Cluster (Functional Oxides and Related Materials for Electronics) and the PRTLI INSPIRE project at Tyndall.

In making the award to Tyndall the judges stated that, ‘‘Tyndall has developed and implemented effective energy management processes which have achieved substantial reduction in their energy footprint at the same time as the energy intensity of the facility has significantly increased.”

UCC Research Support Person of the Year Award

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

UCC Research Team of the Year 2012

Through this collaboration Tyndall will contribute to economic growth and job creation in Cork by building on our extensive natural resources, physical infrastructure, and the expertise and innovation available within the IERC at Tyndall.

Dr. Conor O’Mahony, along with colleagues Drs. Anne Moore and Abina Crean, both of UCC School of Pharmacy, were recently presented with the 2012 UCC Research Team of the Year award for their work on microneedle technologies.

Starting Investigator Research Grants

The SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG) Programme provides an opportunity for excellent early-career-stage investigators to carry out independent research in the fields of science and engineering that underpin biotechnology, information and communications technology, and sustainable energy and energy-efficient technologies.

Tyndall won 5 SIRG awards in the recent round which translated into 25% of the number of awards made nationally. Transnational mobility was an objective of the SIRG programme. Consequently, a significant number of awards were offered to “transnational applicants”, bringing exciting new research talent to Tyndall.

Ms. Mary-Claire O'Regan and Dr. Conor O'Mahony were honoured for their contributions to research at the inaugural University College Cork Research Awards.

The award celebrates UCC researchers who have made exceptional and very influential research contributions, pushed boundaries, enhanced knowledge and raised the national and international research profile of UCC.

Energy Cork Strategy

Tyndall has become a member of the Energy Cork Cluster whose strategy document was launched in December 2012. Its aims are to consolidate awareness of Cork’s position at the forefront of economic, commercial, research and educational activity in the energy sector in Ireland.

Dr. Ian O’Driscoll

Ultrashort pulse generation in InAs quantum dots

Dr. Peter Ossieur

Photonic systems, energy efficiency

Dr. Ivana Savic

Thermoelectrics, modelling

Dr. Damien Thompson

Regenerative medicine, protein engineering

Dr. Jian Zhao

Signal processing, optical communications

Ivana Savic (theorist) joined Tyndall from UC Davis and Ian O’Driscoll (experimentalist) joined from Cardiff University.

Members of Energy Cork Steering Committee: Kieran Lettice, Energy Cork; Conor Healy, Cork Chamber; Sean Condon, ServusNet Informatics Ltd.; Patrick Fitzpatrick, UCC; and Michael Grufferty, Tyndall.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

42

Conferences

May 2012 IERC Integrated Energy Systems Annual Conference May 2012

Through hosting conferences Tyndall communicates its unique and ground breaking research. Conferences in Tyndall assist with the exchange of knowledge with industry and academia on the latest experimental results and theoretical advances in all of its centres.

Below is a selection of facts and photos from some of our conferences in 2012.

1. Delegate numbers:

97

6 Company delegates: 46 Student delegates: 5

2. International delegates: 3.

4.

May 2012 Microneedles 2012

186 International delegates: 155 Company delegates: 79 Student delegates: 53

1. Delegate numbers: 2.

3.

4.

Liam Sweeney Enterprise Ireland, Sarah O’Connell UTRC and Aidan Duffy DIT at the IERC Annual Conference, in May 2012.

June 2012 Healthcare/Medtech Workshop

60 Student delegates: 5

1. Delegate numbers: 2.

Dr. Conor O'Mahony, Chairman, Microneedles 2012; Mr. Sean Sherlock TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Research & Innovation; and Dr. Alastair Glass, Chairman Tyndall pictured inspecting a wafer of Tyndall-produced silicon microneedles at the opening of the Microneedles 2012 Conference in Cork.

Delegates at the Healthcare/Medtech Workshop held in Tyndall, June 2012.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

June 2012

October 2012

Big Science for Small Countries

MCCI Research Forum 1. Delegate numbers:

83

11 64

2. International delegates: 3. Company delegates:

Victor Peng, Senior VP of Xilinx presenting the keynote address at the MCCI Research Forum.

Professor Patrick O’Shea Vice President and Chief Research Officer University of Maryland addresses delegates at ESOF Dublin 2012 as part of the “Big Science for Small Countries” session which was led by Tyndall and UCC.

Tyndall Lecture Series September 2012

The Tyndall Lecture Series was established in 2008 under the auspices of the Tyndall Research Committee.

At its core, the series is committed to seeking out and inviting outstanding scientists and internationallyrecognised researchers who will encourage thoughtprovoking conversations and ideas and establish enduring connections and collaborations. In 2012 Tyndall hosted five lectures in the series, including Nobel Prize winner, Sir Harry Kroto. Two of the speakers, Paul Corkum and Ferenc Krausz, have recently been awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for their work in physics.

Business & Innovation Workshop 1. Delegate numbers:

83

11 64

2. International delegates: 3. Company delegates:

Attosecond Physics: The First Decade 06/02/2012 Professor Ferenc Krausz Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching, Germany

Entrepreneur & venture capitalist Bill Liao inspiring the next generation of innovators at the 2012 Business & Innovation workshop.

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

44

Electrochemistry At The Nanoscale 15/03/2012

Carbon Nano-Materials for Energy Harvesting 4/10/2012

Professor Richard G Compton Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford

Professor Siegmar Roth Max Planck Institute, Germany

Spontaneous Wrinkling of Graphene Film to avoid 2-Dimensional Long Range Ordering.

Attosecond Science: What We Learn By Transforming Many Photons Into One 21/05/2012 Professor Paul Corkum University of Ottawa and National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Carbon in Nano and Outer Space 11/07/2012 Professor Sir Harold Kroto FRS Nobel Prize Winner Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry Florida State University

Professor Martyn Pemble, Professor Sir Harold Kroto FRS and Professor Eoin O’Reilly on the occasion of Sir Harry’s lecture in the Tyndall Lecture Series.

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Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Financial Income & Expenditure Summary

INCOME

2012

2011

€’000

€’000

3,738

3,000

26,323

25,298

2,160

2,168

32,221

30,466

2012

2011

€’000

€’000

17,231

17,697

Equipment and infrastructure

6,256

1,649

Consumables and related costs

8,375

7,636

359

3,484

32,221

30,466

Government grant Research UCC contribution

ExPENDITURE

Remuneration costs

Other operating and deferred costs

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

46

Key Figures Over

450 38 People

Nationalities

Over

81

130

EU FP7 Projects with a Total Budget of

Graduate Students

€212m of which

€34m to Tyndall

ca.

200

Peer Reviewed Publications

Over

80% of

Income from Competitively-Won Contracts

Co-ordinating

26

EU FP7 Projects worth

Only Full CMOS, MEMS and III-V Fabrication Facilities & Services in Ireland

Over

€52m

200

Industry Partnerships & Customers Worldwide 47

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Tyndall Board

Dr. Alastair Glass Chairman

Dr. Kieran F. Drain CEO

Dr. Lisa Amini (IBM)

Mr. Martin Cronin (Forfรกs)

Mr. Dermot Curran (Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation)

Mr. Kevin Fielding (Alta Berkeley)

Dr. Ann Kelleher (Intel)

Ms. Geraldine Kelly (rXi Ventures)

Prof. Anita Maguire (University College Cork)

Prof. Jim Merz (University of Notre Dame)

Mr. John Mullins (Augmentis Ireland)

Mr. Ian Quinn (Creganna-Tactx Medical)

Tyndall National Institute I Annual Report 2012

Prof. Willy Sansen (Prof. Em. KU Leuven)

48

“Start-ups don’t have the resources in-house to develop the breadth of expertise available at Tyndall. We set up an office in the Tyndall incubation centre to allow us maximise the benefits of our working relationship.

We now have seven people working in our Cork based office.”

Michael Phelan, founder of Endeco Leading provider of wireless energy saving control products.

“We have enjoyed working with Tyndall and utilising their expertise and wafer fabrication facility. They helped supply the quality and accuracy demanded by our requirement to make the miniature quadrupole components.”

Peter Edwards, Technical Director at Microsaic Microsaic is the first and only company to have successfully miniaturised mass spectrometry.

Lee Maltings, Dyke Parade, Cork, Ireland Tel: +353 21 4904177 • Email: info@tyndall.ie • www.tyndall.ie

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