Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is a powerful and widely used method for surface chemical analysis. The technique involves bombarding a sample with a high energy primary ion beam and detecting the chemistry of the molecular secondary ions that are ejected. The research group at the University of Manchester has over 30 years acquired an internationally-leading reputation for the development and analytical application of the ToF-SIMS technique. In recent years the development of novel primary ion beams such as C60 and massive gas clusters (e.g. Ar2000) has extended the range of chemistry that can be detected and allowed in-depth and 3D molecular analysis beyond the surface region. This has greatly accelerated the uptake of the technique in academic and industrial labs, to measure complex molecular systems such as biological cells and advanced materials and devices, and to make advances in healthcare diagnostics and manufacturing. Conventionally, ToF-SIMS measurements rely on signal averaging (SA) over multiple experimental cycles to maximise the signal-to-noise ratio and resulting sensitivity. Each cycle consists of a short (nanosecond) primary ion pulse, followed by the measurement of the flight time (up to 0.2 milliseconds) of secondary ions, ejected from the sample, to a detector to determine their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio. The m/z ratio in turn provides information about the chemistry of the detected ions and therefore of the sample. In this configuration the system waits for all secondary ions in each cycle to reach the detector before beginning the next cycle - the data is inherently sparse. The resulting poor duty cycle limited by the flight time of the largest m/z ion leads to inefficient (<0.1%) primary ion usage and long experimental measurements. In producing a pixel-by-pixel chemical image of the sample surface very many (~1 million) experimental cycles are used to gain the required sensitivity, often taking several hours of experiment time. Extending the analysis to the sub-surface region (depth-profiling or 3D imaging) requires many times longer or involves a different methodology whereby only a small fraction of the sample is analysed and potentially important information is lost. Here we present a multiplexing methodology in which multiple secondary ion packets are measured simultaneously. This allows much more efficient (up to 50%) usage of the primary beam for signal generation and ensures that the summed mass spectra more rapidly converge to a sensitive and accurate measurement. This represents a completely new paradigm for ToF-SIMS. The development of the necessary hardware (ion optics and electronics), computer control and data processing software is an adventurous task for which we have put together a multidisciplinary academic and industrial team, uniquely positioned to meet this challenge. The result will be greatly improved signal-to-noise and therefore greater sensitivity in shorter experiments. This will increase the throughput and analytical power of the ToF-SIMS technique and extend the range of complex samples that can be analysed. Benefits of improved analytical power will impact on many sectors using this technology including advanced manufacturing and healthcare.

Silicon based information technology has revolutionized the modern world. As device features have decreased in size, integrated circuits (ICs) have become subject to quantum mechanical phenomena. Quantum technologies aim to exploit these quantum mechanical phenomena to perform tasks that are difficult or impossible with conventional technologies. One of the main obstacles in developing quantum technologies is the rapid destruction of quantum superposition states caused by interference with the environment in a process called decoherence. Recently, extremely long coherence times (hours) have been demonstrated using small amounts of additives to silicon that have a "spare" electron (donor impurities). Although even longer times can be obtained for atoms in vacuum, an atom trapped permanently in a solid crystal such as silicon is much easier to handle. A major source of decoherence in solids is the nuclear spin of the atoms that make up the host crystals, as they often flop around uncontrollably. This has been eliminated by isotopically purifying the silicon (which normally contains a mix of isotopes, only a small number of which have nuclear spin). Even so, the donor impurities don't interact with telecoms wavelength light, and this is critical for many quantum technologies, quantum communication schemes in particular. There are currently no solid-state quantum technology platforms with long coherence times and optical fibre telecommunications compatibility. The optical transitions of the rare-earth atom erbium are, however, telecommunications compatible. Rare-earth ions are also ideal systems for quantum technologies because the shielding of their electrons offers an atomic scale barrier to decoherence. When doped into relatively high nuclear spin metal oxide crystals, rare-earths show coherence times comparable to donor impurities in natural silicon, but are yet to be investigated in silicon themselves. Ion implantation is a well understood technology used in today's silicon IC manufacture and history has shown that commercial interest in new technologies favours those relying on established fabrication platforms and techniques. Given the expected improvement in coherence time from using erbium implanted isotopically pure silicon, it should be possible to develop a quantum technology platform that has a long coherence time, and is telecommunications and conventional IC tooling compatible. Quantum computation schemes require the entanglement of quantum bits (qubits), this remains challenging in silicon based qubits but has been demonstrated in superconducting circuit qubits. As the latter has short coherence times and lacks optical addressability, I envisage a hybrid scheme where processing is performed with the superconducting resonators and erbium implanted silicon qubits are used as the quantum memory element and as a quantum transducer between telecommunications and microwave wavelength photons. Through this project I will introduce a new quantum technology platform to the research community: erbium implanted silicon. This platform combines the telecommunication capability of erbium and integrated circuit capability of silicon, making it valuable for both quantum computing and quantum communication applications.

Development of materials has underpinned human and societal development for millennia, and such development has accelerated as time has passed. From the discovery of bronze through to wrought iron and then steel and polymers the visible world around has been shaped and built, relying on the intrinsic properties of these materials. In the 20th century a new materials revolution took place leading to the development of materials that are designed for their electronic (e.g. silicon), optical (e.g. glass fibres) or magnetic (e.g. recording media) properties. These materials changed the way we interact with the world and each other through the development of microelectronics (computers), the world wide web (optical fibre communications) and associated technologies. Now, two decades into the 21st century, we need to add more functionality into materials at ever smaller length-scales in order to develop ever more capable technologies with increased energy efficiency and at an acceptable manufacturing cost. In pursuing this ambition, we now find ourselves at the limit of current materials-processing technologies with an often complex interdependence of materials properties (e.g. thermal and electronic). As we approach length scales below 100s of nanometres, we have to harness quantum effects to address the need for devices with a step-change in performance and energy-efficiency, and ultimately for some cases the fundamental limitations of quantum mechanics. In this programme grant we will develop a new approach to delivering material functionalisation based on Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (NAME). This approach will enable the modification of materials through the addition (doping) of single atoms through to many trillions with extreme accuracy (~20 nanometres, less than 1000th the thickness of a human hair). This will allow us to functionalise specifically a material in a highly localised location leaving the remaining material available for modification. For the first time this will offer a new approach to addressing the limitations faced by existing approaches in technology development at these small length scales. We will be able to change independently a material's electronic and thermal properties on the nanoscale, and use the precise doping to deliver enhanced optical functionality in engineered materials. Ambitiously, we aim to use NAME to control material properties which have to date proven difficult to exploit fully (e.g. quantum mechanical spin), and to control states of systems predicted but not yet directly experimentally observed or controlled (e.g. topological surface states). Ultimately, we may provide a viable route to the development of quantum bits (qubits) in materials which are a pre-requisite for the realisation of a quantum computer. Such a technology, albeit long term, is predicted to be the next great technological revolution NAME is a collaborative programme between internationally leading UK researchers from the Universities of Manchester, Leeds and Imperial College London, who together lead the Henry Royce Institute research theme identified as 'Atoms to Devices'. Together they have already established the required substantial infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities through investment from Royce, the EPSRC and each University partner. The programme grant will provide the resource to assemble the wider team required to deliver the NAME vision, including UK academics, research fellows, and postdoctoral researchers, supported by PhD students funded by the Universities. The programme grant also has significant support from wider academia and industry based both within the UK and internationally.

The development of new materials and new devices / products based upon these materials is absolutely critical to the economic development of our society. One critical aspect of the development of new materials is the ability to analyse the materials and thus determine their properties. Indeed at the very heart of the philosophy of the materials discipline is the relationship between the microstructure and the properties of the materials. The core idea is that through processing one can control the microstructure and thus the properties. Materials characterisation tells us how succesful we have been at changing the microstructure and so is essential in process development. It also tells us what has gone wrong when materials or devices based upon them fail, i.e. it is used in troubleshooting. There are a vast array of advanced materials characterisation techniques available these days and it is very challenging to know the best technique or combination of techniques to use to answer specific research problems. There is a need, therefore, to train research scientists who are expert in the use of certain techniques but also have a broader in-depth understanding of the plethora of techniques that potentially could be used. At the moment there is a skills gap in this area and we will plug that gap with this CDT in advanced characterisation of materials that brings together experts in advanced materials characterisation from two of the worlds top universities. The students will also spend some time (at least 12 weeks) in industry or at an overseas univeristy receiving context specific training. The unique vision brought by this research training programme, therefore, is that our students will have a knowledge of materials characterisation that goes beyond narrow expertise in one or two experimental techniques, or a general overview of many, and instead cuts to the heart of what it means to be a leading experimentalist; with an inherent understanding of the nature of a scientific problem, the fundamental principles and intellectual tools required to address the problem, the technical knowledge and craft to apply the most appropriate experimental technique to obtain the necessary information and the critical and analytical skill to extract the solution from the data. The vision will be realised by exploiting the unique experimental infrastructure provided by UCL and ICL. The first year will be an MRes structure with the entire cohort receiving laboratory based practical training in techniques ubiquitous to modern day materials characterisation such as vacuum technology, scanning probe microscopy, optical characterisation techniques and clean-room processing. Key analytical skills will be taught such as data handling, manipulation and interpretation, practiced on real data, exploiting facilities such as Imperials ToF-SIMS analysis suite and UCL chemistry's material modelling user interface. We will engage with industry to generate genuine problem-based characterisation case studies so that elements of the course will be founded on problem based learning. Visiting professors such as Mark Dowsett (Warwick University) and Hidde Brongersma(Calipso BV) will contribute to the training experience and some external courses will be used for specialist training, for example at ISIS. Traditional lectures will be limited in number with every sub-topic leading into an interactive problem class run by one of our extensive number of industry partners. In our CDT ACM the thrill of solving class problems together and of competing in team-based experimental challenges will produce a highly engaged, critically minded, close-knit team of students.