Facilities
The exciting research activity taking place across our School is made possible by a range of outstanding laboratories and technologies.
Cardiff Diamond Foundry
We have two class-1000 cleanrooms, which have extensive experimental and theoretical capability, including low-energy electron microscopy, ultrafast non-linear optical micro-spectroscopy, and device structure fabrication and testing. We also have access to Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) facilities at the Cardiff Diamond Foundry.
Institute for Compound Semiconductors
Our close relationship with the Institute for Compound Semiconductors means that some of our researchers share their facilities, including state-of-the-art equipment for the fabrication of compound semiconductors. The Institute will soon be moving into the brand-new, purpose-built Translational Research Hub as part of Cardiff University's £300 million Innovation Campus.
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre
Researchers in our recently-established Brain Imaging Group benefit from access to Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), a £44 million facility that opened in 2016. Its impressive range of neuroimaging equipment has already led to world-leading research in other areas and will now help us to do the same in applying the principles of physics to the biological processes of the brain.
Gravity Exploration Institute
Our Gravity Exploration Institute is part of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) project, and is a co-founder of the GEO600 Gravitational Wave Detector in Germany. These international collaborations have given our researchers access to some of the most advanced scientific equipment in the world; equipment which led to the ground-breaking first detection of gravitational waves in 2015.
Investment in infrastructure
We have seen substantial research funding and investment in infrastructure including a new experimental gravitational wave laboratory, a diamond chemical vapour deposition system, a two-photon laser lithography installation (to create structures to observe magnetic monopoles), and infrastructure for the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing.
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A spectrally filtered white-light laser, used to probe fluorescent properties of biological samples.
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Omicron variable temperature, ultra-high vacuum AFM/STM, with XPS, UPS and organic molecular beam epitaxy, customised for nanoscale molecular electronics.
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An Optical Parametric Oscillator SHG crystal in APE OPO, running in ring-cavity and intracavity-doubling mode.
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A Heterodyne Pump-Probe & FWM setup 100fs pulses at 76MHz repetition rate at 590nm wavelength from a intracavity frequency doubled OPO (APE). Beam path through two oil-immersion objectives with a colloidal quantum dot sample.
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A Ti-Sapphire laser, with operating wavelength: 700-1000nm. Its passively mode-locked cavity generates 200fs pulses separated by 13.2ns (76MHz).
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Another view of the Optical Parametric Oscillator.
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Low temperature test facility for precision characterisation of infrared detector arrays. The facility allows precision characterisation of dark current density (light-tight 4 K environment), quantum efficiency, spectral response, temporal response, carrier lifetime, cross talk, noise, charge handling capacity, MTF, etc. Arrays or single pixels, together with associated ROICs/ASICs, can be fully characterised from 15K to room temperature, and over the spectral range 1.5 - 16µm.
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Infrared camera kit for the analysis of device nearfield emission.
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An example of kit that is used to obtain the spectral characteristics of and characterise laser devices.
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Multi-wavelength Raman / Photoluminescence system with wide range temperature capabilities (-200ºC - 1500ºC).
New developments
Having occupied Cardiff University’s iconic Main Building since 1927, our School’s infrastructure will undergo a transformation in early 2022 when the Institute of Compound Semiconductors relocates into the nearby Translational Research Hub (TRH) building on the new £300M Innovation Campus.
The TRH will bring together researchers, co-housed in purpose designed laboratories to engender interdisciplinary research.
