New lab allows building of new materials - one atomic layer at a time Tuesday, 03 November 2015

A new $3.3 million laboratory at the University of NSW will allow researchers to custom design completely new materials, with properties that cannot be found in nature.

Federal Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, opened the UNSW Epitaxial Growth Laboratory at the end of October 2015. Also in attendance were NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane, and the CEO of ANFF, Rosie Hicks.

“The UNSW Epitaxial Growth Laboratory provides researchers and industry with a one-of-a-kind capability in advanced materials fabrication for devices that have the potential to revolutionise sectors such as telecommunications, health, and energy,” Senator Birmingham said.

The Epitaxial Growth Laboratory is the latest of eight specialist Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) research nodes funded by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

The ANFF aims to enable research that will  have real outcomes for the Australian industry, economic growth, and innovation. It involves around 20 Australian universities and the CSIRO, and provides researchers with access to advanced micro- and nano-fabrication facilities.

The new laboratory houses three tools that use an advanced crystal growth technique known as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). This allows new materials to be fabricated extremely precisely: one atomic layer at a time.

MBE techniques enable new technologies by allowing researchers to enhance the performance of existing materials, and to create new materials not possible by any other method.

The Epiatxial Growth Laboratory will allow the development of materials used in new solar energy technologies, advanced quantum devices, and new sensors for medicine and the environment.

The new epitaxy tools were funded under the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) program. This support includes provision of highly skilled technical personnel to operate the complex machinery and provide expertise in materials development to researchers and industry.

While at UNSW, Minister Birmingham also visited the Australian Research Council’s Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT@UNSW) and lab facilities. The Centre, led by UNSW Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, is a world leading research and development unit specialising in both the science and the real world application of waste transformation.

SMaRT@UNSW has gained recognition for developing world-first Australian innovations surrounding the recycling of plastics, rubber tyres and electronic waste. These initiatives are now being commercialised around the world.

In 2015 the SMaRT Centre was awarded funding for a prestigious Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub, the first of its kind in Australia.