Published date: 4 April 2024

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 7 May 2024, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Dry-etching equipment - 22520000

  • Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) - 38000000

Location of contract

M13 9PL

Value of contract

£0

Procurement reference

IT-516-138-2024-2157-ALE-RG-PC

Published date

4 April 2024

Closing date

7 May 2024

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

17 May 2024

Contract end date

6 May 2025

Contract type

Supply contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (above threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

Background information on Project
This tender is being run on behalf of Prof. Roman Gorbachev for the School of Physics and Astronomy/National Graphene Institute.

Project Overview
The National Graphene Institute (NGI) has a large cleanroom facility housing a range of state-of-the-art instruments dedicated to the fabrication and characterization of 2D related metamaterials and devices for a broad range of applications, from advanced optoelectronics to nanofluidics. An essential part of many fabrication processes is the capability to dry etch materials. A range of plasma-based dry etching techniques have been developed for 2D materials (2DM), primarily to completely remove specific regions in order to create a pattern defined by a lithographic mask. "Thinning down" of atomically thin 2DM by etching so far remains problematic, as the surface amorphization leads to complete loss of their unique properties. Subsequently, "soft-plasma" etching techniques were developed to approach layer-by-layer etching of various 2DM. These methods provide great control of the thickness, but they are not self-limiting in nature due to associated physical etching processes and thus require careful optimization of many dry etching parameters. Even then, damage to the underlaying materials is frequent, limiting its use for nanotechnology applications that demand the highest crystal quality (quantum technologies, sensors, etc.).
To overcome these limitations, this project aims to study the use of Atomic Layer Etching (ALE) of 2DM, using multi-step, self-limiting reactions to allow precise (layer-by-layer), highly selective and low damage etching. The proposed platform must include the capability to perform ALE in addition to the conventional inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and/or reactive ion etching (RIE) processes, with fast recipe control and fine tuning of low bias powers. Apart from "thinning down" of 2DM, more controllable and reliable ICP/RIE will also benefit a range of already existing processes in terms of reproducibility, uniformity and control, such as clean layer transfers for heterostructure fabrication and synthesis of high-quality ohmic contacts to 2DM.

More information

Links

Additional text

Information, formalities and necessary requirements to be met will be set out in the procurement documents, all of which are available via the University`s procurement portal In-Tend - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/manchesteruniversity


Funding Type (WEFO or EU) : EPSRC

Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : No

About the buyer

Contact name

Paul Carter

Address

Manchester
Manchester
Manchester
M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Telephone

-

Email

paul.carter-2@manchester.ac.uk