Partners

Philipps University Marburg (Germany)

The Central Technology Laboratory of the Materials Science Center (WZMW) of Philipps University Marburg (UNIMAR) is an interdisciplinary research centre founded in 1988. It encompasses groups from the departments of physics, chemistry and pharmacy and is engaged with research as well as with teaching in the respective departments. The central technology laboratory deals mainly with the growth and characterisation as well as processing of and the application of III-V semiconductor hetero-structures. Marburg will lead the workpackage on material growth and characterization for the optimization of novel device structures in BIANCHO. They will use their extensive expertise in the metal organic vapour phase epitaxy growth of various III/V semiconductor materials using less-toxic group V precursor materials to contribute towards the success in component fabrication of this joint initiative. They will also contribute their competence in quantitative structural characterization using X-ray and electron beams to characterize the novel materials, which are to be exploited for their specific unique propertiesin BIANCHO.
• Prof. Dr. Kerstin Volz
• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stolz

Semiconductor Physics Institute of Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (Lithuania)

Semiconductor Physics Institute (SPI)is the largest research institute dealing with semiconductor technology, material and device investigations in Lithuania and in the Baltic countries, in general. SPI was founded in 1967 as a part of the Lithuanian Academy of Science. It was incorporated in 2010 into a newly created Physical and Technological Research Center covering a broad range of applied research in electronics, optoelectronics, and nanotechnology. SPI is represented in BIANCHO by the Optoelectronics Laboratory group. This group has extensive capabilities and experience in epitaxial technology and ultrafast material and device research; its facilities include two MBE machines and several experimental set-ups based on femtosecond laser sources. It has been participating in 6 European research projects and a major NATO "Science for Peace" project. In BIANCHO, SPI lead MBE growth of bismuth-containing epitaxial layers and their characterization by optical, electrical, and ultrafast techniques. They are also contributing to the design, manufacture, and characterization of devices based on these layers. They are responsible for developing ultrafast photodetector structures based on diluted bismides and will provide other partners with the structures necessary for the diode laser and electro-optical modulator development.
• Prof. Arunas Krotkus
• Dr. Renata Butkut

CIP Technologies (United Kingdom)

CIP Technologies (CIP) is a leading supplier of advanced photonic components and services in the communications, industrial and defence markets. For nearly 30 years, CIP has been at the centre of the development of photonics under the prior ownership of BT and Corning. This experience is now being applied to the prototyping and supply of advanced products and research to the benefit of customers worldwide. Their facilities enable CIP to design, fabricate and assess state-of-the-art active III-V photonic devices, silicon micro-benches and silica on silicon motherboards. One of CIP's key strengths is its ability and expertise to develop hybridly integrated products that utilise all of these key technologies. CIP is a growing company with around 50 full- and part-time staff, with many educated to PhD level. CIP are leading the fabrication work package in BIANCHO, developing fabrication processes for the new materials being grown by other partners in the project. They are designing and fabricating prototype laser, SOA and EAM devices using materials from SPI and Marburg. These are to be assessed from a telecom systems perspective by CIP, with more detailed characterisation carried out by Surrey. Results will be fed back to the other partners for improvements in material and models. CIP are also leading the Dissemination and Exploitation work package in BIANCHO, bringing to bear its knowledge of the applications requirements for photonics components in the telecoms, datacoms and sensing industries.
• Dr Ian Lealman
• Dr Michael Robertson
• Malcolm Pate
• Dr Paul Cannard

University of Surrey (United Kingdom)

The Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) at the University of Surrey is a purpose-built interdisciplinary research institute with a wide ranging remit ranging from fundamental studies of physics on the nanoscale through to highly applied research, for example in laser technology and biosensors. The institute has a strong research output in many leading journals and has a broad patent portfolio. Research in the ATI has a strong commercial focus and several activities have successfully spun-out into companies through the University's business incubator. Of relevennce to BIANCHO, Surrey has developed unique characterisation facilities and expertise for analysing photonic materials and the recombination processes occurring in lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). They are utilising high pressure and low temperature techniques in BIANCHO to determine the electronic and optical properties of alloys incorporating bismuth and nitrogen. Surrey are leading the work package focused on device physics, working closely with the other partners, to determine the extent to which such alloys suppress Auger recombination and inter-valence band absorption in lasers, SOAs and LEDs and how they may be use to reduce the temperature dependence of the band gap in electro-absorption modulators. The results of this work will assist in optimising photonic components for high efficiency and low temperature sensitivity.
• Dr. Stephen Sweeney

BIANCHO brings together leading European groups with complementary expertise in epitaxy, device physics, band structure modelling and advanced design and fabrication.


For further information please contact Mary O'Regan
BIANCHO is fully funded by the EU