For Materials Research

THE BRAGG CENTRE for Materials Research

www.leeds.ac.uk/bragg 02 UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS – THE BRAGG CENTRE 03

THE BRAGG CENTRE DRIVING SCIENCE THE VISION FOR MATERIALS AND INNOVATION The £96m investment by the University of Leeds into RESEARCH Materials are critical drivers of science The Bragg Centre for Materials Research and innovation, essential for the growth Engineering and Physical Sciences infrastructure provides will enable the discovery, creation and of a wide range of industrial and characterisation and exploitation of manufacturing sectors. With the global the physical space, specialist knowledge and facilities to materials engineered at the atomic level. market in advanced materials expected to transform the impact of collaborative research. The Centre’s research brings together the double over the next seven years, there fundamental understanding, design and is a significant opportunity for the UK to fabrication of materials with the potential develop new materials technologies with This provision of cutting-edge shared laboratory facilities and the balance of for their exploitation in new devices, identifiable commercial opportunities blue-sky research alongside challenge-led innovation are key to the approach systems and applications. building on the UK’s distinctive scientific and engineering excellence in the field. for the Bragg Centre for Materials Research. Named in honour of the Nobel Prizewinning father-and-son physicists The UK Government’s £4.7 billion Industrial whose work made Leeds pre-eminent in Strategy Challenge Fund to invest in Our objectives are: x-ray crystallography, the Centre provides research and development across six key an outstanding environment for the areas including manufacturing materials • T o create a culture of inter-disciplinary • T o attract substantial public and private sector training of the next generation of scientists of the future, and the £235 million Henry collaborative working in the invention, funding by exploiting the interdisciplinary development and understanding of materials research capabilities of the Centre and by and engineers, and for internationally Royce National Centre for Research and to address 21st century challenges in multiple consolidating existing and forming new, leading research to support the long-term Innovation of Advanced Materials, support sectors across science and engineering. national and international research collaborations needs of UK industry by catalysing growth this ambition. and networks. in societal and economic impact beyond academia. The Bragg Centre for materials research • T o carry out both fundamental and applied provides the University with a platform interdisciplinary research in electronics, • T o create a vibrant interdisciplinary research Physical co-location of the Engineering and presence to support significant photonics, bionanotechnology & soft community, and nurture the academic and and Physical Sciences Schools, and the outward facing leadership and engagement condensed matter, and structural & leadership potential of all researchers irrespective functional materials. of career stage. creation of new, shared and future- opportunities, both nationally and proofed laboratories removes the internationally, including with the research physical boundaries between the key councils, national and international • T o develop and translate new analytical tools • To attract and retain internationally leading disciplines, enabling new ways of working, research facilities, industry, and initiatives and techniques for the study and characterisation researchers to work at the forefront of these collaborating, and interdisciplinary thinking. such as the Royce Institute. of materials. interconnected ﬁelds, and who will deliver our This will lead to new funding opportunities, ambitious research priorities and aspirations. as well as protecting and developing our • To create internationally-leading, future- existing strengths. proofed, integrated suites of shared specialist • T o deliver outputs of the highest academic quality. experimental facilities, supported by dedicated staﬀ, consolidating currently isolated equipment • T o catalyse rapid growth in societal and economic and activities from across the University. impact of our research beyond academia both nationally and internationally. The global market for Advanced Materials is predicted to double by 2024. 04 UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS – THE BRAGG CENTRE 05

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The University of Leeds has a long-standing reputation Growth* R for excellence in real world challenge-led interdisciplinary N E IO AT research. The best research staﬀ and postgraduate students RIS S CHARACTE are drawn by an exceptional experience, outstanding facilities E and mutually beneficial links in the UK and overseas. A R g Mech E Chem Eng En n C c g P le h E y s i Since 2010, engineering and physical The Bragg Centre for Materials Research c H s s

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r y promotes interdisciplinary research. m • £225m in research income The Centre acts as a focus for research • Active research collaborations, including across campus, bringing together the with overseas institutions in more than University’s internationally leading 50 countries, across six continents. strengths in III-V semiconductors, OUTPUTS optoelectronics, and high frequency 4* research and impact Patents • Research collaborations with 34 of the devices; crystallisation & materials Leadership development Licences world’s top 50 institutions chemistry; functional oxides & glasses; Spin-outs Training ferroelectric, magnetic & spintronic • Nine spin-out companies (Leeds has spun materials; bionanotechnology; out over 100 companies since 1995) soft condensed matter systems; and, functional surfaces & corrosion. • Six companies listed on AIM – the London Stock Exchange’s international market for COLLABORATORS smaller growing companies – more than Diamond Light Source, Future Manufacturing Hubs, any other UK University. Industry & Academic partners, National and International Facilities, Quantum Technology Hubs, Royce Institute

* Royce contributed facility 06 UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS – THE BRAGG CENTRE 07

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE TAKING THE LEAD Electron microscopy underpins a wide range of advanced With Sir Henry Royce Institute funding, a state-of-the-art materials and biological research, with extensive industry facility for materials analysis by X-ray photoelectron (XPS) and applications. The Bragg Centre will create the perfect UK X-ray emission (XES) spectroscopies has been established. It MAKING A electron microscopy facility for atomic and molecular scale complements Leeds’ strategic partnership with Diamond, the analysis of both hard and soft materials. national synchrotron radiation facility, on ambient pressure soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy. It establishes Leeds as the “The Bragg Centre is the next stage in our strategic ambition leading UK centre for in situ and operando studies of materials. to create a clear UK specialism on a par with our leading international competitors, tackling challenging materials “Global industrial partners are already coming to Leeds to MATERIAL systems for next-generation products. It will dramatically develop future technologies for manufacturing of products accelerate research and development into complex formulated with high added value. The Bragg Centre will enable us to products used across the healthcare, food, energy, chemical build further on our track record to establish a global lead and information technology sectors.” in product formulation research.”

PROFESSOR SVEN SCHROEDER PROFESSOR RIK BRYDSON Royal Academy of Engineering Bragg Centenary Chair DIFFERENCE Professor of Nanoscale Materials Characterisation

CROSSING PHYSICAL ADDRESSING GLOBAL FROM ATOMIC TO BOUNDARIES CHALLENGES OPERATIONAL Soft Matter Physics is a truly multidisciplinary subject. The state-of-the-art facilities available in the Bragg Centre will The Bragg Centre will allow us to produce Leeds researchers are examining the use of oxide allow us, for example, to develop new soft matter systems to completely new materials built up atom-by-atom materials in electronic components, focusing on improve manufacturing processes in collaboration with the to address global challenges including energy piezoelectric materials and devices. The devices, School of Chemical and Process Engineering and work with wastage in electronic devices, and next generation which are used as actuators and sensors in electrical engineers to template with self-assembled structures quantum technologies. applications as wide ranging as ultrasonic medical to produce new photonic systems. imaging, naval sonar and automotive fuel injectors, make up a total world market exceeding £20bn p.a. “The Bragg Centre brings together the best “This represents a unique opportunity to apply fundamental scientists and engineers from across engineering and physics to important problems at the interface of physical sciences in an environment hosting a suite “We are creating a range of proprietary high disciplines, spanning healthcare, and novel electronic and of advanced instrumentation.” performance piezoelectric materials that can operate photonic devices.” in high temperature, high work environments, which PROFESSOR ANNE NEVILLE OBE, FRS, RAENG PROFESSOR HELEN GLEESON OBE Chair in Emerging Technologies and Professor address applications and markets not accessible to Cavendish Professor of Physics and Head of the School of Tribology and Surface Engineering existing piezoelectric systems.” of Physics and Astronomy PROFESSOR ANDREW BELL FREng Professor of Electronic Materials

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE FUNCTIONAL AND ACROSS THE SPECTRUM BIONANOTECHNOLOGY STRUCTURAL MATERIALS Terahertz radiation lies in the electromagnetic Tribo-corrosion relies on advanced microscopy, spectroscopy spectrum between infrared and microwaves, and has Our research activities in this field are wide-ranging, and difraction to probe reactions at surfaces and interfaces. a range of applications, including chemical analysis, and include: biosensor development for clinical Merging those multiple measurement modalities across security scanning, telecommunications and diagnostics; nanobubbles for targeted drug delivery; length scales has enabled us to make significant advances in medical imaging. enzymatic fuel cells; synthetic biology and more, developing mechanistic corrosion and tribology models. spanning the whole spectrum from fundamental The University of Leeds is The Leeds team is central to a project funded by to translational research. Researchers in the School of Civil Engineering have a unique the UK and European Space agencies to develop a founding partner of the understanding of cementious materials. Future research a satellite-based laser to quantify key gases involved will develop links between current experts in nano-/micro- “The Bragg Centre will create a comprehensive, Henry Royce Institute, the in climate change in parts of the atmosphere that structure and those in long-term macroscale performance world-class suite of tools for experimental other technology cannot reach. in order to drive innovation and research-led education in bionanotechnology, which in combination with other UK National Centre for cement and concrete. proposed facilities will form a compelling propostion “The specialised growth and fabrication equipment Research and Innovation for potential industrial users as well as academia.” in the Bragg Centre cleanroom will enable us to “The Bragg Centre materials characterisation suite is crucial develop new laser-based sensing instruments, PROFESSOR CHRISTOPH WÄLTI of Advanced Materials. Professor of Bionanotechnology to the challenge of predicting and controlling the macroscale unavailable elsewhere internationally, for application properties of concrete in order to deliver future materials in studies of climate change and other areas of that can withstand the climate changes expected in the societal importance.” next 100 years.” PROFESSOR GILES DAVIES FREng PROFESSOR IAN RICHARDSON Professor of Electronic and Photonic Engineering Professor of Civil Engineering Materials University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom LS2 9JT Tel. +44 (0)113 243 1751 www.leeds.ac.uk/bragg