Contractors:

THE NATIONAL HELLENIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION:

NHRF is major public research center established in the late 50s, dedicated to high quality research in a wide area of interests.

The Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute at NHRF (NHRF/TPCI) in Athens-Greece is aiming at advancing fundamental and applied research in physical chemistry, materials and optical methods, both experimentally and theoretically. The Institute characterised as a National Centre of Excellence in Physical Chemistry and Photonics, specialises in numerous activities ranging from theoretical physics and chemistry to materials science, laser techniques, and optoelectronics and participates in several EU, and international and national projects. The established Engineered Photonics Media Laboratory dedicated to photonics materials, devices and methodologies. The Laboratory links the aforementioned activities to industrial R&D priorities and needs, by providing specialised know-how through industrial RTD, services, high-level scientific training.

Infrastructure at NHRF/TPCI to be employed in the proposed research includes state-of-the-art clean-room optic / optoelectronics facilities, as well as complete materials preparation and analytical facilities including, chemical synthesis: polymer, glass and sol-gel facilities, laser materials growth (PLD) and processing, (from the NIR (Nd:YAG) to the UV (excimer ArF, KrF, Nd:YAG 2ω/3ω/4ω) to the vacuum ultraviolet (F 2 excimer lasers)), to laser spectroscopy (mass-TOF, LIBS), Fourier transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR), dielectric spectroscopy, data acquisition, as well as advanced chemometrics software for the development and characterisation of materials and routines capable for integration to industrial production lines. Further FT spectrometers (Raman and mid-infrared) with appropriate sampling accessories and software will be employed to provide more detailed structural evaluation of materials, devices and processes.

THALES - RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

THALES Research and Technology France (TRT-France), located near Paris , is the main multidisciplinary research unit of THALES group, one of the major world players in professional electronics.

Through its internal activities and scientific links with industries and universities, either in France or internationally, TRT-France is participating in the preparation of THALES industrial future in strategic R&D fields. With over 250 highly skilled staff, 13000 sq. m of labs of which 1700 sq. m clean rooms, TRT-France’s research teams perform pioneering work in the most advanced areas of optics & optoelectronics, electronic components for microwave applications, advanced interconnect and packaging, materials, software architecture and cognitive science. TRT-France has been participating in or leading numerous research programs, either domestic or EU-funded, in the frame of IST, CSG, ACTS, TELEMATICS, ESPRIT, BRITE-EURAM, TIDE, TMR etc. programs.

The Project is carried out in the Optical Components, Display and Security Group at the “Modules and Devices” department.

JENASENSORIC

The main activities of JENASENSORIC e. V. are the development of sensor devices on the basis of gas, temperature, humidity, optical and / or chemical sensors. JENASENSORIC designs the electronic, constructs the sensor and develops the software programme for the measuring system and the specific application. JENASENSORIC collaborates in the application of sensors with several institutions in Germany and international companies. One important European project is the Supervising of food during European-wide Cool Transport.

JENASENSORIC will test the developed Multigas-SENSORiCCARD â in this project by controlling of industrial and urban water. JENASENSORIC is organising a yearly workshops on microtechniques and microsensors for analyses in ecology, biology and medicine, with international participation. Further research topics are the development of thick film sensors and optical microsensors. New activities are also realised in the medical field and in transfer of important measuring data about big distances from one country to another one and in the evaluation of measuring data by call centers and co-operation partners in South, East and West Europe, China, USA, South Africa.

CYBERNETIX

CYBERNETIXgroup (about 320 employees) is specialised in innovative engineering for robotics and automation systems. The group provides high quality solutions in robotics and automation technology and develops systems that are specifically tailored to customer’s needs. In 2000, almost 40 % of the company turnover (40 million Euros) were done in the microelectronics division.

CYBERNETIX has been involved for more than 12 years in the development of production equipments for the microelectronics industry (both front end and back-end, with a world-wide leader position for the manufacturing of robotized equipments dedicated to the smart-card industry).

CYBERNETIX is expending its skills in micro mechanics to the design of systems, which can carry out complex assemblies linking micromoduls and mechanical or optical systems. In particular, CYBERNETIX owns a patent on an integrated system for component analysis in a gaseous mixture (Patent N° 2756928, based upon the concept of micro chromatography columns.

3D - DIGITAL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

3D-Digital Design and Development Ltd was established in 1979 to provide custom solution for data acquisition and control applications. 3D design and supply a wide of IEEE-488 and processor based systems, which are used in semiconductor reactor control, fermentation and biotechnology plants.

3D developed a system for surface topography, analysis and data presentation which is used in research and medical laboratories in the UK for the study of surface wear in metals and plastic components such as the fuel tie rod in nuclear reactor and hip replacement sockets. 3D worked with NPL to develop the SoftProbe for surface measurement with controlled load on the component under investigation. Currently 3D is developing two custom systems for testing air filters to ISO 5011 standards and an impact system for testing plastic to ISO 6603-2:2000, both these system involve the design of hardware and Windows software.

3D was an associate partner in an EU project called OPTIMA which developed fiber optic temperature sensors and fiber optic accelerometers for the study of thermal deformation effects and control of machine tools.

3D is an ISO 9001 certified company since 1998.

FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH & TECH.-HELLAS (FORTH/ICEHT)

Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FO.R.T.H) is a public research organisation and has been established in 1983. It consists of five institutes, four of which are located on Crete and one at Patras. Today, FO.R.T.H is the second largest research center in Greece. FO.R.T.H operates on a semi-public, non-profit basis linking high quality basic research to current demands for technological applications.

The Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Processes (ICE/HT) is one of the five Institutes of FORTH and it conducts both fundamental and technological research that is focused on specific needs of industry and the environment. Furthermore, it provides a wide spectrum of technical services (instrumental analysis of chemical composition and physicochemical properties, quality assessment, machine and electronics shops, etc.) The R&TD activities of the Institute are concentrated along five axes of development: (i)Theoretical models and computer-aided simulators (including experimental support as a guide for the development, and for validation), (ii)Surface science, catalysis, and chemical reactor engineering, (iii)Science and technology of materials, (iv)Environment and biochemical engineering, (v)Development of novel analytical and diagnostic instruments.

ICE/HT runs R&TD projects in co-operation with industrial enterprises, universities and research institutes from Greece , as well as from other EU-member countries, USA , Japan , etc. These projects are funded by national and EU competitive R&TD programs, and also directly by industrial enterprises.

The Institute systematically contributes in the development of young researchers, who have acquired a solid basis in state-of-the-art scientific and technological fields, and who have gained personal and team experience in fruitful co-operation with industry.

INSTITUTE OF ELECTRON TECHNOLOGY

The Institute of Electron Technology (IET) was established in 1966 by the Council of Ministers and is supervised by the Ministry of Economy. It is a leading Polish research centre providing the infrastructure for the development and commercialisation of microelectronic and optoelectronic components in Poland. The Institute currently employs over 250 researchers and staff involved in basic and applied research in the area of semiconductor device fabrication. The research includes material and processing technologies, device modelling and IC design, aiming at developing silicon ICs, photodetectors and micromechanical sensors as well as III-V compound technology for near and MIR optoelectronic devices. The basic statutory activity of the Institute is financed by the State Committee for Scientific Research. Additional funding is provided in form of grants for research teams and individual researchers, contracts with state owned and private enterprises, and international programmes.

The project is carried out in the Department of Semiconductors Processing for Photonics. Its activities are focused on the development of new process technologies and device architectures. Facilities include: thin film deposition (vacuum evaporation, e-gun and DC/RF magnetron sputtering), high-resolution photolithography (optical & DUV), e-beam lithography, thermal processing (RTP & conventional), wet and dry (RIE) chemical processing, facilities for electrical and optical characterisation.

The Department is teamed with the Low Temperature Physics Lab at the Institute of Physics of Polish Academy of Sciences and is a part of Centre of Excellence Centre of Physics and Technology of Low-Dimensional Structures involved in European project Physics and Fabrication of Low Dimensional Structures for Technologies of Future Generations – CELDIS thus having an access to the extensive facilities for structural characterisation (advanced x-ray analysis, SEM, EPMA, TEM, AFM, SIMS, RBS, XPS).

The department has experience in advanced processing of silicon and semiconducting compounds, including fabrication of transparent conducting oxides films, deposition of metallic and dielectric films, high-resolution photo- and e-beam lithography, thermal processing, wet and dry chemical processing, electronic and photonic devices.

WEITZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

The Weizmann Institute of Science, located in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions in the world. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the sciences and technology, the Institute gathers together 2,500 scientists, technicians and graduate students devoted to scientific research and education. The Institute, founded in 1934, comprises 18 departments organised into five faculties: Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematical Sciences. The Weizmann Institute has worldwide reputation in essentially all fields of science, and is particularly renowned for promoting interdisciplinary research, a key element in today’s science and technology. The Institute has top-level research facilities, provided by three service units: Biological services, chemical services and physics services. The chemical services include, among other facilities, top-of-the-line scanning and transmission electron microscopes, NMR machines, FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, X-ray diffractometers, XPS machine, scanning probe systems, as well as other instruments.

The Functional Nanomaterials and Electrochemistry group has been in the forefront of thin film research for nearly two decades. The group has substantial experience in a variety of experimental techniques, such as ellipsometry; wettability; UV/vis, FTIR and Raman spectroscopies; XPS; electron microscopy (TEM, SEM); diffraction techniques; and scanning probe (AFM, STM). The group is equipped with a sputter-coater and a cryo-pumped metal evaporator for preparation of metal films; a contact-angle goniometer; an ellipsometer; plasma and UV-ozone surface-treatment instruments; a UV/vis spectrophotometer; a complete electrochemistry laboratory for DC, AC and microgravimetric measurements; and an AFM/STM instrument. Of the central facilities at the Weizmann Institute, the group members use routinely the XPS machine, FTIR spectroscopy, x-ray scattering, and electron microscopy.

INSTITUT FRESNEL

The Fresnel Institute is a research laboratory associated with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS – Unity of Research 6133) and depends on the Sciences et Technologies de l'information et de la Communication (STIC) Department. The Fresnel Institute, placed under the joined authority of the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Physique de Marseille (ENSPM), Aix-Marseille University and the University of Provence, gathers 70 researchers, research faculty, engineers and PhD students. One of the Institute's prime missions is to design and construct objects or object distributions capable of monitoring light or waves with the use of image and signal processing techniques.

The project will be carried out by the research team Composants Optiques Microstructurés, which benefits from a recognised ability in the field of guided optics and evanescent waves, proposes to make a study of new optical sensors for various applications (environmental measurements, dangerous gases, butane and propane gas leakage, biology). One of the research fields concerns the control of optical properties of materials to make optical micro components. The Institut Fresnel has simulation softwares, realisation techniques (spin coating for photoresist or polymers, metal and dielectric thin film deposition facilities, photolithography, dry and wet etching) and characterisation techniques. Guided wave characterisation techniques have been developed to a very high international level, especially the m-lines technique.

The team will co-operate with the research team of Multilayer Structures of the Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic for the deposition and study of the specific materials, suitable for the optical detection of chemical species.

UNIVERSITY OF LECCE

The Physics Department is part of the Faculty of Sciences of the Lecce University. 27 professors, 8 researchers and 39 technical and administrative personnel form the Physics Department of Lecce. Professors of the Physics Department teach most in the undergraduate courses for students of Physics, Mathematics and Biology. The Department participates together with the Materials Science Department in a doctoral program.

The research group of Radiation Physics comprising 7 faculty professors (faculty staff), 2 researchers and 2 technicians has an international reputation for its R&D work in depositing thin films by pulsed laser ablation. Besides 2 PhD students and an average of 2 three last year students take part to the experimental and theoretician activity of the group. The current research activity is in the field of deposition of ceramic thin films by pulsed laser ablation and reactive pulsed laser ablation techniques. Plasma diagnostics by spectroscopic techniques is also carried out. The group has access to complementary methods of thin film microanalysis such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The group is involved in international projects funded by EC such as INTAS and GALILEO.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LASER, PLASMA & RADIATION PHYSICS

The National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics has a 20-year old experience in laser-generated plasmas and in laser surface treatments. Since 9 years the principal activity of this laboratory is the deposition of thin layers of oxides carbides and nitrides for industrial and medical applications. The laboratory facilities are mainly UV excimer lasers, laser optics, vacuum chambers and specialised systems for high-energy laser beam. Dr. Ion N. Mihailescu’s group will be involved in the new sensors project for which it will have to produce PLD coatings and to demonstrate the economical viability of the technique.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON – OPTOELECTRONICS RES. CENTRE

The ORC is one of the foremost University research groups in photonics worldwide and has been responsible for a number of major breakthroughs, which are currently exploited commercially. Research at the ORC spans a wide range of interdisciplinary topics in photonics, from telecommunications to lasers, from sensors to atom optics. The ORC presently employs over 60 academics, research scientists, engineers, and support staff, and supervises 80 PhD students. Central to the ORC’s success are the unique world-class fabrication facilities for optical materials growth, characterisation, and processing, including glass-preparation laboratories, optical fibre fabrication labs, and clean rooms for integrated optical circuits and microstructured materials. Photolithography, deposition, etching, and diffusion processes and pulsed laser deposition are available, as well as optical labs with comprehensive laser and spectroscopic equipment and optical measurement and characterisation facilities. Recently the ORC was awarded core funding to continue research into four key areas of fabrication-intensive telecommunications device and materials research, allowing the continued exploitation of existing fabrication facilities (“Advanced Optical Fibre and Waveguide Devices and Microstructured Optical Materials”, GR/M81854).

BAR – ILAN UNIVERSITY

Bar Ilan University blends modern technologies and scholarship with Jewish heritage. Open to all segments of Israeli society, the university attracts a heterogeneous student body and thus serves as a model of diversity and pluralism within Israel . Founded in 1955, Bar-Ilan’s main 150-acre campus is located in Ramat-Gan. The university also includes five regional colleges throughout Israel . The main campus includes 88 laboratories, and 15 libraries with over 800,000 books and manuscripts. The university maintains 64 endowed chairs and 66 research centers. The academic faculty numbers 1,300 lecturers and researchers. The student body stands at 25,000, including 2,000 students from 28 countries worldwide.

Bar-Ilan has six faculties: Exact Sciences, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, Jewish Studies, Humanities, and Law. Areas of advanced research and development include: marine ecology, sonochemistry, high temperature superconductivity, algebra, biophysics, computer and applied mathematics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, cancer diagnostics, agriculture, food technology, sociolinguistics, and music.

INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS – ACADADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE CZECH REBUBLIC

IPASCR will act as a subcontractor to IF/ENSPM by supplying coatings and polymers produced by laser sputtering. Laboratory of pulsed laser depositions is equipped with KrF excimer laser (450 mJ, 15 ns, 50 Hz) and 4 interaction chambers. Laboratory has 12 years experiences with deposition of inorganic and organic thin films. The Institute is very well equipped with methods for films analysis as SEM, WDX, XRD, AFM, ellipsometry, transmission measurements etc.

ADVANCED MATERIAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

AMRI will act as a subcontractor to Uninversity of Lecce by performing detailed structural and surface analysis and giving feedback for optimisation. AMRI is a non- profit organisation within the University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne. It is involved in research and technology transfer activities in the field of advanced engineering materials. The main research areas include design, development and study of advanced materials and high performance coatings for application in engineering sectors such as aerospace, power generation, automotive , defence , precision engineering and nano-technology. AMRI represents the University of Northumbria in the Regional Nanotechnology initiative: a consortium of Universities working with local business to develop nano industries.

BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES / INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS

IEBAS will act as a subcontractor to NILPRP by performing the optimisation of oxide formation processes. The activities of Laboratory of “Gas lasers and laser technologies” at IEBAS include: Laser deposition and processing of oxide thin films (optical active and passive waveguides - Ti:Al 2O 3, Nd:KGW, Er:Y 2O 3, LiNbO 3; ferroelectric - BaTiO 3; ferrimagnetic - Y 3Fe 5O 12, MnZn-ferrite, BaFe 12O 19, SrFe 12O 19; superconductive – YBCO), interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with metals and semiconductors – experimental and molecular dynamic simulation and finally gas lasers (HF, F2, F etc.) and laser technologies – experimental and theoretical. The main facilities are: 2 vacuum systems for laser thin film deposition and patterning, XeCl excimer laser, cw CO 2 laser technology system, CO 2, N 2, Nd:YAG and HF lasers.