www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/NEC

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The Nano-Electronics Centre
Researchers in Professor Ravi Silvas NEC group
specialise in Nanoelectronics. They are
interested in exploring, simulating and
characterising the properties of materials at the
nanoscale. They intend to exploit these novel
materials by engineering useful electronic
devices. Work in the NEC covers a wide range of
activities, including carbon based electronics
(especially diamond-like carbon and carbon
nanotubes), nano-biology, nano-manipulation
characterisation, microwave electronics
devices, optical devices and large area
electronics. These activities are carried out by
scientists specialising in a wide variety of
academic disciplines including physics,
electronic engineering, chemistry and biology.
At the nanoscale, the properties of materials
change in interesting and potentially useful
ways. Materials with nano-sized dimensions can be
stronger, more reactive, lighter or optically
active to a greater extent than in the bulk. The
idea behind nanotechnology is to exploit this
unusual behaviour to produce new materials, which
can be used to make novel, efficient, small,
durable and fast devices. Put simply,
nanotechnology is engineering on a tiny scale.
Other activities within the group include memory
switching in amorphous silicon alloys, low
temperature polysilicon active matrix electron
field emission displays, characterisation of a
new source gated transistor based on hydrogenated
amorphous silicon and polysilicon, RF response of
carbon nanotubes for fabrication of active and
passive devices and several projects on devices
for microwave applications, amongst many others.
The group has moved from strength to strength
and has quadrupled in size over the past five
years. They have received over 7 million funding
from EPSRC alone and are promising to remain a
formidable force at the forefront of research in
nanoelectronics for many years to come.
300 nm
Leading edge expertise in metrology at NPL
coupled with the best researchers in
academiawill make an unbeatable team capable of
tackling the most challenging areas of research.
Dr. Kamal Hossain, NPL
www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/NEC