Intellectual property is generated from research across SUPA’s seven themes. In some cases this results from collaborative R&D with our industry partners, but often valuable intellectual property and know-how is generated from more fundamental research. 

SUPA has a range of facilities available for both research and industrial use. A sample is below.

For further details and information about accessing these and other facilities within SUPA please contact admin@supa.ac.uk.

A platform for accessing university facilities across all of Scotland’s Higher Education Institutions is provided by Interface. 

Provides state of the art capability in analysis and control of functional materials at the nanoscale. Equipment includes:

A research group (Applied Optics and Photonics) led by Professor Duncan Hand at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh has developed a laser-based process for the generation of phase holographic structures directly onto the surface of metal and glass substrates.  The holograms are generated by either only melting or a combination of melting and evaporation, with sub-micron depth control of the hologram individual features (called pixels).  The target application of these ‘tamper-proof’ holograms is security marking of high value products and components in order to reduce the trade in counterfeit goods.

Members of the Institute for Gravitational Research (IGR) and the School on Engineering have published an article in Nature titled: “Measurement of the Earth Tides with a MEMS Gravimeter”. The Earth tides are the elastic deformation of the Earth caused by the changing phase of the Sun and the Moon, and the Glasgow microelectromechanical system – or MEMS - is the first such device to measure this phenomenon (see figure 1). This measurement was possible because the device has an incredible stability compared to existing MEMS accelerometers or seismometers. Consequently it is the first MEMS accelerometer that can be classed as a gravimeter. The MEMS device is etched from a single piece of silicon and consists of a central proof mass suspended from three arched anti-springs (see figure 1). The proof mass moves in response to changing gravitational acceleration and the motion is monitored using a simple optical shadow sensor (see figure 2). The combination of the soft springs, the heavy proof mass, and the accuracy of the motion sensor allows the device to measure changes in little g of 40 parts per billion in an integration time of 1 second (40 μGal/√Hz).

March 2016

Chromacity is an innovative Company developing, manufacturing and selling advanced laser products for the biophotonics imaging market and spectroscopy market. Our laser systems help generate high resolution images of cellular structures, enabling life scientists to reduce the time and cost of cellular imaging without compromising on image quality. Chromacity currently has two products on offer: a high power, ultra-short pulsed, near-IR fixed wavelength source, and a tunable ultrashort-pulsed OPO system that can tune up to 4.2µm. Please visit our stand for more information.

Ultrafast lasers

In 2014, Photonics21 published a “multiannual strategic roadmap”, setting out a strategy for European photonics to solve the grand societal challenges and to generate sustainable economic growth in Europe. On a practical level, this document outlined priorities for Horizon2020 funding calls between 2014 and 2020. Photonics21 has continued to refine and update this priorities and propose call topics to the European Commission since then. On the 1st and 2nd March this year, the Photonics21 annual meeting kicked off the process to propose the final photonics calls of Horizon2020, with SUPA and the UK photonics community very much involved.

Recognising the importance of European funding for Scotland’s universities and their industrial partners, the Scottish Funding Council has provided funding, known as PEER, to allow SUPA to compete for EU monies. The funding can be used to provide consultant support for proposals, and to travel for pre-proposal consortium meetings and networking events. Working with the UK Photonics Leadership Group, SUPA made strategic use of the funds for the Photonics21 meeting to ensure that the 7 different Photonics21 Work Groups were covered, and to allow SUPA academics to gain experience of the process by which calls are developed.

The Ultra-low vibration (ULV) labs in St Andrews are the most advanced of its kind in the UK and one of just a handful worldwide. The facility achieves vibration levels which are about two order of magnitude better than the best industry standard. They will allow for atomic scale characterization of the electronic states and magnetic structure in quantum materials. Since opening of the facility in May last year, three bespoke scanning tunnelling microscopes, which were developed by the research group of Dr Wahl, have been installed. The microscopes are operating at very low temperatures down to 7mK and in magnetic fields up to 14T, providing an energy resolution up to 10μeV. For characterization of the materials, a metal tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope is brought within a few atomic radii of a surface and held there with a stability on the order of picometers. It is this stability, which is required over extended periods of time, which necessitates the complex vibration isolation. The research carried out in the facility will aim at understanding unconventional superconductivity in quantum materials. In particular, the group of Dr Peter Wahl has, using these instruments, recently succeeded in imaging the magnetic structure of quantum materials at the atomic scale.

Dr Francisco J Perez Reche, of the Institute for Complex Systems and Mathematical Biology has recently published work in nature.com on models inspired by statistical physics to explain explosive social contagion (why things go viral) which has been enthusiastically picked up by the media following the University of Aberdeen’s press release: (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/8744/).

Dr Perez-Reche told us: Some ideas or products are accepted just because they are very convenient. In contrast, other phenomena might not be too appealing at first sight but they end up being accepted by many people overnight. The model suggests that the initial reticence of acquaintances is a key factor for social phenomena to become explosively viral.

Are your friends hesitant to accept an idea? Be ready… it could suddenly catch on!