The total EU electronics industry employs ≈20.5 million people, sales exceeding €1 trillion and includes 396,000 SMEs. It is a major contributor to EU GDP and its size continues to grow fueled by demand from consumers to many industries. Despite its many positive impacts, the industry also faces some challenges connected with the enormous quantity of raw materials that it needs for sustainability, the huge quantity of Waste Electrical, Electronics Equipment (WEEE) generated and the threat of competition from Asia. To sustain its growth, to manage the impact of WEEE and to face the competition from Asia, the industry needs innovations in key areas. One such area is the drive for ultra-miniaturisation/ultlra-functionality of equipment. The key current road block/limitation to achieving the goal of ultra-miniaturisation/functionality is how to increase the component density on the printed circuit board (PCB). This is currently limited by the availability of hyper fine pitch solder powder pastes. FineSol aims to deliver at first stage an integrated production line for solder particles with size 1-10 μm and to formulate solder pastes containing these particles. Thus, by proper printing methods (e.g. screen and jet printing) the fabrication of PCBs with more than double component density will be achieved. Consequently, this would effectively enable more than a doubling of the functions available on electronic devices such as cell phones, satellite navigation systems, health devices etc. The successful completion of the FineSol project would lift the ultra-miniaturisation/functionality road block and also enable reduction in raw material usage, reduction in WEEE, reduction in pollution and associated health costs and also a major reduction in EU energy demand with all its indirect benefits for environment and society.

Silicon sensors are essential in a range of fields, from cutting-edge research (e.g. particle physics, chemistry, materials science) to industry (agriculture, manufacturing), and everyday devices (cameras, security). They are the eyes of our electronic world. As we develop more precise sensors, for example cameras with smaller pixels, the potential reach of these devices increases, allowing more processes to be investigated, and with more detail. Currently the resolution of such sensors is at the micrometre level. However, the time precision is relatively much worse, due to significant technological challenges in assigning times to the signals in the silicon. The best precision for small-pixel silicon sensors is at the nanosecond (ns) level. By comparison, light travels 300,000 micrometre per ns. Our ability to observe many processes is significantly hampered by limitations in time precision. For fast (~1ns duration) processes, adding picosecond-level (1ps = 0.001ns) timing to micrometre-level spatial measurements effectively corresponds to the difference between still images and video, and hence has the potential to open up entire new fields of research. Such processes occur, for example, in particle and nuclear physics, chemistry, and materials science. The ultimate aim of this project is to develop sensors that for the first time simultaneously reach precision at the micrometre-level in space, and picosecond-level in time: a high-speed video camera for the smallest observable scales. We start from a new type of sensor only developed in the past decade: Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGAD). By adding specially-treated semiconductor layers to the silicon, the time of signal collection is significantly reduced, making it possible to reach ~30ps precision. However, the only devices so far developed have large (mm-size) pads rather than pixels. Our programme of research will focus on ways to transform these devices into pixel sensors, by considering new geometries and doping approaches, and thin sensors. The key is to maintain as uniform an electric field as possible within the pixel, to ensure fast signal development. We have started preliminary studies, including fabrication of prototype devices, and now we are ready to push forward with an aggressive research and development phase. Researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Manchester will work with a commercial semiconductor manufacturer (Micron) to design and fabricate a range of new LGAD sensors, and analyse their performance using several high-tech methods ('transient current technique' - TCT and 'two photon absorption' - TPA). In parallel, we will develop realistic simulations of the detectors using TCAD models, to predict the sensor characteristics under different designs. These simulations will be validated using the TCT and TPA results from our measurements. All of our results will be published in open-access journals, taking us a step closer to the dream of '4D' precision sensors. In parallel, we will develop a network of potential beneficiaries of these new devices, in particular for the fields of materials science and proton therapy. We have already established connections with representatives within these areas, who will help us to build the network, starting with two dedicated workshops. These will be used to build a specifications document where the required technology performances are defined. They will also enable us to reach further to identify more potential users of this new technology, in the UK and beyond.

Thermal neutrons are by-products of generating energy in nuclear power stations and from naturally occurring and artificially created radioactive sources. They are used in industry and medicine as a means to probe materials, and to initiate controlled nuclear reactions that in the case of Boron Neutron Capture therapy can treat cancer effectively. Neutrons are used and occur in a wide range of scientific applications. Being able to accurately and efficiently measure the presence of neutrons allows us to use thermal neutrons in a beneficial way, and to work to minimise radiation created in facilities. Helium 3 is the element that has the highest probability of interaction with thermal neutrons, but it is expensive and supplies of this material are limited. Alternatives to Helium-3 based neutron detectors are required for the nuclear industry, security, scientific and medical research. This proposal seeks to make a new type of non-Helium-3 thermal neutron detector by merging the capabilities of an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Queen Mary University of London with that of the UK company Micron Semiconductor Ltd.

For the latest generation of micro-fabricated devices that are currently being developed, no suitable in-line production inspection equipment is available, simply because current inspection equipment expects planar processing while most of the devices are often highly 3D in nature e.g. medical. This lack of automated processing feedback makes it difficult to steer process development towards higher yields in micro-components and MEMS production. Another visible problem is the need to document and record process data, even on the individual device level, with the degree of traceability as is required for example, for medical devices fabricated under ISO13485. Both factors in the end limit the possibility of reliable and cost effective manufacturing of MEMS and micro-components. Thus, CITCOM has been proposed to address the industrial needs of MEMS and micro-manufacturing which will offer an in-line production inspection and measurement system for micro-components. The system will be developed and demonstrated at TRL7. The system will be based on optical and X-ray techniques combined with computer tomography and advance robotic system capable of analyzing defects that occur in production of micro components e.g. stains, debris, fracture, abnormal displacements, chemical composition of surface coatings, surface traces etc. enabling 98% yield and 100% reliability. Ultimately, CITCOM will cut such costs by 60% as it will offer a system with automated knowledge and inspection data based process feedback that will allow the detection and traceability of faults that may occur in MEMS production, especially for critical applications like aerospace, space and healthcare. CITCOM will give Europe a technological and competitive advantage in the growing manufacturing and production industry. The consortium behind this action is strongly driven by industrial need and problem having Philips and Microsemi as end users and validators of the technology.