Optical lithography is a process that utilises light to define a specific pattern within a material. Standard optical lithography is capable of patterning materials in two dimensions and the possible feature size scales with the wavelength of the light. It is research into this process and associated techniques that has been one of the main drivers of the technological revolution, is partly responsible for the reduction of areal density within computer hard drives and the doubling of processor power every 18 months (Moore's Law). As we progress through the 21st century it is likely that 3D architectures on the nanoscale will become important in developing advanced materials for future data processing and storage technologies. Two-photon lithography is a 3D fabrication methodology that has recently been commercialised and is having a huge impact upon science, allowing the fabrication of bespoke 3D geometries on a length-scale of 200nm horizontally and 500nm vertically. Commercial two-photon lithography has made the fabrication of 3D systems on the several-100nm scale accessible to scientists in a variety of fields allowing the realisation of swimming micro-robots for targeted drug delivery, bioscaffolds and a range of photonic and mechanical metamaterials. A significant setback with two-photon lithography is the asymmetry in the lateral and vertical resolution, which limits both the absolute size and the type of geometry that can be realised. In this proposal, we are going to utilise our world-leading expertise in non-linear microscopy to modify a commercial two-photon lithography system and obtain enhanced resolution. We will utilise techniques that have already significantly improved the resolution in fluorescence microscopy in order to achieve a 100nm isotropic resolution. The newly built system will be used by our team to fabricate two types of 3D nanoscale magnetic materials, in geometries and on length-scales that are difficult to achieve using other fabrication methodologies. Our work in this area will pave the way for next generation 3D memory technolgies such as magnetic racetrack memory and help us to understand magnetic charge transport in novel magnetic materials. In addition, we will be working with project partners in the regenerative medicine and photonics communities in order to realise a number of novel 3D nanostructured materials. Firstly, we will work with stem cell researchers in order to fabricate artificial tissues that will be used in stem cell differentiation experiments. Our work here will provide a fascinating insight into the role of nanoscale topography upon stem cell differentiation and may eventually have applications in tissue/organ growth. Secondly, we will work with academics studying photonic crystals - artificial materials that are capable of blocking electromagnetic radiation within a certain range of the spectrum. The majority of 3D photonic crystals that have been made to date are capable of attenuating electromagnetic waves that are outside the visible range of the spectrum, limiting applications in optoelectronics. Our work here will allow the fabrication and measurement of photonic crystals that can be used with visible and infra-red light. This work may pave the way to next generation three-dimensional optical circuits that can be utilised by telecommunication industries. Overall, this project will build an internationally unique instrument and utilise it to fabricate a range of advanced materials. This will put the U.K. at the forefront of 3D lithography technologies and the associated biomedical, magnetic and photonic materials that will be realised using our newly built instrument.

We are witnessing a profound change in the interaction model of the World Wide Web (Web). Documents, once created from a single source and delivering static client-side content, have now evolved into composite documents created from multiple third party sources delivering dynamically changing information streams. There are few interaction problems when delivering these parallel streams visually. The real problems arise due to the underlying incoherent nature of this 'new' Web model and the composite documents it creates. Changes in context and multiple dynamic updates all compete for the user's attention, producing an incoherent cacophony if the delivery is serial and in audio. Consequently, naive one--shot sensory translation can no longer support the user.This shift in the way the Web works comes with a corresponding increase in the cognitive load required for audio interaction. Without a full understanding of this evolving interaction model, along with its extent and context, the Web will rapidly become unable to support the interaction of visually disabled people.Our objective is to investigate, design, and build a homogeneous mapping framework to support the relating of competing visual streams into a single coherent and mediated accessibility stream such that when automatically applied to a Web document a mapping from parallel visual to serial audio can be achieved. Indeed, because serial mappings are cognitively simpler to understand we would also expect to see side-benefits in cognitive impairment, ageing, and the mobile Web (Whose users share a number of cognitive similarities with visually disabled users -- RIAM EP/E002218/1).To achieve this objective we propose to undertake fundamental research in the areas of: (a) the cognition and perception of dynamic Web based information; (b) the nature of the new Web interaction / infrastructure model as it evolves; and (c) new Web technologies when applied to visually disabled and sighted users. Thus, SASWAT is multidisciplinary with an industrial route to exploitation and has five major aims: 1) Carry out a fundamental investigation of the visual experiences of sighted individuals interacting with competing dynamic information streams in order to better understand the nature of their interaction; 2) Develop a profound understanding of the nature and evolution of the underlying Web infrastructure as it moves from a traditional stateless paradigm to one focused on composite / compound documents and `push' information streams;3) Build a model of Web interaction, based on this investigation, and a mapping of perceptual and cognitive interactivity from sighted to visually disabled users;4) Design and develop an experimental framework to mediate between the competing demands of compound Web pages and multiple information streams;5) Use our corpus of knowledge and experimental tools to perform a systematic and replicable evaluation of the utility of our approaches.

The terahertz (THz) frequency region within the electromagnetic spectrum, covers a frequency range of about one hundred times that currently occupied by all radio, television, cellular radio, Wi-Fi, radar and other users and has proven and potential applications ranging from molecular spectroscopy through to communications, high resolution imaging (e.g. in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors) and security screening. Yet, the underpinning technology for the generation and detection of radiation in this spectral range remains severely limited, being based principally on Ti:sapphire (femtosecond) pulsed laser and photoconductive detector technology, the THz equivalent of the spark transmitter and coherer receiver for radio signals. The THz frequency range therefore does not benefit from the coherent techniques routinely used at microwave/optical frequencies. Our programme grant will address this. We have recently demonstrated optical communications technology-based techniques for the generation of high spectral purity continuous wave THz signals at UCL, together with state-of-the-art THz quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology at Cambridge/Leeds. We will bring together these internationally-leading researchers to create coherent systems across the entire THz spectrum. These will be exploited both for fundamental science (e.g. the study of nanostructured and mesoscopic electron systems) and for applications including short-range high-data-rate wireless communications, information processing, materials detection and high resolution imaging in three dimensions.

With more than 300 papers published on the topic, the Condensed Matter group in Leeds is well known for its work on spintronics - a subject defined by the exploitation of the magnetic moment of electrons instead of charge. Recently the group has appointed two new members of staff bringing us expertise in organic spintronics (Cespedes) and nanomagnetism (Moore). Thus we are one of the first groups to develop high frequency equipment for molecular spintronics in order to research eco-friendly microwave devices. We are also exploring ways of switching magnetisation using the strain developed by an electric field - important for future storage applications. Although we have links among all members of the group, this Platform provides an excellent opportunity to take a strategic look at our activity. Our broad research strategy will concern the general theme of spintronic metamaterials. Metamaterials are artificial in that the functional properties are not a feature of the natural occurring materials that form the building blocks, but emerge through design and engineering of material combinations. The artificial aspect is often introduced through nanostructuring. An early example arises in optics where sub-wavelength features give rise to new properties such as photonic band-gap crystals. Magnetic metamaterials were at the dawn of spintronics - a multilayer composed of alternating magnetic and non-magnetic metals displays giant magnetoresistance. These properties have been exploited to great advantage in computing and communication. We aim to move from common magnetoresistive devices and spin transport physics into microwave nanodevices that manipulate the interactions between electrons with phonons, magnons and other quasiparticles in hybrid structures. Building on our recognised strengths of thin film growth, characterisation and magnetotransport we are proposing a programme of engineering materials in combinations that yield fruitful emergent properties - spintronic metamaterials. Our group has a broad background that includes the ability to structure materials at the nanoscale so that cooperative behaviour arises, e.g. combining superconductors with skyrmion spin textures, or injecting pure spin currents from magnets into organics. We will apply this capability to questions in areas identified as strategic such as quantum effects for new technology, beyond CMOS electronics, energy efficient electronics and new tools for healthcare. We shall pursue this in a way that is very different from a traditional responsive-mode research project. We have identified areas that are scientifically and nationally important and where we can make impact in both academic and technological settings. We will not specify exactly which experiments will be performed, only the type of experiment that is possible. We will use the flexibility of platform funding to develop the independence of researchers beyond that achievable in a normal grant. As an example, there is a controversy at present about the role of heat and magnetic proximity effects in spin currents and their possibilities in non-dissipative, low power consumption electronics. With platform funding we can send a researcher to visit the relevant labs and attend the workshops who would then be in a good position to recommend the best course of action. The researcher would lead those experiments with full support for necessary resources - including and encouraging, if appropriate, the contribution of PhD students and other PDRAs. This general approach can be applied across our whole platform programme to any emerging problems in the field. This is career-enhancing because researchers, at this stage of their research, can usually only gain this level of autonomy if they are independent Research Fellows. This background will fast track them for Research Fellowships or good positions in industry or top level institutions looking for individuals with initiative and vision.

The use of computers and computer programs is pervasive nowadays, but every computer user knows that programs go wrong. While it is just annoying when our favourite text editor loses a bit of our work, the consequences are potentially much more serious when a computer program that, for instance, controls parts of an airplane goes wrong. Software validation and verification are central to the development of this sort of application. In fact, the software industry in general spends a very large amount of money in these activities. One of the measures taken to promote correctness of programs is the use of a restricted set of features available in programming languages. This usually means that most of the more recent advances in software engineering are left out. In this project, we propose to provide development, validation, and verification facilities that allow object-orientation and a modern real-time computational model to be used for the programming of safety-critical systems. In particular, we will work with one of the most popular programming languages: Java, or more specifically, its profiles for high-integrity engineering proposed by the Open Group. As our main case study, we will verify parts of the controller of the first Java Powered Industrial Robot, developed by Sun. One of our collaborators, a senior engineer in Sun tells in an interview that Distributed Real-Time Systems are really hard to build and the engineering community doesn't really know how to build them in a coherent repeatable way. (java.dzone.com/articles) Real-Time Java is entering the industrial automation and automotive markets. Lawyers did not allow the Java Robot to get anywhere near a human, even in a JavaOne conference demo. To proceed in that kind market, better support is needed.Programming is just one aspect of the development of a modern system; typically, a large number of extra artefacts are produced to guide and justify its design. Just like several models of a large building are produced before bricks and mortar are put together, several specification and design models of a program are developed and used before programs are written. These models assist in the validation and verification of the program. To take our civil engineering metaphor one step further, we observe that, just like there can be various models of a building that reflect several points of view, like electricity cabling, plumbing, and floor plans, for example, we also have several models of a system. Different modelling and design notations concentrate on different aspects of the program: data models, concurrent and reactive behaviour, timing, and so on. No single notation or technique covers all the aspects of the problem, and a combination of them needs to be employed in the development of large complex systems. In this project, we propose to investigate a novel integrated approach to validation and verification. Our aim is to provide a sound and practical technique that covers data modelling, concurrency, distribution, and timing. For that, we plan to investigate the extension and combined use of validation and verification techniques that have been successfully applied in industry. We do not seek an ad hoc combination of notations and tools, but a justified approach that provides a reliable foundation for the use of practical techniques. We will have succeeded if we verify a substantial part of the robot controller: using a model written in our notation, we will apply our techniques to verify parts of the existing implementation, execute it using our verified implementation of Safety-critical Java. Measure of success will be provided by our industrial partners and the influence of our results in their practice or business plans.