The Research Group
The Emerging Device Technology (EDT) Research Group is composed of researchers whose interests are based around the theme of materials and devices in general. There is a solid research base with its staff having many years experience in superconducting, insulating and semiconducting materials. The research includes the basic science of materials, characterisation and production of materials for applications and the demonstration of applications themselves. This potentially wide area of research is limited by the choice of materials to be investigated, which is governed by the extensive knowledge in the centre for the requirements of modern technology. Learn more about the group.

The Research
The EDT group has developed out of a strong research program on superconducting and semiconducting materials. Superconductors have been studied for over a decade with well over one hundred publications on the physics, material science and application of these exotic materials. The applications have primarily been for communication and radar systems with a number of new microwave devices, circuits and systems being developed. A comprehensive book [1] has been written on superconductors at microwave frequencies by the head of the research centre. There is also work on Josephson devices as well as interfaces between electronic and the nervous system. The semiconductor work has expanded from fundamental studies of hot electron transport, to studies of the application of nanotechnology for the fabrication of vertical transistors and photoemission from doped silicon.

Examples of Research: (pdf files)

Delay Lines	Delay Line Filters
Focal Plane Arrays for Radio Astronomy	HTS Coplanar Left-Handed Transmission Lines and Resonators
Josephson Devices	Micromachined Membrane Devices
Micromachined Microvwave Circuits	Microwave Characterisation of Ferroelectric Thin Films
Microwave Microscopy	MRI Coils
Neuroelectronic Interfaces	Superconducting Antennas
Superconducting Micromachined Microwave Devices	Superconducting Microwave Circuits
Superconductors at Microwave Frequencies	Superconductors in Radio Astronomy
Thick Film Ferroelectric Phase Shifters	Thin Film Development
Thin Film Ferroelectric Tunable Microwave Devices

Facilities
The group is now very multi-disciplinary in nature, and a large class 10,000 clean room facility (54m2) enables the production of a number of materials for application in microwave circuits. In addition to the sputtering of high quality superconductors, the centre produces ferroelectric, dielectric and metal thin films for research.

These materials are optimised for use in a number of microwave circuits including tuneable filters, duplexers, delay lines, antennas and other passive signal processing circuits. This work has lead to the publication of a book on microwave filters [2] as well as several patent applications. There is also work on a number of novel microwave structures using micromachining techniques for application in the frequency range 1-110GHz.

In addition to device work the centre has been working on a superconductor receiver system for mobile communication base stations with a number of European collaborators. The system has been tested in Portugal by the operator TMN with considerable success.

Read about our Manufacturing and Device Fabrication Facilities

Contact Information
For further information contact Professor Mike Lancaster.
Telephone: 44 121 414 4317 
email:  M.J.Lancaster@bham.ac.uk

[1] Lancaster M. J. "Passive microwave device applications of high temperature superconductors" Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK 1997

[2] Hong J.-S. and Lancaster M. J. ‘Microstrip filters for RF/microwave applications’ John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2001 ISBN 0-471-38877-7