> Backgrounder TASC2: 4D LABS
Backgrounder TASC2: 4D LABS
April 27, 2007
The $40 million research centre is the flagship enterprise in SFU's TASC2 building. The 2,000 square metre facility, covering two floors, is a technical triumph in terms of its state-of-the-art set up. The largest research project to-date at SFU is also an unprecedented model of scientific collaboration.
Eight researchers from different disciplines have come together to pioneer new information processing and storage technologies that will meet the growing computing demands of telecommunications and healthcare delivery.
The researchers' expertise includes molecular design, synthesis and characterization, molecular switching and self-assembly, piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials, nanofabrication and advanced lithographic techniques.
The team is headed by:
Ross Hill, chemistry professor, 4D LABS executive director, focuses on amorphous materials, photolithography, photochemical metal organic deposition and metal complex photochemistry.
Neil Branda, chemistry professor, Canada Research Chair in Materials Science, 2005 NSERC Steacie Fellowship recipient, 4D LABS director, molecular systems, is Canada's premier expert in molecular switching. He designs, builds and studies molecules and materials that change properties when triggered with light electricity or chemical stimuli.
Gary Leach, associate professor of chemistry, 4D LABS director, photonic systems, is an expert in advanced spectroscopy, photonics and nanoscale imaging.
Zuo-Guang Ye, chemistry professor, 4D LABS director, solid-state systems, is recognized as a world leader in the growth and characterization of novel single crystals.
This team's collaboration on creating smaller, more economical, more efficient and faster devices at the atomic and molecular level will revolutionize the capabilities of electronic, diagnostic and drug delivery equipment.
4D LABS is in a race to be the world's first research facility to create and operate a magnonic device. Such a device would be more reliable, have more memory applications and have a higher information processing density than electronic devices.
The team is developing the world's first functional molecular electronic circuit, which will be used to study electronics in molecular based systems.
4D LABS' infrastructure, largely financed by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation ($18 million), has custom designed features to minimize contamination and maximize efficiency and collaboration. They include:
-Vibration-free floating floors for ultra-high resolution microscopes and lasers
-Fourteen clean rooms that are already attracting scientists internationally for their ability to allow new materials to be integrated with existing silicon technologies
-Nano-imaging laboratory with high magnification tools to look at structures and materials created at 4D LABS, and modify nano-featured devices
-Solid State Crystal Growth Laboratory to grow novel crystal systems
-Growth and Characterization Laboratory to grow and analyse new magnetic materials
-Visiting Scientists' Laboratory to enable international collaborators to work with 4D LABS researchers on a daily basis
-Laboratory for Advanced Spectroscopy and Imaging Research to investigate the properties of electrons in superconductors and properties related to magneto optic and nonlinear optical behaviour
-User facility (1,000 square metres) that houses $15 million worth of equipment, available for lease to outside researchers with the assistance of 4D LABS' technicians
The evaluation committee for the Canada Foundation for Innovation awarded 4D LABS $7.34 million in grant funding in 2004. The committee said that, "the work in molecular electronics, if realized, will fundamentally transform the nature of electronics and will push Canadian companies to the fore.”
Eight researchers from different disciplines have come together to pioneer new information processing and storage technologies that will meet the growing computing demands of telecommunications and healthcare delivery.
The researchers' expertise includes molecular design, synthesis and characterization, molecular switching and self-assembly, piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials, nanofabrication and advanced lithographic techniques.
The team is headed by:
Ross Hill, chemistry professor, 4D LABS executive director, focuses on amorphous materials, photolithography, photochemical metal organic deposition and metal complex photochemistry.
Neil Branda, chemistry professor, Canada Research Chair in Materials Science, 2005 NSERC Steacie Fellowship recipient, 4D LABS director, molecular systems, is Canada's premier expert in molecular switching. He designs, builds and studies molecules and materials that change properties when triggered with light electricity or chemical stimuli.
Gary Leach, associate professor of chemistry, 4D LABS director, photonic systems, is an expert in advanced spectroscopy, photonics and nanoscale imaging.
Zuo-Guang Ye, chemistry professor, 4D LABS director, solid-state systems, is recognized as a world leader in the growth and characterization of novel single crystals.
This team's collaboration on creating smaller, more economical, more efficient and faster devices at the atomic and molecular level will revolutionize the capabilities of electronic, diagnostic and drug delivery equipment.
4D LABS is in a race to be the world's first research facility to create and operate a magnonic device. Such a device would be more reliable, have more memory applications and have a higher information processing density than electronic devices.
The team is developing the world's first functional molecular electronic circuit, which will be used to study electronics in molecular based systems.
4D LABS' infrastructure, largely financed by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation ($18 million), has custom designed features to minimize contamination and maximize efficiency and collaboration. They include:
-Vibration-free floating floors for ultra-high resolution microscopes and lasers
-Fourteen clean rooms that are already attracting scientists internationally for their ability to allow new materials to be integrated with existing silicon technologies
-Nano-imaging laboratory with high magnification tools to look at structures and materials created at 4D LABS, and modify nano-featured devices
-Solid State Crystal Growth Laboratory to grow novel crystal systems
-Growth and Characterization Laboratory to grow and analyse new magnetic materials
-Visiting Scientists' Laboratory to enable international collaborators to work with 4D LABS researchers on a daily basis
-Laboratory for Advanced Spectroscopy and Imaging Research to investigate the properties of electrons in superconductors and properties related to magneto optic and nonlinear optical behaviour
-User facility (1,000 square metres) that houses $15 million worth of equipment, available for lease to outside researchers with the assistance of 4D LABS' technicians
The evaluation committee for the Canada Foundation for Innovation awarded 4D LABS $7.34 million in grant funding in 2004. The committee said that, "the work in molecular electronics, if realized, will fundamentally transform the nature of electronics and will push Canadian companies to the fore.”