£1m laser tech win for Cardiff venture
16 December 2016
A consortium led by a Cardiff University venture has been awarded £1.2m to develop laser technologies.
The Compound Semiconductor Centre (CSC) – jointly owned by the University and IQE plc – will develop high performance, compound semiconductor lasers for use in miniaturised atomic clocks with a wide range of applications – from navigation products to defence and telecoms.
The award, from the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme, will fund a two-year programme.
CSC will work with Cardiff University, Compound Semiconductor Technologies (Glasgow), and the National Physics Laboratory (NPL) to develop a UK supply chain for these key components.
Project Lead, Dr Wyn Meredith, said: “The UK has made a huge commitment to the commercialisation of Quantum Technologies, and there is a critical need for a new generation of components which underpin a new industry of quantum enabled systems and applications..."
“It’s vitally important that we invest in full the supply chain not only to keep the UK at the forefront of the science and technology, but to also benefit from the future commercial opportunities in this area.”
CSC was formed in August 2015 as a joint venture between Cardiff University, one of the Britain's leading research universities, and IQE plc, the world leading supplier of advanced compound semiconductor wafer products.
Based in Cardiff, the Compound Semiconductor Centre is a vital milestone towards developing a world-class Compound Semiconductor cluster in South Wales.
