Access Programme

The London Centre for Nanotechnology was awarded a grant by the EPSRC under the programme "Access to Materials Research Equipment". This will guarantee access by UK Higher Education researchers to 20% of the available time of LCN's "Triple-beam" Focussed-Ion-Beam (FIB) Microscope.

Image 1:  In situ SEM image of a ZnO tetrapod with W and Pt wiring deposited in the XB1540

Accessing the instrument
Access to the instrument via the EPSRC programme will be managed by the London Centre for Nanotechnology's Access Management Group (AMG), which will initially consist of Prof Gabriel Aeppli, Prof Ian Robinson, Dr Rachel McKendry and Dr Paul Warburton. Because the AMG will consider all proposals on a monthly basis, these can be sent at any time.

Time frame
Initially the following deadlines will apply, after which proposals may be sent at any time.
- Initial call for proposals:  1 November 2007
- Announcement of successful proposals: early December 2007 and monthly thereafter
- Start of access programme: 1 January 2008

User classes explained
(i) Class “B” user who wants to use the instrument for one or two sessions in order to demonstrate a proof of principle, or who does not foresee using the machine on a regular basis
(ii) Class “A” user who has already demonstrated that the use of the XB1540 gives significant added value to his/her research and needs the instrument on a regular basis for a series of experiments.

Only Class "A" users will be able to use the instrument unsupervised. Class "B" users will at all times be supervised by UCL technical staff. We expect that the majority of Class "B" users will go on to become Class "A" users after two or three sessions on the instrument.

Class “B” users must apply for access by completing a single-page Case for Support and forwarding it to the Access Management Group. A class “B” user can also apply to become a class “A” user by completing a single-page Case for Support to which should be annexed a single-page Summary of Results, highlighting the previous FIB data which justifies the extended use of the instrument. In any given month the AMG can allocate available sessions up to two months in advance for Class “B” users and up to six months in advance for “Class A” users. We estimate that usage will be approximately evenly split between the two classes of users, though this will be constantly reviewed and is not a guiding principle for access allocation in any way.

Image 2: 3-D imaging of rat cerebellum using focused ion beam milling combined with scanning electron microscopy. Scanning image of a cross section of molecular layer showing dendritic (d) and axonal profiles (a). image courtesy Paul Warburton and Arnd Roth

Criteria for access
(i) the scientific quality of the proposal;
(ii) the feasibility of the proposed experiments;
(iii) the degree to which the proposal makes use of the unique functional capabilities of the instrument (e.g. a proposal which only uses the SEM functionality is unlikely to gain access).

How to apply and frequently asked questions
Please fill in the correct proposal form and return it to Dr Paul Warburton as outlined in the document. For clarification you are strongly advised to read the programme's frequently asked questions.

Please make sure you download the correct form: