MOCVD company to help Graphene project

A German-based manufacturing metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) systems company is to assist in the FET Graphene Flagship.

AIXTRON, based in Herzogenrath, Germany, will work on the deposition processes for the Graphene project and consequently lead on the production work package of the venture.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr Ken Teo, director of Nanoinstruments at AIXTRON, said: “Our key contribution is to enable high quality large scale graphene growth through the development of next generation deposition equipment. Working with graphene thin-film producers, bulk graphene manufacturers and associated partners, graphene will be produced for a variety of applications ranging from wireless communications to display, sensing and energy storage. This is a unique opportunity for us to interact with and understand the requirements of R&D and industrial end users.”

The FET Graphene Flagship won funding earlier this year following a four-month competition. The EU funding for the academic and industry-led consortium will begin with an initial 30-month budget of €54m from the EU which will be extended for up to ten years with further contributions coming from Horizon 2020 and local programmes from various EU countries.

Dr Bernd Schulte, chief operating officer at AIXTRON, added: “For a disruptive new material such as graphene, long-term investment is required to create the entire value chain and end market applications. Support for the Graphene Flagship over the next decade by the EU is indeed a significant commitment that makes this possible. The development furthermore confirms AIXTRON’s long-term strategy in enabling the deposition of new electronic materials such as graphene.”

Professor Jari Kinaret of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden will co-ordinate 126 academic and industrial research groups in 17 European countries as part of the project.