The Cavendish Laboratory National Facility for Physics is the newest world-class facility supporting the physics community across the UK. It makes Cavendish Laboratory’s state-of-the-art equipment and resources readily accessible to all UK university researchers and facilitates industry access.
Opening its doors to the nation in 2024, the Cavendish Laboratory National Facility will mostly operate from the Ray Dolby Centre, the centrepiece of the new Cavendish Laboratory designed to match the most exacting standards of current research and currently under construction on the West Cambridge campus. It is backed by a £75M government investment, administered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Extensive processing, measurement and characterisation facilities
The extensive measurement and processing facilities in the Ray Dolby Centre will provide state-of-the-art capabilities for studying the full range of sizes and dimensionalities of materials and their applications. Single crystals, thin-films and devices along with novel composites and alloys can be explored in their as-grown form or through lithographic patterning of electronic and optical devices.
A resource for the nation
Up to 25% of the use of the specialised research facilities will be made available to the UK research community for their own projects, irrespective of prior or new academic collaborations. We aim to provide more than just access to equipment–a key attraction will be access to the world-class knowledge base, expert staff scientists and technical staff. There are also the opportunities to develop new academic collaborations where this adds mutual benefit and value to the project.
With important investment in additional equipment and technical staff, our ambition is to enhance research capabilities locally and nationally, supporting research excellence and collaboration across UK physics departments and industry, inspiring new research and discoveries.
Making a journey to Cambridge worthwhile
The location of the Cavendish Laboratory NF at the heart of the West Cambridge campus site is a key asset. The Cavendish Laboratory is joining forces with other West Cambridge Departments, including Engineering, Materials Science & Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology to ease access to a wider range of cutting-edge capabilities and techniques across the site, including facilities that are part of the Sir Henry Royce Institute.
Soon we will be developing an online platform that will provide a single booking system and customer service, to simplify access to this outstanding selection of state-of-the-art facilities for the physical sciences research communities.
Original Cavendish Laboratory article.
Image credit: The huge new clean room suite nearing completion in the Ray Dolby Centre.