Building partnerships for neutron training
From the outset, the Nationale Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) "MaNEP – Materials with Novel Electronic Properties” has sought closer ties to industry. The aim in the long term is to develop the materials required for tomorrow's applications.
Superconductors – as the foundation of modern electronics – rate as one of the most well-known applications. They are designed to transport increasingly high current loads at the highest possible temperatures, in intensive magnetic fields. Advances in this field are only possible with the help of intensive material research.
It is therefore, hardly surprising that the NCCR "MaNEP", led by Professor Øystein Fischer from the University of Geneva, has attracted the interest of prominent industrial players like ABB and Bruker. The significance of these partnerships is obvious to Matthias Kuhn, responsible for technology transfer in the NCCR “MaNEP”. "The NCCR focuses primarily on fundamental research. In contrast, companies are more interested in applied research. We must forge bridges between these two worlds to make it easier for industry to implement findings from basic research."
It is no easy task. The trick is to identify the needs of companies and determine which developments in basic research can be used to meet these requirements. Occasionally Matthias Kuhn spots companies that could benefit from the research findings of the NCCR "MaNEP". However, it is more often the case that industry approaches the NCCR "MaNEP" with a problem.
SwissNeutronics adopted another approach – the spin-off. Founded in 1999, the company today employs a workforce of twenty. It originated from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, a research centre that excels in neutron sources with a system known as the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source (SINQ). This device produces a stream of neutrons that is pointed at objects in order to examine these in the tiniest detail. For instance, defects undetectable with other instruments can be picked up with the help of the neutrons.
The SINQ is an extremely sophisticated piece of equipment that can be perfected. Because neutrons are not electrically charged, they can easily penetrate material. However they are undisciplined particles and are therefore difficult to control. Their ability to penetrate material can be an advantage, but is quite a problem if you want to guide and concentrate the neutron flow with a conductor to improve the analysis.
The PSI researchers developed ways of controlling the neutrons better. This marked the birth of SwissNeutronics. The partnership of this company with the NCCR "MaNEP" is not surprising, given that PSI is one of the NCCR’s key partners. "The partnership was put on formal footing in 2004", explains Matthias Kuhn. Since that date, SwissNeutronics has partly funded the research work of a post-doctoral student in the NCCR "MaNEP". The student researches materials that might be of interest to companies. If the research results in an important innovation, SwissNeutronics is given priority when licences are awarded. "Part of the revenue generated by the innovation for the company would go to the universities in the form of licence fees."
SwissNeutronics has achieved advances in various projects aimed particularly at applying superimposed nanometrical layers on the inner surface of the conductor – and for various types of metal too. The possibilities offered by this technology are undeniable and today PSI is the most important buyer. However, laboratories in the U.S.A. and Japan are also interested in these products.