Investment, Jobs, Impact: CERN Collaboration ‘Vital’ for Tech Spin-off
A UK SME specialising in direct electron detectors and readout systems for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) says its collaboration with CERN has been fundamental in helping attract investment, employ new staff and create new products that will positively impact both research and industry.
Quantum Detectors uses Medipix3 and Timepix4 chips, developed at CERN in the context of the Medipix collaboration, to make significant improvements to TEM. TEM makes it possible to image the internal structure of materials using a beam of high-energy electrons. The use of Medipix3 and Timepix4 chips opens up advancements in fields such as materials science, biology, nanotechnology, and semiconductor research.
“The collaboration we have with CERN has been instrumental to us over the past five years being awarded a £1.25M investment from shareholders, increasing our workforce from 10 to 40 people and has given us the opportunity to invest millions of pounds into upcoming disruptive new products that will be released imminently”
Roger Goldsbrough, CEO of Quantum Detectors
The company also received support in 2023 from UK Export Finance to unlock a £300,000 financing package to facilitate expansion into markets outside the UK.
Quantum Detectors uses Medipix3 in a range of products, such as in their Direct Electron Detector (DED) called the MerlinEM system. The high sensitivity offered by Medipix3 permits the precise detection of electrons at the point of interaction of the beam with the sample.
One benefit of this is, for example, in analysing a particularly sensitive material. The longer the material is analysed, the greater the risk that it could be damaged due to long exposure to the electron beam. That is why it is imperative to take as much data as possible from each electron detected by the DED.
This proved vital for a team of researchers from the University of Lille, who used the MerlinEM detector to analyse pristine samples of the Ryugu asteroid, brought back to Earth in 2020 on Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Hayabusa2 mission. The researchers were able to use advanced imaging to map nanoscale mineral phases of the samples.
Another benefit is the high-energy resolution of these systems. Quantum Detectors’ technology was used in one case to analyse halide perovskites, a promising candidate for next-generation optoelectronic materials that could potentially be used for new solar cell materials.
However, the materials experienced certain degradations for unknown reasons. A team from the University of Cambridge was able to identify that just a very small area of the materials was responsible for this deficiency, providing insights into how these promising materials can be adapted.
Broadly, Quantum Detectors’ products can play a vital role in advancing research and innovation in a range of areas, such as metallurgy, chemistry, photovoltaics, semiconductors and even space exploration.