welcome

The information and communication revolution has had a profound influence on our modern lifestyles, from business, commerce and government, to education, health and entertainment. The science and engineering of the materials, devices and systems that lie at the heart of this revolution have been major research areas at the University of Surrey for several decades. This led to a number of important advances, and several Surrey inventions are now in widespread use; for example, the strained-layer laser.

The ATI was conceived to bring together electronic engineers, physicists, chemists and biologists within one integrated working environment, supported by state-of-the-art laboratory and cleanroom facilities. Funded by a £10 M investment from the Joint Infrastructure Fund and the University of Surrey, much of the activity is housed in a new purpose-built building, which was officially opened in August 2002. A further £4.5 M investment was made in May 2003 through the SRIF2 initiative to provide equipment for nanoelectronics research and high performance computing.

Staff within the ATI were initially drawn from existing research groups at Surrey working on high-speed electronics, ion implantation and analysis, microwave circuits and systems, optoelectronics and photonics, large area electronics and displays, carbon-based electronics and biological sensors. These activities still form a large part of the work being undertaken today, although new initiatives are gradually being introduced as part of our overall strategy for moving forward. One example is the enhancement of activities aimed at providing dedicated theoretical support for the experimental programmes, which has been accelerated by investment in new staff and infrastructure. Another example is the setting up of a dedicated nanoelectronics research activity, again underpinned by investment in new staff and infrastructure.