Platform for Advanced Characterisation Grenoble

In a nutshell:

Radiation Facility and Industrial Customer: Opportunities and perspectives for creating a successful cooperation

Study on radiation hardness testing in Europe

In beginning of 2018 a collaboration was established, headed by the business development unit of the ESRF (Grenoble, France). Evaluating the landscape of radiation hardness testing for microelectronic devices in Europe, was the main objective of the project. This study was conducted in the framework of PAC-G (Platform for advanced characterization – Grenoble). The primary goal was to identify the facilities and scientific institutes that provide the service of radiation hardness testing with high energy protons, heavy ions and neutrons in all energy ranges. The opportunity offered by the emerging use of synchrotron radiation to emulate heavy ions has been also assessed.

We – Datzmann interact & Innovate GmbH (DInI) – conducted in total 22 structured in-depth interviews with the experts at 15 different facilities in Europe. The contacts were provided by the ESRF, the LPSC (Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique & Cosmologie) and the ILL (Institute Laue-Langevin) and have been complemented by business network of the managing director of DInI. The interview protocol included questions about the technical parameters of the facility, the organizational and business issues, and the relationship between the facilities and the customers using their service. To gain a holistic picture of the business processes. 9 different customers of the service were interviewed in addition. More than half of them coming from a commercial background and the others from public institutions or agencies.

The study contributed to the understanding of the market mechanisms in this rather unusual business where publicly funded institutions like particle accelerator laboratories and neutron research reactors provide a fee-based service to external users, mainly from industry. A focus of the project was dedicated to the offering of the facilities in terms provided beamtime, technological parameters and challenges that have to be solved to match the needs and requirements of the customer.