Timeline
1978
Founded by SERC as the Sheffield III-V Facility, founded by Prof Peter Neville Robson
1979
First MOVPE reactor Cambridge Instruments MR100 installed
1983
First MBE VG Semicon V80-1 reactor installed
1985
MBE VG Semicon V80-2 reactor installed
1989
MOVPE reactor Cambridge Instruments Quantax 235 installed
1990
MOVPE reactor Metal Research MR350 installed
1993
MOVPE reactor Thomas Swan Gallium Nitride 1 CCS installed
1993
Prof Colin Whitehouse appointed as Director
2002
MBE reactor VG Semicon V90-1 installed
2003
Prof Peter Houston appointed as Director
2003
III-V Centre’s 25th anniversary
2004
MOVPE Thomas Swan CCS Robot Loader 7×2 installed in Sheffield
2006
Facility moves to the new Nanoscience and Technology Centre in Sheffield
2010
University of Cambridge joins the National Epitaxy Facility
2011
MBE reactor VG Semicon V90-2 installed in Sheffield
2013
Professor Jon Heffernan appointed as Director
2014
ISO:9001 certification awarded
2014
Cambridge Facility moves to new Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy Building at West Cambridge
2016
MOVPE Aixtron CCS Gallium Nitride (GaN) 2 reactor installed in Sheffield
2017
MOVPE Veeco reactor installed in Cambridge
2017
III-V Facility becomes the National Epitaxy Facility and UCL joins forces
2018
MOVPE Aixtron CCS 3×2 JR (John Roberts) reactor installed in Sheffield
2018
MBE DCA Cluster Tool for advanced materials discovery and integration installed in Sheffield
2018
Pump Priming Scheme introduced
2020
MBE Veeco GEN 930 III-V reactor installed at UCL
2022
MOVPE Aixtron CCS 3×2 PH (Peter Houston) reactor installed in Sheffield
2023
Installation of Micro-Transfer Printing Tool for Heterogeneous Integration in Sheffield
2023
Technician David Morris achieves his 40th work anniversary at the University of Sheffield
2023
National Epitaxy Facility quoted in the National Semiconductor Strategy as key support
2023
Pump Priming scheme expanded to cover a broader range of materials from external partners
2025
Prof Rachel Oliver awarded an OBE for her services to Materials Engineering
2025
Grant awarded for a new MBE double-chamber system in Sheffield, installation in 2026
