GreenDiamond scoops Star of Europe trophy

The Horizon 2020 project GreenDiamond has been awarded a 2021 Stars of Europe prize – EEE's Professor Richard Jackman recently travelled to Paris to collect the award along with the project coordinator, Professor Etienne Gheeraert of CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes.

Les Étoiles de l'Europe

The French trophy les Étoiles de l'Europe (the Stars of Europe) rewards the European commitment of teams of international European researchers, including a French group in a leading role, who have distinguished themselves by the quality of their science as well as the project’s technological impact, interdisciplinary nature and societal benefits. 

A 2021 Stars of Europe trophy (renewal mention) was awarded to GreenDiamond, a recently completed €4 million Horizon 2020 project coordinated by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and supported by several project partners including the Diamond Electronics Group (DEG) at UCL.

Head of the DEG, Professor Richard Jackman, collected the award in Paris with the project coordinator, Professor Etienne Gheeraert, at a ceremony held at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac on 2 December 2021. The award was made in the presence of the French Minister of Education, Research and Innovation, Ms Frédérique Vidal, as part of the Horizon Europe Forum.

The power of industrial diamond: GreenDiamond

The GreenDiamond project aimed to meet demand from the renewable-energy industry for alternative high-power electronic devices that are greener and more efficient than current silicon-based convertors. The research focused on a mineral renowned for its luxury and decadence: diamond.

“Diamond is the ultimate semiconductor,” says Professor Jackman. “No semiconductor has better intrinsic properties. It’s actually quite easy and inexpensive to make from methane and hydrogen and this process gives a much better crystalline quality than natural diamond.”

One of the first challenges the team faced was to manufacture a new converter with diamond transistors inside which required the development of semiconductor technology for diamond, based on adjustments from standard silicon approaches. The project team then went on to develop a set of devices to handle not only high power but also high temperature operation.

GreenDiamond technology has the potential to make low-carbon energy production, like offshore wind farming, more sustainable by significantly reducing electrical losses during energy transfer – absolutely vital for Europe to meet its future emissions targets. 

Learn more about GreenDiamond in the video below. 

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The Stars of Europe 2021 trophy winners 
The GreenDiamond Project
Electronic Materials and Devices Research at UCL
Professor Richard Jackman
Horizon Europe Forum