Project acronym 2DQP
Project Two-dimensional quantum photonics
Researcher (PI) Brian David GERARDOT
Host Institution (HI) HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE3, ERC-2016-COG
Summary Quantum optics, the study of how discrete packets of light (photons) and matter interact, has led to the development of remarkable new technologies which exploit the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics. These quantum technologies are primed to revolutionize the fields of communication, information processing, and metrology in the coming years. Similar to contemporary technologies, the future quantum machinery will likely consist of a semiconductor platform to create and process the quantum information. However, to date the demanding requirements on a quantum photonic platform have yet to be satisfied with conventional bulk (three-dimensional) semiconductors.
To surmount these well-known obstacles, a new paradigm in quantum photonics is required. Initiated by the recent discovery of single photon emitters in atomically flat (two-dimensional) semiconducting materials, 2DQP aims to be at the nucleus of a new approach by realizing quantum optics with ultra-stable (coherent) quantum states integrated into devices with electronic and photonic functionality. We will characterize, identify, engineer, and coherently manipulate localized quantum states in this two-dimensional quantum photonic platform. A vital component of 2DQP’s vision is to go beyond the fundamental science and achieve the ideal solid-state single photon device yielding perfect extraction - 100% efficiency - of on-demand indistinguishable single photons. Finally, we will exploit this ideal device to implement the critical building block for a photonic quantum computer.
Summary
Quantum optics, the study of how discrete packets of light (photons) and matter interact, has led to the development of remarkable new technologies which exploit the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics. These quantum technologies are primed to revolutionize the fields of communication, information processing, and metrology in the coming years. Similar to contemporary technologies, the future quantum machinery will likely consist of a semiconductor platform to create and process the quantum information. However, to date the demanding requirements on a quantum photonic platform have yet to be satisfied with conventional bulk (three-dimensional) semiconductors.
To surmount these well-known obstacles, a new paradigm in quantum photonics is required. Initiated by the recent discovery of single photon emitters in atomically flat (two-dimensional) semiconducting materials, 2DQP aims to be at the nucleus of a new approach by realizing quantum optics with ultra-stable (coherent) quantum states integrated into devices with electronic and photonic functionality. We will characterize, identify, engineer, and coherently manipulate localized quantum states in this two-dimensional quantum photonic platform. A vital component of 2DQP’s vision is to go beyond the fundamental science and achieve the ideal solid-state single photon device yielding perfect extraction - 100% efficiency - of on-demand indistinguishable single photons. Finally, we will exploit this ideal device to implement the critical building block for a photonic quantum computer.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 135 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31
Project acronym ADSNeSP
Project Active and Driven Systems: Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics
Researcher (PI) Michael Elmhirst CATES
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2016-ADG
Summary Active Matter systems, such as self-propelled colloids, violate time-reversal symmetry by producing entropy locally, typically converting fuel into mechanical motion at the particle scale. Other driven systems instead produce entropy because of global forcing by external fields, or boundary conditions that impose macroscopic fluxes (such as the momentum flux across a fluid sheared between moving parallel walls).
Nonequilibrium statistical physics (NeSP) is the basic toolbox for both classes of system. In recent years, much progress in NeSP has stemmed from bottom-up work on driven systems. This has provided a number of exactly solved benchmark models, and extended approximation techniques to address driven non-ergodic systems, such as sheared glasses. Meanwhile, work on fluctuation theorems and stochastic thermodynamics have created profound, model-independent insights into dynamics far from equilibrium.
More recently, the field of Active Matter has moved forward rapidly, leaving in its wake a series of generic and profound NeSP questions that now need answers: When is time-reversal symmetry, broken at the microscale, restored by coarse-graining? If it is restored, is an effective thermodynamic description is possible? How different is an active system's behaviour from a globally forced one?
ADSNeSP aims to distil from recent Active Matter research such fundamental questions; answer them first in the context of specific models and second in more general terms; and then, using the tools and insights gained, shed new light on longstanding problems in the wider class of driven systems.
I believe these new tools and insights will be substantial, because local activity takes systems far from equilibrium in a conceptually distinct direction from most types of global driving. By focusing on general principles and on simple models of activity, I seek to create a new vantage point that can inform, and potentially transform, wider areas of statistical physics.
Summary
Active Matter systems, such as self-propelled colloids, violate time-reversal symmetry by producing entropy locally, typically converting fuel into mechanical motion at the particle scale. Other driven systems instead produce entropy because of global forcing by external fields, or boundary conditions that impose macroscopic fluxes (such as the momentum flux across a fluid sheared between moving parallel walls).
Nonequilibrium statistical physics (NeSP) is the basic toolbox for both classes of system. In recent years, much progress in NeSP has stemmed from bottom-up work on driven systems. This has provided a number of exactly solved benchmark models, and extended approximation techniques to address driven non-ergodic systems, such as sheared glasses. Meanwhile, work on fluctuation theorems and stochastic thermodynamics have created profound, model-independent insights into dynamics far from equilibrium.
More recently, the field of Active Matter has moved forward rapidly, leaving in its wake a series of generic and profound NeSP questions that now need answers: When is time-reversal symmetry, broken at the microscale, restored by coarse-graining? If it is restored, is an effective thermodynamic description is possible? How different is an active system's behaviour from a globally forced one?
ADSNeSP aims to distil from recent Active Matter research such fundamental questions; answer them first in the context of specific models and second in more general terms; and then, using the tools and insights gained, shed new light on longstanding problems in the wider class of driven systems.
I believe these new tools and insights will be substantial, because local activity takes systems far from equilibrium in a conceptually distinct direction from most types of global driving. By focusing on general principles and on simple models of activity, I seek to create a new vantage point that can inform, and potentially transform, wider areas of statistical physics.
Max ERC Funding
2 043 630 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym ARTIMATTER
Project "Lego-Style Materials, Structures and Devices Assembled on Demand from Isolated Atomic Planes"
Researcher (PI) Andre Geim
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2012-ADG_20120216
Summary "Following the advent of graphene with its wide range of unique properties, several other one-atom-thick crystals have been isolated and their preliminary studies have been undertaken. They range from semiconducting monolayers of MoS2 and NbSe2, which similar to graphene exhibit the electric field effect and relatively high electronic quality, to wide-gap insulators such as boron-nitride monolayers that can serve as atomically-thin tunnel barriers.
This library of two-dimensional crystals opens a possibility to construct various 3D structures with on-demand properties, which do not exist in nature but can be assembled in Lego style by stacking individual atomic planes on top of each other in a desired sequence. This project is to explore this new avenue.
We will design, fabricate and study multilayer materials ranging from basic heterostructures that consist of a few alternating layers of graphene and boron nitride and already exhibit a rich spectrum of new phenomena, as recently demonstrated by the applicant’s group, to complex artificial materials containing many layers of different 2D crystals and mimicking, for example, layered superconductors. In a similar manner, various electronic, optoelectronic, micromechanical and other devices will be developed and investigated. The applicant’s aim is to search for new materials with unique properties, novel devices with better characteristics and new physics that is likely to emerge along the way.
The proposed research offers many exciting opportunities and can lead to the development of a large unexplored field with impact exceeding even that of graphene research. This presents a unique, once-in-decade, opportunity to make a very significant breakthrough in condensed matter physics and materials science."
Summary
"Following the advent of graphene with its wide range of unique properties, several other one-atom-thick crystals have been isolated and their preliminary studies have been undertaken. They range from semiconducting monolayers of MoS2 and NbSe2, which similar to graphene exhibit the electric field effect and relatively high electronic quality, to wide-gap insulators such as boron-nitride monolayers that can serve as atomically-thin tunnel barriers.
This library of two-dimensional crystals opens a possibility to construct various 3D structures with on-demand properties, which do not exist in nature but can be assembled in Lego style by stacking individual atomic planes on top of each other in a desired sequence. This project is to explore this new avenue.
We will design, fabricate and study multilayer materials ranging from basic heterostructures that consist of a few alternating layers of graphene and boron nitride and already exhibit a rich spectrum of new phenomena, as recently demonstrated by the applicant’s group, to complex artificial materials containing many layers of different 2D crystals and mimicking, for example, layered superconductors. In a similar manner, various electronic, optoelectronic, micromechanical and other devices will be developed and investigated. The applicant’s aim is to search for new materials with unique properties, novel devices with better characteristics and new physics that is likely to emerge along the way.
The proposed research offers many exciting opportunities and can lead to the development of a large unexplored field with impact exceeding even that of graphene research. This presents a unique, once-in-decade, opportunity to make a very significant breakthrough in condensed matter physics and materials science."
Max ERC Funding
2 200 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-05-01, End date: 2018-04-30
Project acronym EXCIPOL
Project Exciton-Polaritons: New Physics and Long Term Applications
Researcher (PI) Maurice Skolnick
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2012-ADG_20120216
Summary This proposal combines novel experimentation and physical insight with state-of-the-art advances in technology to establish the field of exciton-polariton physics in major new directions. The new physics takes advantage of unique polariton properties including very light mass, strong non-linearities, bosonic character and direct access to density, phase and quantum statistics. The major goals are:
1. Transform the field into the regime of non-classical polariton physics. Major steps forward will include the polariton blockade where one polariton prevents the passage of the next, and very fast 10-100 GHz single photon sources, opening the way to realisation of a variety of strongly correlated photon phenomena in a solid state system.
2. Achieve a quantum phase transition in a system with strong inter-particle interactions, with particular opportunities deriving from the non-equilibrium nature of the polariton system.
3. In the many particle regime, create non-dispersing polariton wave-packets, study collisions and create the first polariton circuits, capitalising on advantageous soliton and condensate properties.
As well as the polariton area, the project will impact on several broader fields: semiconductor physics in revealing new interaction phenomena on the nanoscale, quantum optics and information science in the realisation of very fast single photon sources and quantum circuit functions, and new high density collective phase physics towards exploitation as opto-electronic logic gates and circuits. Advances in technology will be crucial to enable the new directions. They will include fabrication of highly uniform cavities using innovation in crystal growth, the pioneering of a new type of polariton system, waveguide polaritons, and the use of open cavities to permit the application of very short wavelength periodic potentials. These technology goals are challenging but achievable, and have potential to enable major advances over the next 5 to 10 years.
Summary
This proposal combines novel experimentation and physical insight with state-of-the-art advances in technology to establish the field of exciton-polariton physics in major new directions. The new physics takes advantage of unique polariton properties including very light mass, strong non-linearities, bosonic character and direct access to density, phase and quantum statistics. The major goals are:
1. Transform the field into the regime of non-classical polariton physics. Major steps forward will include the polariton blockade where one polariton prevents the passage of the next, and very fast 10-100 GHz single photon sources, opening the way to realisation of a variety of strongly correlated photon phenomena in a solid state system.
2. Achieve a quantum phase transition in a system with strong inter-particle interactions, with particular opportunities deriving from the non-equilibrium nature of the polariton system.
3. In the many particle regime, create non-dispersing polariton wave-packets, study collisions and create the first polariton circuits, capitalising on advantageous soliton and condensate properties.
As well as the polariton area, the project will impact on several broader fields: semiconductor physics in revealing new interaction phenomena on the nanoscale, quantum optics and information science in the realisation of very fast single photon sources and quantum circuit functions, and new high density collective phase physics towards exploitation as opto-electronic logic gates and circuits. Advances in technology will be crucial to enable the new directions. They will include fabrication of highly uniform cavities using innovation in crystal growth, the pioneering of a new type of polariton system, waveguide polaritons, and the use of open cavities to permit the application of very short wavelength periodic potentials. These technology goals are challenging but achievable, and have potential to enable major advances over the next 5 to 10 years.
Max ERC Funding
2 100 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-02-01, End date: 2018-01-31
Project acronym EXCITON
Project Advanced Measurement and Control of Exciton Diffusion for Next Generation Organic Semiconductor Optoelectronics
Researcher (PI) Ifor David William Samuel
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2012-ADG_20120216
Summary There is great interest in organic materials with semiconducting electronic properties. This arises from both a scientific point of view (how can a plastic be a semiconductor?) and a technological point of view as these materials can be used to make light-emitting diodes, lasers and solar cells. The performance of all these devices is strongly affected by exciton diffusion, a process that is little studied or understood (particularly compared with charge transport) largely because of the lack of reliable measurement techniques. The purpose of this proposal is to make a breakthrough in the measurement, understanding and control of exciton diffusion in organic semiconductors, and so create a new generation of materials and devices with enhanced performance due to control of exciton diffusion. The key elements of the study are first to develop and validate advanced measurements of exciton diffusion. This will open up the whole topic of exciton “transport” and provide the tools for us (and others) to explore the physics of exciton diffusion and how it is affected by a range of factors relating to the structure of the materials and how they are processed. The following phase of work will use information about the main factors affecting exciton diffusion to develop strategies for controlling it. A particular challenge is to increase exciton diffusion which will then lead to improved efficiency of organic solar cells. We aim to address this both by applying the structure-property relations we develop and by developing directional exciton transfer, including quantum coherent energy transfer. This is an unconventional approach to improving organic solar cells, which could not only improve their efficiency, but also greatly simplify their structure, leading to a breakthrough in their manufacturability. Control of exciton diffusion arising from the proposed research will also lead to strategies for increasing the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes and lasers.
Summary
There is great interest in organic materials with semiconducting electronic properties. This arises from both a scientific point of view (how can a plastic be a semiconductor?) and a technological point of view as these materials can be used to make light-emitting diodes, lasers and solar cells. The performance of all these devices is strongly affected by exciton diffusion, a process that is little studied or understood (particularly compared with charge transport) largely because of the lack of reliable measurement techniques. The purpose of this proposal is to make a breakthrough in the measurement, understanding and control of exciton diffusion in organic semiconductors, and so create a new generation of materials and devices with enhanced performance due to control of exciton diffusion. The key elements of the study are first to develop and validate advanced measurements of exciton diffusion. This will open up the whole topic of exciton “transport” and provide the tools for us (and others) to explore the physics of exciton diffusion and how it is affected by a range of factors relating to the structure of the materials and how they are processed. The following phase of work will use information about the main factors affecting exciton diffusion to develop strategies for controlling it. A particular challenge is to increase exciton diffusion which will then lead to improved efficiency of organic solar cells. We aim to address this both by applying the structure-property relations we develop and by developing directional exciton transfer, including quantum coherent energy transfer. This is an unconventional approach to improving organic solar cells, which could not only improve their efficiency, but also greatly simplify their structure, leading to a breakthrough in their manufacturability. Control of exciton diffusion arising from the proposed research will also lead to strategies for increasing the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes and lasers.
Max ERC Funding
2 100 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym HPSuper
Project High-Pressure High-Temperature Superconductivity
Researcher (PI) Sven FRIEDEMANN
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Superconductors promote electrical currents without loss and are exploited for applications like magnets in medical imaging. Further applications like large scale usage in electrical power generation and transmission, however, are limited by the need to cool materials below a critical temperature Tc. Thus, novel superconductors with higher Tc are highly desirable.
High Tc has been predicted almost 50 years ago for hydrogen and hydrogen compounds but was only confirmed in 2015 with the discovery of superconductivity at a record temperature of 203K in hydrogen sulphide H3S at high pressures. This long term effort highlights that finding new superconductors remains challenging as theory is very limited in predicting specific compounds for high-temperature superconductivity. The reason for this is that a favourable combination of materials and electronic properties is needed. This project will unravel the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity in H3S, derive design principles, and find new high-temperature superconductors.
We will measure key parameters of the superconducting state in H3S including the London penetration depth, coherence length, superconducting gap, charge carrier concentration, electron-phonon coupling, and Fermi surface topology as well as the isotope effect on these. This will be achieved through measurements of the critical field, Hall effect, quantum oscillations, and tunnelling spectroscopy.
This insight will be used to derive design principles for new superconductors with increased Tc and at lower pressures. We will work together with theory and materials science to predict, synthesise and test novel superconductors working towards hydrogen based high-temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure. We will focus on two materials classes with high hydrogen content: i) phosphanes with excellent control of complementary elements and ii) hydrogen storage materials alanates and borohydrades with light complementary elements.
Summary
Superconductors promote electrical currents without loss and are exploited for applications like magnets in medical imaging. Further applications like large scale usage in electrical power generation and transmission, however, are limited by the need to cool materials below a critical temperature Tc. Thus, novel superconductors with higher Tc are highly desirable.
High Tc has been predicted almost 50 years ago for hydrogen and hydrogen compounds but was only confirmed in 2015 with the discovery of superconductivity at a record temperature of 203K in hydrogen sulphide H3S at high pressures. This long term effort highlights that finding new superconductors remains challenging as theory is very limited in predicting specific compounds for high-temperature superconductivity. The reason for this is that a favourable combination of materials and electronic properties is needed. This project will unravel the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity in H3S, derive design principles, and find new high-temperature superconductors.
We will measure key parameters of the superconducting state in H3S including the London penetration depth, coherence length, superconducting gap, charge carrier concentration, electron-phonon coupling, and Fermi surface topology as well as the isotope effect on these. This will be achieved through measurements of the critical field, Hall effect, quantum oscillations, and tunnelling spectroscopy.
This insight will be used to derive design principles for new superconductors with increased Tc and at lower pressures. We will work together with theory and materials science to predict, synthesise and test novel superconductors working towards hydrogen based high-temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure. We will focus on two materials classes with high hydrogen content: i) phosphanes with excellent control of complementary elements and ii) hydrogen storage materials alanates and borohydrades with light complementary elements.
Max ERC Funding
1 809 752 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
Project acronym LiNAss
Project Light-induced NanoAssembly
Researcher (PI) Jeremy John Baumberg
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2012-ADG_20120216
Summary NanoMaterials have huge promise in a wide range of applications of societal importance. Intricate combinations of metals, semiconductors, dielectrics, and molecular components in three-dimensional configurations, have new and unusual properties. Such advanced functions are at the heart of photovoltaics, magnetic and quantum information technologies, photosynthesis, water splitting, electronics, batteries, fuel cells, catalysis and many more crucial areas. Despite much research, we simply cannot yet make such nanomaterials at will. This problem is thus a major challenge for the future decades that we need to solve. The proposal here uses bottom-up assembly of nano-components combined with the application of controlling beams of light, as a new approach to sub-nm precision capable of scale-up.
The exact arrangement of nano-sized components can drastically change the optical response of a nanostructure. We directly exploit this optical sensitivity to structure. Irradiation by specific wavelengths of laser light builds up strong optical fields only in parts of the structure which transiently have the right configuration. These regions of high field can be spatially localised to 1nm, far smaller than the wavelength of light. If this induces enhanced binding then optical selection preferentially selects specific morphologies. The principal goal of this proposal is to demonstrate the new strategies for reliable nano-constructs at the 1nm scale, which can be produced in large numbers with essentially identical architecture. Several approaches will be explored in parallel, using the light to either glue together nano building blocks, or to deposit the energy needed to grow nanostructures directly. In addition developing ways for light to flex structures can result in significant changes to the optical spectra, thus providing exquisitely-sensitive feedback on the nanoscale. Light is a crucial observational tool, requiring development of real-time sub-ms spectroscopies.
Summary
NanoMaterials have huge promise in a wide range of applications of societal importance. Intricate combinations of metals, semiconductors, dielectrics, and molecular components in three-dimensional configurations, have new and unusual properties. Such advanced functions are at the heart of photovoltaics, magnetic and quantum information technologies, photosynthesis, water splitting, electronics, batteries, fuel cells, catalysis and many more crucial areas. Despite much research, we simply cannot yet make such nanomaterials at will. This problem is thus a major challenge for the future decades that we need to solve. The proposal here uses bottom-up assembly of nano-components combined with the application of controlling beams of light, as a new approach to sub-nm precision capable of scale-up.
The exact arrangement of nano-sized components can drastically change the optical response of a nanostructure. We directly exploit this optical sensitivity to structure. Irradiation by specific wavelengths of laser light builds up strong optical fields only in parts of the structure which transiently have the right configuration. These regions of high field can be spatially localised to 1nm, far smaller than the wavelength of light. If this induces enhanced binding then optical selection preferentially selects specific morphologies. The principal goal of this proposal is to demonstrate the new strategies for reliable nano-constructs at the 1nm scale, which can be produced in large numbers with essentially identical architecture. Several approaches will be explored in parallel, using the light to either glue together nano building blocks, or to deposit the energy needed to grow nanostructures directly. In addition developing ways for light to flex structures can result in significant changes to the optical spectra, thus providing exquisitely-sensitive feedback on the nanoscale. Light is a crucial observational tool, requiring development of real-time sub-ms spectroscopies.
Max ERC Funding
2 050 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-04-01, End date: 2018-03-31
Project acronym MuSES
Project Muon Spectroscopy of Excited States
Researcher (PI) Alan John Drew
Host Institution (HI) QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary Muon spin spectroscopy has shown itself to be a very powerful probe of material properties, with Europe leading this research due to it operating half of the available muon sources in the world, but to date there has been very little work done on spectroscopy of excited states. In the first instance, this proposal will design and build an upgrade to an existing spectrometer (HiFi at ISIS) that will comprise a high-power tunable laser to provide the electronic excitation. This will be followed by a study of the physics of excited state muon spectroscopy, an entirely unexplored area of the technique. The fundamental mechanisms of charge carrier transport in organic semiconductors will then be investigated, and the ground-work for directly measuring the recombination zone in organic LEDs will be done. Perhaps most importantly, the fundamental physics of electron transfer in peptides will be performed - which is responsible for many biological processes and not well understood. The muon technique has recently been shown by the applicant to offer both spatial and temporal information on the electron’s progress through the molecule - this is the only technique that can measure the electron’s wavefunction at different locations on the molecule as a function of time after the excitation is formed.
Summary
Muon spin spectroscopy has shown itself to be a very powerful probe of material properties, with Europe leading this research due to it operating half of the available muon sources in the world, but to date there has been very little work done on spectroscopy of excited states. In the first instance, this proposal will design and build an upgrade to an existing spectrometer (HiFi at ISIS) that will comprise a high-power tunable laser to provide the electronic excitation. This will be followed by a study of the physics of excited state muon spectroscopy, an entirely unexplored area of the technique. The fundamental mechanisms of charge carrier transport in organic semiconductors will then be investigated, and the ground-work for directly measuring the recombination zone in organic LEDs will be done. Perhaps most importantly, the fundamental physics of electron transfer in peptides will be performed - which is responsible for many biological processes and not well understood. The muon technique has recently been shown by the applicant to offer both spatial and temporal information on the electron’s progress through the molecule - this is the only technique that can measure the electron’s wavefunction at different locations on the molecule as a function of time after the excitation is formed.
Max ERC Funding
1 476 891 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2017-11-30
Project acronym OMCIDC
Project Optical Manipulation of Colloidal Interfaces, Droplets and Crystallites
Researcher (PI) Roel Petrus Angela DULLENS
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE3, ERC-2016-COG
Summary This multidisciplinary research programme is focussed on the optical manipulation of interfaces, droplets and crystallites in colloidal model systems. In particular, we will use holographic optical tweezing and confocal microscopy to study interfacial phenomena in three different phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures, exhibiting colloidal liquid-gas, crystal-gas and nematic-isotropic phase coexistence, respectively. First, we will determine the full potential energy landscape of the optical traps using the relation between interface fluctuations and deformed liquid-gas interfaces. This will then be used to study the complex and anisotropic interfacial properties of crystal-gas and nematic-isotropic interfaces. In addition, we envisage quantitatively investigating the nucleation of colloidal liquid droplets, crystallites and liquid crystalline droplets in optical traps positioned at well-defined heights above the interface, which is a direct and quantitative measure for the undersaturation. This allows us to systematically study the relation between the quench depth, nucleus size and nucleation times. We will furthermore nucleate multiple droplets, crystallites and liquid crystalline droplets to study their optical trapping controlled coalescence and detachment, which will shed completely new light on for instance the single particle structure and dynamics upon coalescence and detachment. Finally, we will introduce large probe particles into the phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures, which enables the study of important phenomena such as heterogeneous nucleation and capillary condensation, crystallisation and nematisation. This ambitious project opens up a huge range of exciting possibilities to gain a deep and fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena in complex fluids by actively manipulating and controlling colloidal interfaces, droplets and crystallites.
Summary
This multidisciplinary research programme is focussed on the optical manipulation of interfaces, droplets and crystallites in colloidal model systems. In particular, we will use holographic optical tweezing and confocal microscopy to study interfacial phenomena in three different phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures, exhibiting colloidal liquid-gas, crystal-gas and nematic-isotropic phase coexistence, respectively. First, we will determine the full potential energy landscape of the optical traps using the relation between interface fluctuations and deformed liquid-gas interfaces. This will then be used to study the complex and anisotropic interfacial properties of crystal-gas and nematic-isotropic interfaces. In addition, we envisage quantitatively investigating the nucleation of colloidal liquid droplets, crystallites and liquid crystalline droplets in optical traps positioned at well-defined heights above the interface, which is a direct and quantitative measure for the undersaturation. This allows us to systematically study the relation between the quench depth, nucleus size and nucleation times. We will furthermore nucleate multiple droplets, crystallites and liquid crystalline droplets to study their optical trapping controlled coalescence and detachment, which will shed completely new light on for instance the single particle structure and dynamics upon coalescence and detachment. Finally, we will introduce large probe particles into the phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures, which enables the study of important phenomena such as heterogeneous nucleation and capillary condensation, crystallisation and nematisation. This ambitious project opens up a huge range of exciting possibilities to gain a deep and fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena in complex fluids by actively manipulating and controlling colloidal interfaces, droplets and crystallites.
Max ERC Funding
1 999 892 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-06-01, End date: 2022-05-31
Project acronym PACOMANEDIA
Project Partially Coherent Many-Body Nonequilibrium Dynamics for Information Applications
Researcher (PI) Sougato Bose
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary I propose to investigate two closely connected themes which aim to exploit the full potential of quantum mechanics in information technology. Both the themes concern the exploitation of the nonequilibrium dynamics of many strongly coupled quantum systems which is recently becoming feasible to observe in a plethora of engineered systems. As one broad objective, I plan to examine automata made from a multiple quantum units such as nanomagnets for transporting bits and performing classical (Boolean) reversible logic. In a similar vein, coding of bits in domains of engineered quantum many-body systems and their exploitation for Boolean computing will be explored, as well as examine the quantum nonequilibrium dynamics of a processor which combines transport and processing together. The open nature of the constituent quantum systems will be an integral part of our calculations which will be set in a regime where dissipation (decay of energy from the system) is not significant, though dephasing (loss of quantum coherence) may be substantial. I foresee the advantage of such automata in highly energy efficient and fast computation whose speed is set by the couplings of the quantum many-body system. The second broad objective seeks to overcome a formidable obstacle in the physical implementation of quantum computation, namely the high control demanded on every quantum bit and their interactions with other quantum bits. I plan to offer and investigate an alternative paradigm where the information is processed by harnessing the minimally controlled dynamics of quantum many-body systems. In this context, I will look both at general questions such as to whether a network of interacting spins can serve as an automata for running an entire quantum algorithm, whether magnon wavepackets can be used like photons for linear optics-type quantum computation, as well as the realization of such ideas in a variety of available quantum many-body systems.
Summary
I propose to investigate two closely connected themes which aim to exploit the full potential of quantum mechanics in information technology. Both the themes concern the exploitation of the nonequilibrium dynamics of many strongly coupled quantum systems which is recently becoming feasible to observe in a plethora of engineered systems. As one broad objective, I plan to examine automata made from a multiple quantum units such as nanomagnets for transporting bits and performing classical (Boolean) reversible logic. In a similar vein, coding of bits in domains of engineered quantum many-body systems and their exploitation for Boolean computing will be explored, as well as examine the quantum nonequilibrium dynamics of a processor which combines transport and processing together. The open nature of the constituent quantum systems will be an integral part of our calculations which will be set in a regime where dissipation (decay of energy from the system) is not significant, though dephasing (loss of quantum coherence) may be substantial. I foresee the advantage of such automata in highly energy efficient and fast computation whose speed is set by the couplings of the quantum many-body system. The second broad objective seeks to overcome a formidable obstacle in the physical implementation of quantum computation, namely the high control demanded on every quantum bit and their interactions with other quantum bits. I plan to offer and investigate an alternative paradigm where the information is processed by harnessing the minimally controlled dynamics of quantum many-body systems. In this context, I will look both at general questions such as to whether a network of interacting spins can serve as an automata for running an entire quantum algorithm, whether magnon wavepackets can be used like photons for linear optics-type quantum computation, as well as the realization of such ideas in a variety of available quantum many-body systems.
Max ERC Funding
1 245 078 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30