Project acronym ABEP
Project Asset Bubbles and Economic Policy
Researcher (PI) Jaume Ventura Fontanet
Host Institution (HI) Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH1, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Advanced capitalist economies experience large and persistent movements in asset prices that are difficult to justify with economic fundamentals. The internet bubble of the 1990s and the real state market bubble of the 2000s are two recent examples. The predominant view is that these bubbles are a market failure, and are caused by some form of individual irrationality on the part of market participants. This project is based instead on the view that market participants are individually rational, although this does not preclude sometimes collectively sub-optimal outcomes. Bubbles are thus not a source of market failure by themselves but instead arise as a result of a pre-existing market failure, namely, the existence of pockets of dynamically inefficient investments. Under some conditions, bubbles partly solve this problem, increasing market efficiency and welfare. It is also possible however that bubbles do not solve the underlying problem and, in addition, create negative side-effects. The main objective of this project is to develop this view of asset bubbles, and produce an empirically-relevant macroeconomic framework that allows us to address the following questions: (i) What is the relationship between bubbles and financial market frictions? Special emphasis is given to how the globalization of financial markets and the development of new financial products affect the size and effects of bubbles. (ii) What is the relationship between bubbles, economic growth and unemployment? The theory suggests the presence of virtuous and vicious cycles, as economic growth creates the conditions for bubbles to pop up, while bubbles create incentives for economic growth to happen. (iii) What is the optimal policy to manage bubbles? We need to develop the tools that allow policy makers to sustain those bubbles that have positive effects and burst those that have negative effects.
Summary
Advanced capitalist economies experience large and persistent movements in asset prices that are difficult to justify with economic fundamentals. The internet bubble of the 1990s and the real state market bubble of the 2000s are two recent examples. The predominant view is that these bubbles are a market failure, and are caused by some form of individual irrationality on the part of market participants. This project is based instead on the view that market participants are individually rational, although this does not preclude sometimes collectively sub-optimal outcomes. Bubbles are thus not a source of market failure by themselves but instead arise as a result of a pre-existing market failure, namely, the existence of pockets of dynamically inefficient investments. Under some conditions, bubbles partly solve this problem, increasing market efficiency and welfare. It is also possible however that bubbles do not solve the underlying problem and, in addition, create negative side-effects. The main objective of this project is to develop this view of asset bubbles, and produce an empirically-relevant macroeconomic framework that allows us to address the following questions: (i) What is the relationship between bubbles and financial market frictions? Special emphasis is given to how the globalization of financial markets and the development of new financial products affect the size and effects of bubbles. (ii) What is the relationship between bubbles, economic growth and unemployment? The theory suggests the presence of virtuous and vicious cycles, as economic growth creates the conditions for bubbles to pop up, while bubbles create incentives for economic growth to happen. (iii) What is the optimal policy to manage bubbles? We need to develop the tools that allow policy makers to sustain those bubbles that have positive effects and burst those that have negative effects.
Max ERC Funding
1 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-04-01, End date: 2015-03-31
Project acronym BIDECASEOX
Project Bio-inspired Design of Catalysts for Selective Oxidations of C-H and C=C Bonds
Researcher (PI) Miguel Costas Salgueiro
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE GIRONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The selective functionalization of C-H and C=C bonds remains a formidable unsolved problem, owing to their inert nature. Novel alkane and alkene oxidation reactions exhibiting good and/or unprecedented selectivities will have a big impact on bulk and fine chemistry by opening novel methodologies that will allow removal of protection-deprotection sequences, thus streamlining synthetic strategies. These goals are targeted in this project via design of iron and manganese catalysts inspired by structural elements of the active site of non-heme enzymes of the Rieske Dioxygenase family. Selectivity is pursued via rational design of catalysts that will exploit substrate recognition-exclusion phenomena, and control over proton and electron affinity of the active species. Moreover, these catalysts will employ H2O2 as oxidant, and will operate under mild conditions (pressure and temperature). The fundamental mechanistic aspects of the catalytic reactions, and the species implicated in C-H and C=C oxidation events will also be studied with the aim of building on the necessary knowledge to design future generations of catalysts, and provide models to understand the chemistry taking place in non-heme iron and manganese-dependent oxygenases.
Summary
The selective functionalization of C-H and C=C bonds remains a formidable unsolved problem, owing to their inert nature. Novel alkane and alkene oxidation reactions exhibiting good and/or unprecedented selectivities will have a big impact on bulk and fine chemistry by opening novel methodologies that will allow removal of protection-deprotection sequences, thus streamlining synthetic strategies. These goals are targeted in this project via design of iron and manganese catalysts inspired by structural elements of the active site of non-heme enzymes of the Rieske Dioxygenase family. Selectivity is pursued via rational design of catalysts that will exploit substrate recognition-exclusion phenomena, and control over proton and electron affinity of the active species. Moreover, these catalysts will employ H2O2 as oxidant, and will operate under mild conditions (pressure and temperature). The fundamental mechanistic aspects of the catalytic reactions, and the species implicated in C-H and C=C oxidation events will also be studied with the aim of building on the necessary knowledge to design future generations of catalysts, and provide models to understand the chemistry taking place in non-heme iron and manganese-dependent oxygenases.
Max ERC Funding
1 299 998 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2015-10-31
Project acronym BIOCOM
Project Biotic community attributes and ecosystem functioning: implications for predicting and mitigating global change impacts
Researcher (PI) Fernando Tomás Maestre Gil
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS8, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Increases in nutrient availability and temperature, and changes in precipitation patterns and biodiversity are important components of global environmental change. Thus, it is imperative to understand their impacts on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Substantial research efforts are being currently devoted to predict how biodiversity will respond to global change. However, little is known on the relative importance of biodiversity against other attributes of biotic communities, such as species cover and spatial pattern, as a driver of ecosystem processes. Furthermore, the effects of global change on the relationships between these attributes and ecosystem functioning are virtually unknown. This project aims to evaluate the relationships between community attributes (species richness, composition, evenness, cover, and spatial pattern) and key processes related to ecosystem functioning under different global change scenarios. Its specific objectives are to: i) evaluate the relative importance of community attributes as drivers of ecosystem functioning, ii) assess how multiple global change drivers will affect key ecosystem processes, iii) test whether global change drivers modify observed community attributes-ecosystem functioning relationships, iv) develop models to forecast global change effects on ecosystem functioning, and v) set up protocols for the establishment of mitigation actions based on the results obtained. They will be achieved by integrating experimental and modeling approaches conducted with multiple biotic communities at different spatial scales. Such integrated framework has not been tackled before, and constitutes a ground breaking advance over current research efforts on global change. This proposal will also open the door to new research lines exploring the functional role of community attributes and their importance as modulators of ecosystem responses to global change.
Summary
Increases in nutrient availability and temperature, and changes in precipitation patterns and biodiversity are important components of global environmental change. Thus, it is imperative to understand their impacts on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Substantial research efforts are being currently devoted to predict how biodiversity will respond to global change. However, little is known on the relative importance of biodiversity against other attributes of biotic communities, such as species cover and spatial pattern, as a driver of ecosystem processes. Furthermore, the effects of global change on the relationships between these attributes and ecosystem functioning are virtually unknown. This project aims to evaluate the relationships between community attributes (species richness, composition, evenness, cover, and spatial pattern) and key processes related to ecosystem functioning under different global change scenarios. Its specific objectives are to: i) evaluate the relative importance of community attributes as drivers of ecosystem functioning, ii) assess how multiple global change drivers will affect key ecosystem processes, iii) test whether global change drivers modify observed community attributes-ecosystem functioning relationships, iv) develop models to forecast global change effects on ecosystem functioning, and v) set up protocols for the establishment of mitigation actions based on the results obtained. They will be achieved by integrating experimental and modeling approaches conducted with multiple biotic communities at different spatial scales. Such integrated framework has not been tackled before, and constitutes a ground breaking advance over current research efforts on global change. This proposal will also open the door to new research lines exploring the functional role of community attributes and their importance as modulators of ecosystem responses to global change.
Max ERC Funding
1 463 374 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2015-09-30
Project acronym EDSGEL
Project Likelihood-based estimation of non-linear and non-normal DSGE models
Researcher (PI) Juan Francisco Rubio-Ramirez
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACION CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS MONETARIOS Y FINANCIEROS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH1, ERC-2009-StG
Summary DSGE models are the standard tool of quantitative macroeconomics. We use them to measure economics phenomena and to provide policy advice. However, since Kydland and Prescott s 1982, the profession has fought about how to take these models to the data. Kydland and Prescott proposed to calibrate their model. Why? Macroeconomists could not compute their models efficiently. Moreover, the techniques required for estimating DSGE models using the likelihood did not exist. Finally, models were ranked very badly by likelihood ratio tests. Calibration offered a temporary solution. By focusing only on a very limited set of moments of the model, researchers could claim partial success and keep developing their theory. The landscape changed in the 1990s. There were developments along three fronts. First, macroeconomists learned how to efficiently compute equilibrium models with rich dynamics. Second, statisticians developed simulation techniques like Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), which we require to estimate DSGE models. Third, and perhaps most important, computer power has become so cheap that we can now do things that were unthinkable 20 years ago. This proposal tries to estimate non-linear and/or non-normal DSGE models using a likelihood approach. Why non-linear models? Previous research has proved that second order approximation errors in the policy function have first order effects on the likelihood function. Why non-normal models? Time-varying volatility is key to understanding the Great Moderation. Kim and Nelson (1999), McConnell and Pérez-Quirós (2000), and Stock and Watson (2002) have documented a decline in the variance of output growth since the mid 1980s. Only DSGE models with richer structure than normal innovations can account for this.
Summary
DSGE models are the standard tool of quantitative macroeconomics. We use them to measure economics phenomena and to provide policy advice. However, since Kydland and Prescott s 1982, the profession has fought about how to take these models to the data. Kydland and Prescott proposed to calibrate their model. Why? Macroeconomists could not compute their models efficiently. Moreover, the techniques required for estimating DSGE models using the likelihood did not exist. Finally, models were ranked very badly by likelihood ratio tests. Calibration offered a temporary solution. By focusing only on a very limited set of moments of the model, researchers could claim partial success and keep developing their theory. The landscape changed in the 1990s. There were developments along three fronts. First, macroeconomists learned how to efficiently compute equilibrium models with rich dynamics. Second, statisticians developed simulation techniques like Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), which we require to estimate DSGE models. Third, and perhaps most important, computer power has become so cheap that we can now do things that were unthinkable 20 years ago. This proposal tries to estimate non-linear and/or non-normal DSGE models using a likelihood approach. Why non-linear models? Previous research has proved that second order approximation errors in the policy function have first order effects on the likelihood function. Why non-normal models? Time-varying volatility is key to understanding the Great Moderation. Kim and Nelson (1999), McConnell and Pérez-Quirós (2000), and Stock and Watson (2002) have documented a decline in the variance of output growth since the mid 1980s. Only DSGE models with richer structure than normal innovations can account for this.
Max ERC Funding
909 942 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-07-01, End date: 2015-06-30
Project acronym GENESFORCEMOTION
Project Physical Forces Driving Collective Cell Migration: from Genes to Mechanism
Researcher (PI) Xavier Trepat Guixer
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE BIOENGINYERIA DE CATALUNYA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS3, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Fundamental biological processes including morphogenesis, tissue repair, and tumour metastasis require collective cell motions, and to drive these motions cells exert traction forces on their surroundings. The mechanisms underlying this basic principle of health and disease have been debated intensively and, using a variety of methods in vivo, in vitro, and in silico, much conflicting evidence has accumulated. This conflicting evidence has been in every case indirect or inferential, however, because within the moving cell group the physical forces themselves have remained inaccessible to direct experimental observation. To fill this gap, this ERC application describes an interdisciplinary project to uncover the physical mechanisms underlying collective cell migration. In Objective 1, I propose to develop technology to map forces that cells within moving groups exert on each other and on their extracellular matrix. In Objective 2, we will use siRNA technology to provide a systematic analysis of the genes that regulate force generation and transmission in a migrating epithelial cell sheet. In Objective 3, we will use this pool of data to establish a constitutive link between genes, forces and collective cell motion. Although these Objectives present major technical and scientific challenges, the feasibility of each is supported by a unique technical know-how and by a productive track record in the field of cell biophysics.
Summary
Fundamental biological processes including morphogenesis, tissue repair, and tumour metastasis require collective cell motions, and to drive these motions cells exert traction forces on their surroundings. The mechanisms underlying this basic principle of health and disease have been debated intensively and, using a variety of methods in vivo, in vitro, and in silico, much conflicting evidence has accumulated. This conflicting evidence has been in every case indirect or inferential, however, because within the moving cell group the physical forces themselves have remained inaccessible to direct experimental observation. To fill this gap, this ERC application describes an interdisciplinary project to uncover the physical mechanisms underlying collective cell migration. In Objective 1, I propose to develop technology to map forces that cells within moving groups exert on each other and on their extracellular matrix. In Objective 2, we will use siRNA technology to provide a systematic analysis of the genes that regulate force generation and transmission in a migrating epithelial cell sheet. In Objective 3, we will use this pool of data to establish a constitutive link between genes, forces and collective cell motion. Although these Objectives present major technical and scientific challenges, the feasibility of each is supported by a unique technical know-how and by a productive track record in the field of cell biophysics.
Max ERC Funding
1 749 745 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym GOPG
Project Globalization, Optimal Policies and Growth
Researcher (PI) Gino Gancia
Host Institution (HI) Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH1, ERC-2009-StG
Summary This project studies the challenges that policy makers face in a world where globalization is proceeding at high speed and knowledge creation is the key to prosperity. It consists of two main parts: one focuses on optimal growth policies, the other on policy externalities induced by market integration. The first part builds on the premise that fostering innovation requires appropriate regulations on product market competition and on Intellectual Property Rights. The following questions will be addressed. What are the optimal competition and IPR policies when economic growth requires both innovation and technology diffusion? Are competition and IPR policies complements or substitutes? How does the optimal policy mix change with economic development? How do optimal contractual relationships evolve with development? What are the misallocations created by market power when sectors and firms are heterogeneous in technology and in the exposure to foreign competition? Are trade liberalization and competition policy complements or substitutes? The second part studies the consequences of and remedies to the growing mismatch between economic and political borders created by globalization. The following questions will be addressed: Why does the size of governments increase with globalization? Does higher international factor mobility lead to a race to the bottom in taxation? What is the effect of trade openness on pollution and environmental regulations? Can globalization induce governments to adopt more stringent environmental regulations? Does market integration call for a reorganization of the world political structure? Can the tendency to reinforce supra-national entities and the process of political fragmentation within states be complementary reactions to globalization?
Summary
This project studies the challenges that policy makers face in a world where globalization is proceeding at high speed and knowledge creation is the key to prosperity. It consists of two main parts: one focuses on optimal growth policies, the other on policy externalities induced by market integration. The first part builds on the premise that fostering innovation requires appropriate regulations on product market competition and on Intellectual Property Rights. The following questions will be addressed. What are the optimal competition and IPR policies when economic growth requires both innovation and technology diffusion? Are competition and IPR policies complements or substitutes? How does the optimal policy mix change with economic development? How do optimal contractual relationships evolve with development? What are the misallocations created by market power when sectors and firms are heterogeneous in technology and in the exposure to foreign competition? Are trade liberalization and competition policy complements or substitutes? The second part studies the consequences of and remedies to the growing mismatch between economic and political borders created by globalization. The following questions will be addressed: Why does the size of governments increase with globalization? Does higher international factor mobility lead to a race to the bottom in taxation? What is the effect of trade openness on pollution and environmental regulations? Can globalization induce governments to adopt more stringent environmental regulations? Does market integration call for a reorganization of the world political structure? Can the tendency to reinforce supra-national entities and the process of political fragmentation within states be complementary reactions to globalization?
Max ERC Funding
450 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-09-01, End date: 2014-08-31
Project acronym INVFEST
Project Evolutionary and functional analysis of polymorphic inversions in the human genome
Researcher (PI) Mario Cáceres
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS8, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The last years have seen an extraordinary explosion of studies characterizing genome variation at different levels, and have opened new opportunities in deciphering the genetic basis of phenotypic characteristics and the evolutionary forces involved. One of the major breakthroughs has been the discovery of an unprecedented degree of structural variation in the human genome, including deletions, duplications and inversions. However, the main challenge is to understand the biological significance of these genomic changes. In particular, for many years inversions have been the paradigm of evolutionary biology. Thus, the identification of the whole set of human inversions gives us a unique opportunity to investigate the functional and evolutionary consequences of this type of changes at a large scale. The specific objectives of the project are: (1) Catalogue the precise location of all common polymorphic inversions in the human genome; (2) Determine the population distribution and the evolutionary history of these inversions; (3) Investigate the functional consequences and the effects on gene expression of human inversions; and (4) Assess the effect of inversions on nucleotide variation patterns and the role of natural selection in their maintenance. This project will follow a multidisciplinary approach that combines experimental and bioinformatic analyses and will benefit from the great amount of information on the human genome already available and that will be generated in the next months. The proposed research therefore represents a very appropriate and timely contribution to the study of human structural variation and its role in phenotypic variation and evolution. Furthermore, it will provide additional insights on genome function, gene-expression regulation mechanisms, and the association of genetic changes and particular traits, and promises to stir novel hypothesis for future studies.
Summary
The last years have seen an extraordinary explosion of studies characterizing genome variation at different levels, and have opened new opportunities in deciphering the genetic basis of phenotypic characteristics and the evolutionary forces involved. One of the major breakthroughs has been the discovery of an unprecedented degree of structural variation in the human genome, including deletions, duplications and inversions. However, the main challenge is to understand the biological significance of these genomic changes. In particular, for many years inversions have been the paradigm of evolutionary biology. Thus, the identification of the whole set of human inversions gives us a unique opportunity to investigate the functional and evolutionary consequences of this type of changes at a large scale. The specific objectives of the project are: (1) Catalogue the precise location of all common polymorphic inversions in the human genome; (2) Determine the population distribution and the evolutionary history of these inversions; (3) Investigate the functional consequences and the effects on gene expression of human inversions; and (4) Assess the effect of inversions on nucleotide variation patterns and the role of natural selection in their maintenance. This project will follow a multidisciplinary approach that combines experimental and bioinformatic analyses and will benefit from the great amount of information on the human genome already available and that will be generated in the next months. The proposed research therefore represents a very appropriate and timely contribution to the study of human structural variation and its role in phenotypic variation and evolution. Furthermore, it will provide additional insights on genome function, gene-expression regulation mechanisms, and the association of genetic changes and particular traits, and promises to stir novel hypothesis for future studies.
Max ERC Funding
1 475 377 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-02-01, End date: 2015-10-31
Project acronym IPBSL
Project Science and technology development for in situ detection and cjharacterization of subsurface life on the Iberian Pyritic Belt
Researcher (PI) Ricardo Amils Pibernat
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE TECNICA AEROESPACIAL ESTEBAN TERRADAS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS8, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Terrestrial subsurface geomicrobiology is a matter of growing interest on many level. From a fundamental point of view, it seeks to determine wheter life can be sustained in the absence of radiation. From an astrobiological point of view, it is an interesting model for early life on Earth, as well as a representation of life as it could occur in other planetary bodies. Río Tinto is an unusual extreme acidic environment, it rises in the core of the Iberian Pyritic Belt (IPB), one of the biggest sulfidic ore deposits in the world. Today it is clear that the extreme characteristics of Ró Tinto are not due to mining activity, but to the chemolithotrophic microorganisms thriving in the high concentration of metal sulfides of the IPB. To explore the hypothesis that a continuous underground reactor of chemolithotrophic microorganisms thriving in the rich sulfidic minerals of the IPB is responsible for the extreme conditions found in the river, we propose a drilling project to detect the subsurface microbial activity, the potential resources to support these microbial communities, and to follow the in situ geomicrobiological evolution in real time. In this project, we propose to explore the Río Tinto at deep-basement regions (200-1000 m) by means of new approaches comprising: i) detection of life and estimation of the microbial diversity at the drilling sites providing an instant picture of the subsurface habitat, and ii) real time monitoring, inside the borehole, of physico-chemical parameters and biological activity generating essential information to recognize matter and energy fluxes. All these procesess are associated to long-term changes in the underground habitats and are not fully understood based on seasonal discontinuous subsurface analysis. To achieve these goals we will analize cores and fluids in the field site using new and poweful tools.
Summary
Terrestrial subsurface geomicrobiology is a matter of growing interest on many level. From a fundamental point of view, it seeks to determine wheter life can be sustained in the absence of radiation. From an astrobiological point of view, it is an interesting model for early life on Earth, as well as a representation of life as it could occur in other planetary bodies. Río Tinto is an unusual extreme acidic environment, it rises in the core of the Iberian Pyritic Belt (IPB), one of the biggest sulfidic ore deposits in the world. Today it is clear that the extreme characteristics of Ró Tinto are not due to mining activity, but to the chemolithotrophic microorganisms thriving in the high concentration of metal sulfides of the IPB. To explore the hypothesis that a continuous underground reactor of chemolithotrophic microorganisms thriving in the rich sulfidic minerals of the IPB is responsible for the extreme conditions found in the river, we propose a drilling project to detect the subsurface microbial activity, the potential resources to support these microbial communities, and to follow the in situ geomicrobiological evolution in real time. In this project, we propose to explore the Río Tinto at deep-basement regions (200-1000 m) by means of new approaches comprising: i) detection of life and estimation of the microbial diversity at the drilling sites providing an instant picture of the subsurface habitat, and ii) real time monitoring, inside the borehole, of physico-chemical parameters and biological activity generating essential information to recognize matter and energy fluxes. All these procesess are associated to long-term changes in the underground habitats and are not fully understood based on seasonal discontinuous subsurface analysis. To achieve these goals we will analize cores and fluids in the field site using new and poweful tools.
Max ERC Funding
3 246 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-06-01, End date: 2015-05-31
Project acronym NANO-TEC
Project Nano-engineered high performance Thermoelectric Energy Conversion devices
Researcher (PI) Maria De La Soledad Martin-Gonzalez
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Providing a sustainable supply of energy to the world s population will become a major societal problem for the 21st century. Thermoelectric materials, whose combination of thermal, electrical, and semiconducting properties, allows them to convert waste heat into electricity, are expected to play an increasingly important role in meeting the energy challenge of the future. Recent work on the theory of thermoelectric devices has led to the expectation that their performance could be enhanced if the diameter of the wires could be reduced to a point where quantum confinement effects increase charge-carrier mobility (thereby increasing the Seebeck coefficient) and reduce thermal conductivity. The predicted net effect of reducing diameters to the order of tens of nanometres would be to increase its efficiency or ZT index by a factor of 3. The objective of this five year proposal is to investigate and optimise the fabrication parameters influencing ZT in order to achieve a power conversion efficiency of >20%. For that, low dimensional nanowires arrays of state of art n and p-type materials will be prepared by cost-effective mass-production electrochemical methods. In order to obtained devices with a ZT >2 for application in energy scavenging and as cooler/heating devices, three approaches will be followed: a) determination of the best materials for each temperature range (n and p type) optimizing composition, microstructure, shapes (core/shell, nanowire surface texture, heterostructures), interfaces and orientations, b) advanced characterization, device development and modeling will be used iteratively during nanostructures and materials optimization, and c) nano-engineering less conventional thermoelectric like cage compounds by electrodeposition methods. This proposal aims to generate a cutting edge project in the thermoelectric field and, if successful, a more efficient way to harness precious, but nowadays wasted energy.
Summary
Providing a sustainable supply of energy to the world s population will become a major societal problem for the 21st century. Thermoelectric materials, whose combination of thermal, electrical, and semiconducting properties, allows them to convert waste heat into electricity, are expected to play an increasingly important role in meeting the energy challenge of the future. Recent work on the theory of thermoelectric devices has led to the expectation that their performance could be enhanced if the diameter of the wires could be reduced to a point where quantum confinement effects increase charge-carrier mobility (thereby increasing the Seebeck coefficient) and reduce thermal conductivity. The predicted net effect of reducing diameters to the order of tens of nanometres would be to increase its efficiency or ZT index by a factor of 3. The objective of this five year proposal is to investigate and optimise the fabrication parameters influencing ZT in order to achieve a power conversion efficiency of >20%. For that, low dimensional nanowires arrays of state of art n and p-type materials will be prepared by cost-effective mass-production electrochemical methods. In order to obtained devices with a ZT >2 for application in energy scavenging and as cooler/heating devices, three approaches will be followed: a) determination of the best materials for each temperature range (n and p type) optimizing composition, microstructure, shapes (core/shell, nanowire surface texture, heterostructures), interfaces and orientations, b) advanced characterization, device development and modeling will be used iteratively during nanostructures and materials optimization, and c) nano-engineering less conventional thermoelectric like cage compounds by electrodeposition methods. This proposal aims to generate a cutting edge project in the thermoelectric field and, if successful, a more efficient way to harness precious, but nowadays wasted energy.
Max ERC Funding
1 228 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-03-01, End date: 2016-02-29
Project acronym NANOANTENNAS
Project Nano-Optical Antennas for Tuneable Single Photon Super-Emitters
Researcher (PI) Niko Frans Van Hulst
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE CIENCIES FOTONIQUES
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Nano-optical antennas allow to confine light on a truly nanometer scale. Indeed, my group recently demonstrated efficient funneling of incident far field to antenna hotspots, i.e. nano-focusing down to 25 nm, and achieved for the first time steering of the angular photon emission of a single molecule. These pioneering results on close encounters between nano-antennas and photon emitters pave the way to a regime of new physical phenomena: super-emission, gradient effects, breakdown of the dipole approximation, near-field spectra, single photon beaming, quantized plasmons and potentially strong coupling. These are exactly the novel effects I plan to explore. Specific objectives are: - Nano-optical control: positioning of single photon emitters at antenna hotspots with < 10 nm accuracy by top-down fabrication, optical forces and chemical recognition. - Super-emission-focusing: boosting of emission to ps Rabi periods and unity quantum efficiency by resonant coupling to the nano-antenna. Photons will be beamed in an antenna dominated angular cone, which in reciprocity acts as the acceptance cone for super-focusing. - Coherent antenna control: by shaping the phase content of broad band fs pulses and tuning the antenna load by optically active materials, I will control nanoscale fields, both in the temporal and spatial domain. - Quantized plasmons: by coupling single photon emitters across a nano-antenna I will explore strong coupling and uncover the quantum nature of plasmons. This research aims for a profound understanding of the fundamental limits of optical control at the nanoscale. The new tuneable photon super-emitters and nano-hot-spots open several new horizons: controlled single photon sources for quantum-information; light harvesting; energy conversion; efficient bio-sensors; optical imaging with 10 nm resolution.
Summary
Nano-optical antennas allow to confine light on a truly nanometer scale. Indeed, my group recently demonstrated efficient funneling of incident far field to antenna hotspots, i.e. nano-focusing down to 25 nm, and achieved for the first time steering of the angular photon emission of a single molecule. These pioneering results on close encounters between nano-antennas and photon emitters pave the way to a regime of new physical phenomena: super-emission, gradient effects, breakdown of the dipole approximation, near-field spectra, single photon beaming, quantized plasmons and potentially strong coupling. These are exactly the novel effects I plan to explore. Specific objectives are: - Nano-optical control: positioning of single photon emitters at antenna hotspots with < 10 nm accuracy by top-down fabrication, optical forces and chemical recognition. - Super-emission-focusing: boosting of emission to ps Rabi periods and unity quantum efficiency by resonant coupling to the nano-antenna. Photons will be beamed in an antenna dominated angular cone, which in reciprocity acts as the acceptance cone for super-focusing. - Coherent antenna control: by shaping the phase content of broad band fs pulses and tuning the antenna load by optically active materials, I will control nanoscale fields, both in the temporal and spatial domain. - Quantized plasmons: by coupling single photon emitters across a nano-antenna I will explore strong coupling and uncover the quantum nature of plasmons. This research aims for a profound understanding of the fundamental limits of optical control at the nanoscale. The new tuneable photon super-emitters and nano-hot-spots open several new horizons: controlled single photon sources for quantum-information; light harvesting; energy conversion; efficient bio-sensors; optical imaging with 10 nm resolution.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 600 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-03-01, End date: 2015-08-31
