Project acronym 2D-TOPSENSE
Project Tunable optoelectronic devices by strain engineering of 2D semiconductors
Researcher (PI) Andres CASTELLANOS
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2017-STG
Summary The goal of 2D-TOPSENSE is to exploit the remarkable stretchability of two-dimensional semiconductors to fabricate optoelectronic devices where strain is used as an external knob to tune their properties.
While bulk semiconductors tend to break under strains larger than 1.5%, 2D semiconductors (such as MoS2) can withstand deformations of up to 10-20% before rupture. This large breaking strength promises a great potential of 2D semiconductors as ‘straintronic’ materials, whose properties can be adjusted by applying a deformation to their lattice. In fact, recent theoretical works predicted an interesting physical phenomenon: a tensile strain-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition in 2D semiconductors. By tensioning single-layer MoS2 from 0% up to 10%, its electronic band structure is expected to undergo a continuous transition from a wide direct band-gap of 1.8 eV to a metallic behavior. This unprecedented large strain-tunability will undoubtedly have a strong impact in a wide range of optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors whose cut-off wavelength is tuned by varying the applied strain or atomically thin light modulators.
To date, experimental works on strain engineering have been mostly focused on fundamental studies, demonstrating part of the potential of 2D semiconductors in straintronics, but they have failed to exploit strain engineering to add extra functionalities to optoelectronic devices. In 2D-TOPSENSE I will go beyond the state of the art in straintronics by designing and fabricating optoelectronic devices whose properties and performance can be tuned by means of applying strain. 2D-TOPSENSE will focus on photodetectors with a tunable bandwidth and detectivity, light emitting devices whose emission wavelength can be adjusted, light modulators based on 2D semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides or black phosphorus and solar funnels capable of directing the photogenerated charge carriers towards a specific position.
Summary
The goal of 2D-TOPSENSE is to exploit the remarkable stretchability of two-dimensional semiconductors to fabricate optoelectronic devices where strain is used as an external knob to tune their properties.
While bulk semiconductors tend to break under strains larger than 1.5%, 2D semiconductors (such as MoS2) can withstand deformations of up to 10-20% before rupture. This large breaking strength promises a great potential of 2D semiconductors as ‘straintronic’ materials, whose properties can be adjusted by applying a deformation to their lattice. In fact, recent theoretical works predicted an interesting physical phenomenon: a tensile strain-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition in 2D semiconductors. By tensioning single-layer MoS2 from 0% up to 10%, its electronic band structure is expected to undergo a continuous transition from a wide direct band-gap of 1.8 eV to a metallic behavior. This unprecedented large strain-tunability will undoubtedly have a strong impact in a wide range of optoelectronic applications such as photodetectors whose cut-off wavelength is tuned by varying the applied strain or atomically thin light modulators.
To date, experimental works on strain engineering have been mostly focused on fundamental studies, demonstrating part of the potential of 2D semiconductors in straintronics, but they have failed to exploit strain engineering to add extra functionalities to optoelectronic devices. In 2D-TOPSENSE I will go beyond the state of the art in straintronics by designing and fabricating optoelectronic devices whose properties and performance can be tuned by means of applying strain. 2D-TOPSENSE will focus on photodetectors with a tunable bandwidth and detectivity, light emitting devices whose emission wavelength can be adjusted, light modulators based on 2D semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides or black phosphorus and solar funnels capable of directing the photogenerated charge carriers towards a specific position.
Max ERC Funding
1 930 437 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-03-01, End date: 2023-02-28
Project acronym 2DNANOPTICA
Project Nano-optics on flatland: from quantum nanotechnology to nano-bio-photonics
Researcher (PI) Pablo Alonso-González
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD DE OVIEDO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2016-STG
Summary Ubiquitous in nature, light-matter interactions are of fundamental importance in science and all optical technologies. Understanding and controlling them has been a long-pursued objective in modern physics. However, so far, related experiments have relied on traditional optical schemes where, owing to the classical diffraction limit, control of optical fields to length scales below the wavelength of light is prevented. Importantly, this limitation impedes to exploit the extraordinary fundamental and scaling potentials of nanoscience and nanotechnology. A solution to concentrate optical fields into sub-diffracting volumes is the excitation of surface polaritons –coupled excitations of photons and mobile/bound charges in metals/polar materials (plasmons/phonons)-. However, their initial promises have been hindered by either strong optical losses or lack of electrical control in metals, and difficulties to fabricate high optical quality nanostructures in polar materials.
With the advent of two-dimensional (2D) materials and their extraordinary optical properties, during the last 2-3 years the visualization of both low-loss and electrically tunable (active) plasmons in graphene and high optical quality phonons in monolayer and multilayer h-BN nanostructures have been demonstrated in the mid-infrared spectral range, thus introducing a very encouraging arena for scientifically ground-breaking discoveries in nano-optics. Inspired by these extraordinary prospects, this ERC project aims to make use of our knowledge and unique expertise in 2D nanoplasmonics, and the recent advances in nanophononics, to establish a technological platform that, including coherent sources, waveguides, routers, and efficient detectors, permits an unprecedented active control and manipulation (at room temperature) of light and light-matter interactions on the nanoscale, thus laying experimentally the foundations of a 2D nano-optics field.
Summary
Ubiquitous in nature, light-matter interactions are of fundamental importance in science and all optical technologies. Understanding and controlling them has been a long-pursued objective in modern physics. However, so far, related experiments have relied on traditional optical schemes where, owing to the classical diffraction limit, control of optical fields to length scales below the wavelength of light is prevented. Importantly, this limitation impedes to exploit the extraordinary fundamental and scaling potentials of nanoscience and nanotechnology. A solution to concentrate optical fields into sub-diffracting volumes is the excitation of surface polaritons –coupled excitations of photons and mobile/bound charges in metals/polar materials (plasmons/phonons)-. However, their initial promises have been hindered by either strong optical losses or lack of electrical control in metals, and difficulties to fabricate high optical quality nanostructures in polar materials.
With the advent of two-dimensional (2D) materials and their extraordinary optical properties, during the last 2-3 years the visualization of both low-loss and electrically tunable (active) plasmons in graphene and high optical quality phonons in monolayer and multilayer h-BN nanostructures have been demonstrated in the mid-infrared spectral range, thus introducing a very encouraging arena for scientifically ground-breaking discoveries in nano-optics. Inspired by these extraordinary prospects, this ERC project aims to make use of our knowledge and unique expertise in 2D nanoplasmonics, and the recent advances in nanophononics, to establish a technological platform that, including coherent sources, waveguides, routers, and efficient detectors, permits an unprecedented active control and manipulation (at room temperature) of light and light-matter interactions on the nanoscale, thus laying experimentally the foundations of a 2D nano-optics field.
Max ERC Funding
1 459 219 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym 2DTHERMS
Project Design of new thermoelectric devices based on layered and field modulated nanostructures of strongly correlated electron systems
Researcher (PI) Jose Francisco Rivadulla Fernandez
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Design of new thermoelectric devices based on layered and field modulated nanostructures of strongly correlated electron systems
Summary
Design of new thermoelectric devices based on layered and field modulated nanostructures of strongly correlated electron systems
Max ERC Funding
1 427 190 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-11-01, End date: 2015-10-31
Project acronym 4SUNS
Project 4-Colours/2-Junctions of III-V semiconductors on Si to use in electronics devices and solar cells
Researcher (PI) María Nair LOPEZ MARTINEZ
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MADRID
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2017-STG
Summary It was early predicted by M. Green and coeval colleagues that dividing the solar spectrum into narrow ranges of colours is the most efficient manner to convert solar energy into electrical power. Multijunction solar cells are the current solution to this challenge, which have reached over 30% conversion efficiencies by stacking 3 junctions together. However, the large fabrication costs and time hinders their use in everyday life. It has been shown that highly mismatched alloy (HMA) materials provide a powerful playground to achieve at least 3 different colour absorption regions that enable optimised energy conversion with just one junction. Combining HMA-based junctions with standard Silicon solar cells will rocket solar conversion efficiency at a reduced price. To turn this ambition into marketable devices, several efforts are still needed and few challenges must be overcome.
4SUNS is a revolutionary approach for the development of HMA materials on Silicon technology, which will bring highly efficient multi-colour solar cells costs below current multijunction devices. The project will develop the technology of HMA materials on Silicon via material synthesis opening a new technology for the future. The understanding and optimization of highly mismatched alloy materials-using GaAsNP alloy- will provide building blocks for the fabrication of laboratory-size 4-colours/2-junctions solar cells.
Using a molecular beam epitaxy system, 4SUNS will grow 4-colours/2-junctions structure as well as it will manufacture the final devices. Structural and optoelectronic characterizations will carry out to determine the quality of the materials and the solar cells characteristic to obtain a competitive product. These new solar cells are competitive products to breakthrough on the solar energy sector solar cells and allowing Europe to take leadership on high efficiency solar cells.
Summary
It was early predicted by M. Green and coeval colleagues that dividing the solar spectrum into narrow ranges of colours is the most efficient manner to convert solar energy into electrical power. Multijunction solar cells are the current solution to this challenge, which have reached over 30% conversion efficiencies by stacking 3 junctions together. However, the large fabrication costs and time hinders their use in everyday life. It has been shown that highly mismatched alloy (HMA) materials provide a powerful playground to achieve at least 3 different colour absorption regions that enable optimised energy conversion with just one junction. Combining HMA-based junctions with standard Silicon solar cells will rocket solar conversion efficiency at a reduced price. To turn this ambition into marketable devices, several efforts are still needed and few challenges must be overcome.
4SUNS is a revolutionary approach for the development of HMA materials on Silicon technology, which will bring highly efficient multi-colour solar cells costs below current multijunction devices. The project will develop the technology of HMA materials on Silicon via material synthesis opening a new technology for the future. The understanding and optimization of highly mismatched alloy materials-using GaAsNP alloy- will provide building blocks for the fabrication of laboratory-size 4-colours/2-junctions solar cells.
Using a molecular beam epitaxy system, 4SUNS will grow 4-colours/2-junctions structure as well as it will manufacture the final devices. Structural and optoelectronic characterizations will carry out to determine the quality of the materials and the solar cells characteristic to obtain a competitive product. These new solar cells are competitive products to breakthrough on the solar energy sector solar cells and allowing Europe to take leadership on high efficiency solar cells.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 719 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31
Project acronym AMORE
Project A distributional MOdel of Reference to Entities
Researcher (PI) Gemma BOLEDA TORRENT
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2016-STG
Summary "When I asked my seven-year-old daughter ""Who is the boy in your class who was also new in school last year, like you?"", she instantly replied ""Daniel"", using the descriptive content in my utterance to identify an entity in the real world and refer to it. The ability to use language to refer to reality is crucial for humans, and yet it is very difficult to model. AMORE breaks new ground in Computational Linguistics, Linguistics, and Artificial Intelligence by developing a model of linguistic reference to entities implemented as a computational system that can learn its own representations from data.
This interdisciplinary project builds on two complementary semantic traditions: 1) Formal semantics, a symbolic approach that can delimit and track linguistic referents, but does not adequately match them with the descriptive content of linguistic expressions; 2) Distributional semantics, which can handle descriptive content but does not associate it to individuated referents. AMORE synthesizes the two approaches into a unified, scalable model of reference that operates with individuated referents and links them to referential expressions characterized by rich descriptive content. The model is a distributed (neural network) version of a formal semantic framework that is furthermore able to integrate perceptual (visual) and linguistic information about entities. We test it extensively in referential tasks that require matching noun phrases (“the Medicine student”, “the white cat”) with entity representations extracted from text and images.
AMORE advances our scientific understanding of language and its computational modeling, and contributes to the far-reaching debate between symbolic and distributed approaches to cognition with an integrative proposal. I am in a privileged position to carry out this integration, since I have contributed top research in both distributional and formal semantics.
"
Summary
"When I asked my seven-year-old daughter ""Who is the boy in your class who was also new in school last year, like you?"", she instantly replied ""Daniel"", using the descriptive content in my utterance to identify an entity in the real world and refer to it. The ability to use language to refer to reality is crucial for humans, and yet it is very difficult to model. AMORE breaks new ground in Computational Linguistics, Linguistics, and Artificial Intelligence by developing a model of linguistic reference to entities implemented as a computational system that can learn its own representations from data.
This interdisciplinary project builds on two complementary semantic traditions: 1) Formal semantics, a symbolic approach that can delimit and track linguistic referents, but does not adequately match them with the descriptive content of linguistic expressions; 2) Distributional semantics, which can handle descriptive content but does not associate it to individuated referents. AMORE synthesizes the two approaches into a unified, scalable model of reference that operates with individuated referents and links them to referential expressions characterized by rich descriptive content. The model is a distributed (neural network) version of a formal semantic framework that is furthermore able to integrate perceptual (visual) and linguistic information about entities. We test it extensively in referential tasks that require matching noun phrases (“the Medicine student”, “the white cat”) with entity representations extracted from text and images.
AMORE advances our scientific understanding of language and its computational modeling, and contributes to the far-reaching debate between symbolic and distributed approaches to cognition with an integrative proposal. I am in a privileged position to carry out this integration, since I have contributed top research in both distributional and formal semantics.
"
Max ERC Funding
1 499 805 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
Project acronym BETTERSENSE
Project Nanodevice Engineering for a Better Chemical Gas Sensing Technology
Researcher (PI) Juan Daniel Prades Garcia
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2013-StG
Summary BetterSense aims to solve the two main problems in current gas sensor technologies: the high power consumption and the poor selectivity. For the former, we propose a radically new approach: to integrate the sensing components and the energy sources intimately, at the nanoscale, in order to achieve a new kind of sensor concept featuring zero power consumption. For the latter, we will mimic the biological receptors designing a kit of gas-specific molecular organic functionalizations to reach ultra-high gas selectivity figures, comparable to those of biological processes. Both cutting-edge concepts will be developed in parallel an integrated together to render a totally new gas sensing technology that surpasses the state-of-the-art.
As a matter of fact, the project will enable, for the first time, the integration of gas detectors in energetically autonomous sensors networks. Additionally, BetterSense will provide an integral solution to the gas sensing challenge by producing a full set of gas-specific sensors over the same platform to ease their integration in multi-analyte systems. Moreover, the project approach will certainly open opportunities in adjacent fields in which power consumption, specificity and nano/micro integration are a concern, such as liquid chemical and biological sensing.
In spite of the promising evidences that demonstrate the feasibility of this proposal, there are still many scientific and technological issues to solve, most of them in the edge of what is known and what is possible today in nano-fabrication and nano/micro integration. For this reason, BetterSense also aims to contribute to the global challenge of making nanodevices compatible with scalable, cost-effective, microelectronic technologies.
For all this, addressing this challenging proposal in full requires a funding scheme compatible with a high-risk/high-gain vision to finance the full dedication of a highly motivated research team with multidisciplinary skill
Summary
BetterSense aims to solve the two main problems in current gas sensor technologies: the high power consumption and the poor selectivity. For the former, we propose a radically new approach: to integrate the sensing components and the energy sources intimately, at the nanoscale, in order to achieve a new kind of sensor concept featuring zero power consumption. For the latter, we will mimic the biological receptors designing a kit of gas-specific molecular organic functionalizations to reach ultra-high gas selectivity figures, comparable to those of biological processes. Both cutting-edge concepts will be developed in parallel an integrated together to render a totally new gas sensing technology that surpasses the state-of-the-art.
As a matter of fact, the project will enable, for the first time, the integration of gas detectors in energetically autonomous sensors networks. Additionally, BetterSense will provide an integral solution to the gas sensing challenge by producing a full set of gas-specific sensors over the same platform to ease their integration in multi-analyte systems. Moreover, the project approach will certainly open opportunities in adjacent fields in which power consumption, specificity and nano/micro integration are a concern, such as liquid chemical and biological sensing.
In spite of the promising evidences that demonstrate the feasibility of this proposal, there are still many scientific and technological issues to solve, most of them in the edge of what is known and what is possible today in nano-fabrication and nano/micro integration. For this reason, BetterSense also aims to contribute to the global challenge of making nanodevices compatible with scalable, cost-effective, microelectronic technologies.
For all this, addressing this challenging proposal in full requires a funding scheme compatible with a high-risk/high-gain vision to finance the full dedication of a highly motivated research team with multidisciplinary skill
Max ERC Funding
1 498 452 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31
Project acronym BIOCON
Project Biological origins of linguistic constraints
Researcher (PI) Juan Manuel Toro
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2012-StG_20111124
Summary The linguistic capacity to express and comprehend an unlimited number of ideas when combining a limited number of elements has only been observed in humans. Nevertheless, research has not fully identified the components of language that make it uniquely human and that allow infants to grasp the complexity of linguistic structure in an apparently effortless manner. Research on comparative cognition suggests humans and other species share powerful learning mechanisms and basic perceptual abilities we use for language processing. But humans display remarkable linguistic abilities that other animals do not possess. Understanding the interplay between general mechanisms shared across species and more specialized ones dedicated to the speech signal is at the heart of current debates in human language acquisition. This is a highly relevant issue for researchers in the fields of Psychology, Linguistics, Biology, Philosophy and Cognitive Neuroscience. By conducting experiments across several populations (human adults and infants) and species (human and nonhuman animals), and using a wide array of experimental techniques, the present proposal hopes to shed some light on the origins of shared biological constraints that guide more specialized mechanisms in the search for linguistic structure. More specifically, we hope to understand how general perceptual and cognitive mechanisms likely present in other animals constrain the way humans tackle the task of language acquisition. Our hypothesis is that differences between humans and other species are not the result of humans being able to process increasingly complex structures that are the hallmark of language. Rather, differences might be due to humans and other animals focusing on different cues present in the signal to extract relevant information. This research will hint at what is uniquely human and what is shared across different animals species.
Summary
The linguistic capacity to express and comprehend an unlimited number of ideas when combining a limited number of elements has only been observed in humans. Nevertheless, research has not fully identified the components of language that make it uniquely human and that allow infants to grasp the complexity of linguistic structure in an apparently effortless manner. Research on comparative cognition suggests humans and other species share powerful learning mechanisms and basic perceptual abilities we use for language processing. But humans display remarkable linguistic abilities that other animals do not possess. Understanding the interplay between general mechanisms shared across species and more specialized ones dedicated to the speech signal is at the heart of current debates in human language acquisition. This is a highly relevant issue for researchers in the fields of Psychology, Linguistics, Biology, Philosophy and Cognitive Neuroscience. By conducting experiments across several populations (human adults and infants) and species (human and nonhuman animals), and using a wide array of experimental techniques, the present proposal hopes to shed some light on the origins of shared biological constraints that guide more specialized mechanisms in the search for linguistic structure. More specifically, we hope to understand how general perceptual and cognitive mechanisms likely present in other animals constrain the way humans tackle the task of language acquisition. Our hypothesis is that differences between humans and other species are not the result of humans being able to process increasingly complex structures that are the hallmark of language. Rather, differences might be due to humans and other animals focusing on different cues present in the signal to extract relevant information. This research will hint at what is uniquely human and what is shared across different animals species.
Max ERC Funding
1 305 973 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-01-01, End date: 2018-12-31
Project acronym BioInspired_SolarH2
Project Engineering Bio-Inspired Systems for the Conversion of Solar Energy to Hydrogen
Researcher (PI) Elisabet ROMERO MESA
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO PRIVADA INSTITUT CATALA D'INVESTIGACIO QUIMICA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2018-STG
Summary With this proposal, I aim to achieve the efficient conversion of solar energy to hydrogen. The overall objective is to engineer bio-inspired systems able to convert solar energy into a separation of charges and to construct devices by coupling these systems to catalysts in order to drive sustainable and effective water oxidation and hydrogen production.
The global energy crisis requires an urgent solution, we must replace fossil fuels for a renewable energy source: Solar energy. However, the efficient and inexpensive conversion and storage of solar energy into fuel remains a fundamental challenge. Currently, solar-energy conversion devices suffer from energy losses mainly caused by disorder in the materials used. The solution to this problem is to learn from nature. In photosynthesis, the photosystem II reaction centre (PSII RC) is a pigment-protein complex able to overcome disorder and convert solar photons into a separation of charges with near 100% efficiency. Crucially, the generated charges have enough potential to drive water oxidation and hydrogen production.
Previously, I have investigated the charge separation process in the PSII RC by a collection of spectroscopic techniques, which allowed me to formulate the design principles of photosynthetic charge separation, where coherence plays a crucial role. Here I will put these knowledge into action to design efficient and robust chromophore-protein assemblies for the collection and conversion of solar energy, employ organic chemistry and synthetic biology tools to construct these well defined and fully controllable assemblies, and apply a complete set of spectroscopic methods to investigate these engineered systems.
Following the approach Understand, Engineer, Implement, I will create a new generation of bio-inspired devices based on abundant and biodegradable materials that will drive the transformation of solar energy and water into hydrogen, an energy-rich molecule that can be stored and transported.
Summary
With this proposal, I aim to achieve the efficient conversion of solar energy to hydrogen. The overall objective is to engineer bio-inspired systems able to convert solar energy into a separation of charges and to construct devices by coupling these systems to catalysts in order to drive sustainable and effective water oxidation and hydrogen production.
The global energy crisis requires an urgent solution, we must replace fossil fuels for a renewable energy source: Solar energy. However, the efficient and inexpensive conversion and storage of solar energy into fuel remains a fundamental challenge. Currently, solar-energy conversion devices suffer from energy losses mainly caused by disorder in the materials used. The solution to this problem is to learn from nature. In photosynthesis, the photosystem II reaction centre (PSII RC) is a pigment-protein complex able to overcome disorder and convert solar photons into a separation of charges with near 100% efficiency. Crucially, the generated charges have enough potential to drive water oxidation and hydrogen production.
Previously, I have investigated the charge separation process in the PSII RC by a collection of spectroscopic techniques, which allowed me to formulate the design principles of photosynthetic charge separation, where coherence plays a crucial role. Here I will put these knowledge into action to design efficient and robust chromophore-protein assemblies for the collection and conversion of solar energy, employ organic chemistry and synthetic biology tools to construct these well defined and fully controllable assemblies, and apply a complete set of spectroscopic methods to investigate these engineered systems.
Following the approach Understand, Engineer, Implement, I will create a new generation of bio-inspired devices based on abundant and biodegradable materials that will drive the transformation of solar energy and water into hydrogen, an energy-rich molecule that can be stored and transported.
Max ERC Funding
1 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-04-01, End date: 2024-03-31
Project acronym CARBONLIGHT
Project Tunable light tightly bound to a single sheet of carbon atoms:
graphene as a novel platform for nano-optoelectronics
Researcher (PI) Frank Henricus Louis Koppens
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE CIENCIES FOTONIQUES
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary Graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, has attracted enormous attention in diverse areas of applied and fundamental physics. Due to its unique crystal structure, charge carriers have an effective mass of zero and a very high mobility, even at room temperature. While graphene-based devices have an enormous potential for high-speed electronics, graphene has recently been recognized as a photonic material for novel optoelectronic applications.
Interestingly, graphene is also a promising host material for light that is confined to nanoscale dimensions, more than 100 times below the diffraction limit. Due to its ultra-small thickness and extremely high purity, graphene can support strongly confined propagating light fields coupled to the charge carriers in the material: surface plasmons. The properties of these plasmons are controllable by electrostatic gates, holding promise for in-situ tunability of light-matter interactions at a length scale far below the wavelength.
This project will experimentally investigate the new and virtually unexplored field of graphene surface plasmonics, and combine this with other appealing properties of graphene to demonstrate the unique potential of carbon-based nano-optoelectronics. The aim is to explore the limits of unprecedented light concentration, manipulation and detection at the nanoscale, to dramatically intensify nonlinear interactions between photons towards the quantum regime, and to reveal the subtle effects of cavity quantum electrodynamics on graphene-emitter systems. This research will reveal the far-reaching potential of a single sheet of carbon atoms as a host for light and electrons at the nanoscale, with prospects for novel nanoscale optical circuits and detectors, nano-optomechanical systems and tunable artificial quantum emitters.
Summary
Graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, has attracted enormous attention in diverse areas of applied and fundamental physics. Due to its unique crystal structure, charge carriers have an effective mass of zero and a very high mobility, even at room temperature. While graphene-based devices have an enormous potential for high-speed electronics, graphene has recently been recognized as a photonic material for novel optoelectronic applications.
Interestingly, graphene is also a promising host material for light that is confined to nanoscale dimensions, more than 100 times below the diffraction limit. Due to its ultra-small thickness and extremely high purity, graphene can support strongly confined propagating light fields coupled to the charge carriers in the material: surface plasmons. The properties of these plasmons are controllable by electrostatic gates, holding promise for in-situ tunability of light-matter interactions at a length scale far below the wavelength.
This project will experimentally investigate the new and virtually unexplored field of graphene surface plasmonics, and combine this with other appealing properties of graphene to demonstrate the unique potential of carbon-based nano-optoelectronics. The aim is to explore the limits of unprecedented light concentration, manipulation and detection at the nanoscale, to dramatically intensify nonlinear interactions between photons towards the quantum regime, and to reveal the subtle effects of cavity quantum electrodynamics on graphene-emitter systems. This research will reveal the far-reaching potential of a single sheet of carbon atoms as a host for light and electrons at the nanoscale, with prospects for novel nanoscale optical circuits and detectors, nano-optomechanical systems and tunable artificial quantum emitters.
Max ERC Funding
1 466 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-11-01, End date: 2017-10-31
Project acronym CARBONNEMS
Project NanoElectroMechanical Systems based on Carbon Nanotube and Graphene
Researcher (PI) Adrian Bachtold
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE CIENCIES FOTONIQUES
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Summary Carbon nanotubes and graphene form a class of nanoscale objects with exceptional electrical, mechanical and structural properties. I propose to exploit these unique properties to fabricate and study various nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) based on graphene and nanotubes. Specifically, I will address two directions with major scientific interests:
1- I propose to study electromechanical resonators based on an individual nanotube or on a single layer of graphene. My group has a leading position in this recent research field and the idea is to take advantage of our expertise for two sets of experiments, one on inertial mass sensing and one on the exploration of quantum motion. These two topics are generating at present an intense activity in the NEMS community. Experiments are usually carried out using microfabricated silicon resonators but the ultra low mass of nanotubes and graphene has here an enormous asset. It drastically improves the sensitivity of mass sensing and it dramatically enhances the amplitude of the motion in the quantum regime.
2- My team will fabricate and exploit nanomotors based on nanotube and graphene. Only few man-made nanomotors have been demonstrated so far. Reasons are multiple. For instance, the fabrication of nanomotors is technically challenging. In addition, friction forces are often so strong that they hinder motion. Because of their unique properties, nanotubes and graphene represent a material of choice for the development of new nanomotors. We will construct nanomotors with different layouts and address how electrical, thermal or chemical energy can be transformed into mechanical energy in order to drive motion at the nanoscale.
Summary
Carbon nanotubes and graphene form a class of nanoscale objects with exceptional electrical, mechanical and structural properties. I propose to exploit these unique properties to fabricate and study various nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) based on graphene and nanotubes. Specifically, I will address two directions with major scientific interests:
1- I propose to study electromechanical resonators based on an individual nanotube or on a single layer of graphene. My group has a leading position in this recent research field and the idea is to take advantage of our expertise for two sets of experiments, one on inertial mass sensing and one on the exploration of quantum motion. These two topics are generating at present an intense activity in the NEMS community. Experiments are usually carried out using microfabricated silicon resonators but the ultra low mass of nanotubes and graphene has here an enormous asset. It drastically improves the sensitivity of mass sensing and it dramatically enhances the amplitude of the motion in the quantum regime.
2- My team will fabricate and exploit nanomotors based on nanotube and graphene. Only few man-made nanomotors have been demonstrated so far. Reasons are multiple. For instance, the fabrication of nanomotors is technically challenging. In addition, friction forces are often so strong that they hinder motion. Because of their unique properties, nanotubes and graphene represent a material of choice for the development of new nanomotors. We will construct nanomotors with different layouts and address how electrical, thermal or chemical energy can be transformed into mechanical energy in order to drive motion at the nanoscale.
Max ERC Funding
1 996 789 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym CUHL
Project Controlling Ultrafast Heat in Layered materials
Researcher (PI) Klaas-Jan TIELROOIJ
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA DE NANOCIENCIA I NANOTECNOLOGIA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2018-STG
Summary In this project I propose to take advantage of the enormous potential created by the recent material science revolution based on two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, by bringing it to the arena of nanoscale heat transport, where heat transport occurs on ultrafast timescales. This opens up a new research field of controllable ultrafast heat transport in layered materials. In particular, I will take advantage of the myriad of possibilities for miniature material and device design, with unprecedented controllability and versatility, offered by Van der Waals (VdW) heterostructures – stacks of different layered materials assembled on top of each other – and 1D systems of layered materials.
Specifically, I will introduce novel device geometries based on VdW heterostructures for passively and actively controlling phonon modes and thermal transport. This will be measured mainly using time-domain thermoreflectance measurements. I will also develop novel time-resolved measurement techniques to follow heat spreading and coupling between different heat carriers: light, phonons, and electrons. These techniques will be mainly based on time-resolved infrared/Raman spectroscopy and photocurrent scanning microscopy. Moreover, I will study one-dimensional layered materials and assess their thermoelectric properties using electrical measurements. And finally, I will combine these results into hybrid devices with a photoactive layer, in order to demonstrate how phonon control allows for tuning of electrical and optoelectronic properties.
The results of this project will have an impact on the major research fields of phononics, electronics and photonics, revealing novel physical phenomena. Additionally, the results are likely to be useful towards applications such as thermal management, thermoelectrics, photovoltaics and photodetection.
Summary
In this project I propose to take advantage of the enormous potential created by the recent material science revolution based on two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, by bringing it to the arena of nanoscale heat transport, where heat transport occurs on ultrafast timescales. This opens up a new research field of controllable ultrafast heat transport in layered materials. In particular, I will take advantage of the myriad of possibilities for miniature material and device design, with unprecedented controllability and versatility, offered by Van der Waals (VdW) heterostructures – stacks of different layered materials assembled on top of each other – and 1D systems of layered materials.
Specifically, I will introduce novel device geometries based on VdW heterostructures for passively and actively controlling phonon modes and thermal transport. This will be measured mainly using time-domain thermoreflectance measurements. I will also develop novel time-resolved measurement techniques to follow heat spreading and coupling between different heat carriers: light, phonons, and electrons. These techniques will be mainly based on time-resolved infrared/Raman spectroscopy and photocurrent scanning microscopy. Moreover, I will study one-dimensional layered materials and assess their thermoelectric properties using electrical measurements. And finally, I will combine these results into hybrid devices with a photoactive layer, in order to demonstrate how phonon control allows for tuning of electrical and optoelectronic properties.
The results of this project will have an impact on the major research fields of phononics, electronics and photonics, revealing novel physical phenomena. Additionally, the results are likely to be useful towards applications such as thermal management, thermoelectrics, photovoltaics and photodetection.
Max ERC Funding
1 475 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-12-01, End date: 2023-11-30
Project acronym DYNAMO
Project Dynamics and assemblies of colloidal particles
under Magnetic and Optical forces
Researcher (PI) Pietro Tierno
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2013-StG
Summary Control of microscale matter through selective manipulation of colloidal building blocks will unveil novel scientific and technological avenues expanding current frontiers of knowledge in Soft Matter systems. I propose to combine state-of-the-art micromanipulation techniques based on magnetic and optical forces to transport, probe and assemble colloidal matter with single particle resolution in real time/space and otherwise unreachable capabilities. In the first part of the project, I will use paramagnetic colloids as externally controllable magnetic inclusions to probe the structural and rheological properties of optically assembled colloid crystals and glasses. In the second part, I will realize a new class of anisotropy patchy magnetic colloids, characterized by selective, directional and reversible interactions and employ these remotely addressable units to realize gels and frustrated crystals (static case), active jamming and synchronization via hydrodynamic coupling (dynamic case).
DynaMO project will power a basic experimental research embracing a variety of apparently different systems ranging from deterministic ratchets, viscoelastic crystals, glasses, patchy colloidal gels, frustrated crystals, active jamming, and hydrodynamic waves. The ERC grant will allow me to establish a young and dynamic research group of interdisciplinary nature focused on these issues and aimed at performing high quality research and training/inspiring talented researchers in innovative and challenging scientific projects.
Summary
Control of microscale matter through selective manipulation of colloidal building blocks will unveil novel scientific and technological avenues expanding current frontiers of knowledge in Soft Matter systems. I propose to combine state-of-the-art micromanipulation techniques based on magnetic and optical forces to transport, probe and assemble colloidal matter with single particle resolution in real time/space and otherwise unreachable capabilities. In the first part of the project, I will use paramagnetic colloids as externally controllable magnetic inclusions to probe the structural and rheological properties of optically assembled colloid crystals and glasses. In the second part, I will realize a new class of anisotropy patchy magnetic colloids, characterized by selective, directional and reversible interactions and employ these remotely addressable units to realize gels and frustrated crystals (static case), active jamming and synchronization via hydrodynamic coupling (dynamic case).
DynaMO project will power a basic experimental research embracing a variety of apparently different systems ranging from deterministic ratchets, viscoelastic crystals, glasses, patchy colloidal gels, frustrated crystals, active jamming, and hydrodynamic waves. The ERC grant will allow me to establish a young and dynamic research group of interdisciplinary nature focused on these issues and aimed at performing high quality research and training/inspiring talented researchers in innovative and challenging scientific projects.
Max ERC Funding
1 309 320 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-01-01, End date: 2018-12-31
Project acronym FASTPARSE
Project Fast Natural Language Parsing for Large-Scale NLP
Researcher (PI) Carlos GÓMEZ RODRÍGUEZ
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDADE DA CORUNA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2016-STG
Summary The popularization of information technology and the Internet has resulted in an unprecedented growth in the scale at which individuals and institutions generate, communicate and access information. In this context, the effective leveraging of the vast amounts of available data to discover and address people's needs is a fundamental problem of modern societies.
Since most of this circulating information is in the form of written or spoken human language, natural language processing (NLP) technologies are a key asset for this crucial goal. NLP can be used to break language barriers (machine translation), find required information (search engines, question answering), monitor public opinion (opinion mining), or digest large amounts of unstructured text into more convenient forms (information extraction, summarization), among other applications.
These and other NLP technologies rely on accurate syntactic parsing to extract or analyze the meaning of sentences. Unfortunately, current state-of-the-art parsing algorithms have high computational costs, processing less than a hundred sentences per second on standard hardware. While this is acceptable for working on small sets of documents, it is clearly prohibitive for large-scale processing, and thus constitutes a major roadblock for the widespread application of NLP.
The goal of this project is to eliminate this bottleneck by developing fast parsers that are suitable for web-scale processing. To do so, FASTPARSE will improve the speed of parsers on several fronts: by avoiding redundant calculations through the reuse of intermediate results from previous sentences; by applying a cognitively-inspired model to compress and recode linguistic information; and by exploiting regularities in human language to find patterns that the parsers can take for granted, avoiding their explicit calculation. The joint application of these techniques will result in much faster parsers that can power all kinds of web-scale NLP applications.
Summary
The popularization of information technology and the Internet has resulted in an unprecedented growth in the scale at which individuals and institutions generate, communicate and access information. In this context, the effective leveraging of the vast amounts of available data to discover and address people's needs is a fundamental problem of modern societies.
Since most of this circulating information is in the form of written or spoken human language, natural language processing (NLP) technologies are a key asset for this crucial goal. NLP can be used to break language barriers (machine translation), find required information (search engines, question answering), monitor public opinion (opinion mining), or digest large amounts of unstructured text into more convenient forms (information extraction, summarization), among other applications.
These and other NLP technologies rely on accurate syntactic parsing to extract or analyze the meaning of sentences. Unfortunately, current state-of-the-art parsing algorithms have high computational costs, processing less than a hundred sentences per second on standard hardware. While this is acceptable for working on small sets of documents, it is clearly prohibitive for large-scale processing, and thus constitutes a major roadblock for the widespread application of NLP.
The goal of this project is to eliminate this bottleneck by developing fast parsers that are suitable for web-scale processing. To do so, FASTPARSE will improve the speed of parsers on several fronts: by avoiding redundant calculations through the reuse of intermediate results from previous sentences; by applying a cognitively-inspired model to compress and recode linguistic information; and by exploiting regularities in human language to find patterns that the parsers can take for granted, avoiding their explicit calculation. The joint application of these techniques will result in much faster parsers that can power all kinds of web-scale NLP applications.
Max ERC Funding
1 481 747 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
Project acronym FlexAnalytics
Project Advanced Analytics to Empower the Small Flexible Consumers of Electricity
Researcher (PI) Juan Miguel MORALES
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2017-STG
Summary David against Goliath: Could small consumers of electricity compete in the wholesale markets on equal footing with the other market agents? Yes, they can and FlexAnalytics will show how.
Activating the demand response, although a major challenge, may also bring tremendous benefits to society, with potential cost savings in the billions of euros. This project will exploit methods of inverse problems, multi-level programming and machine learning to develop a pioneering system that enables the active participation of a group of price-responsive consumers of electricity in the wholesale electricity markets. Through this, they will be able to make the most out of their flexible consumption. FlexAnalytics proposes a generalized scheme for so-called inverse optimization that materializes into a novel data-driven approach to the market bidding problem that, unlike existing approaches, combines the tasks of forecasting, model formulation and estimation, and decision-making in an original unified theoretical framework. The project will also address big-data challenges, as the proposed system will leverage weather, market, and demand information to capture the many factors that may affect the price-response of a pool of flexible consumers. On a fundamental level, FlexAnalytics will produce a novel mathematical framework for data-driven decision making. On a practical level, FlexAnalytics will show that this framework can facilitate the best use of a large amount and a wide variety of data to efficiently operate the sustainable energy systems of the future.
Summary
David against Goliath: Could small consumers of electricity compete in the wholesale markets on equal footing with the other market agents? Yes, they can and FlexAnalytics will show how.
Activating the demand response, although a major challenge, may also bring tremendous benefits to society, with potential cost savings in the billions of euros. This project will exploit methods of inverse problems, multi-level programming and machine learning to develop a pioneering system that enables the active participation of a group of price-responsive consumers of electricity in the wholesale electricity markets. Through this, they will be able to make the most out of their flexible consumption. FlexAnalytics proposes a generalized scheme for so-called inverse optimization that materializes into a novel data-driven approach to the market bidding problem that, unlike existing approaches, combines the tasks of forecasting, model formulation and estimation, and decision-making in an original unified theoretical framework. The project will also address big-data challenges, as the proposed system will leverage weather, market, and demand information to capture the many factors that may affect the price-response of a pool of flexible consumers. On a fundamental level, FlexAnalytics will produce a novel mathematical framework for data-driven decision making. On a practical level, FlexAnalytics will show that this framework can facilitate the best use of a large amount and a wide variety of data to efficiently operate the sustainable energy systems of the future.
Max ERC Funding
1 203 125 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31
Project acronym FLEXOCOMP
Project Enabling flexoelectric engineering through modeling and computation
Researcher (PI) Irene Arias Vicente
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Piezoelectric materials transduce electrical voltage into mechanical strain and vice-versa, which makes them ubiquitous in sensors, actuators, and energy harvesting systems. Flexoelectricity is a related but different effect, by which electric polarization is coupled to strain gradients, i.e. it requires inhomogeneous deformation. Flexoelectricity is present in a much wider variety of materials, including non-polar dielectrics and polymers, but is only significant at small length-scales. Flexoelectricity has demonstrated its potential in information technologies, by flexoelectric-mediated mechanical writing in ferroelectric thin films at the nanoscale, or in flexoelectric electromechanical transducers. It has been suggested that flexoelectricity could enable piezoelectric composites made out of non-piezoelectric components, including soft materials, which could be used in biocompatible and self-powered small-scale devices. Flexoelectricity is a nascent field with major open questions. Furthermore, experimental devices and material designs are limited by what we can understand and analyze, and unfortunately, we lack general engineering analysis tools for flexoelectricity. As a result, current flexoelectric devices are only minimal variations of configurations conceived within the uniform-strain mindset of piezoelectricity. Our main objective in this proposal is to develop an advanced computational infrastructure to quantify flexoelectricity in solids, focusing on continuum models but also exploring multiscale aspects. We plan to use it to (1) analyze accurately flexoelectricity accounting for general geometries, electrode configurations, and material behavior, (2) identify new physics emerging flexoelectricity, and (3) propose, build and test a new generation of thin-film devices, composites and metamaterials for electromechanical transduction, genuinely designed to exploit small-scale flexoelectricity and make it available at macroscopic scales.
Summary
Piezoelectric materials transduce electrical voltage into mechanical strain and vice-versa, which makes them ubiquitous in sensors, actuators, and energy harvesting systems. Flexoelectricity is a related but different effect, by which electric polarization is coupled to strain gradients, i.e. it requires inhomogeneous deformation. Flexoelectricity is present in a much wider variety of materials, including non-polar dielectrics and polymers, but is only significant at small length-scales. Flexoelectricity has demonstrated its potential in information technologies, by flexoelectric-mediated mechanical writing in ferroelectric thin films at the nanoscale, or in flexoelectric electromechanical transducers. It has been suggested that flexoelectricity could enable piezoelectric composites made out of non-piezoelectric components, including soft materials, which could be used in biocompatible and self-powered small-scale devices. Flexoelectricity is a nascent field with major open questions. Furthermore, experimental devices and material designs are limited by what we can understand and analyze, and unfortunately, we lack general engineering analysis tools for flexoelectricity. As a result, current flexoelectric devices are only minimal variations of configurations conceived within the uniform-strain mindset of piezoelectricity. Our main objective in this proposal is to develop an advanced computational infrastructure to quantify flexoelectricity in solids, focusing on continuum models but also exploring multiscale aspects. We plan to use it to (1) analyze accurately flexoelectricity accounting for general geometries, electrode configurations, and material behavior, (2) identify new physics emerging flexoelectricity, and (3) propose, build and test a new generation of thin-film devices, composites and metamaterials for electromechanical transduction, genuinely designed to exploit small-scale flexoelectricity and make it available at macroscopic scales.
Max ERC Funding
1 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
Project acronym FLEXOELECTRICITY
Project Flexoelectricity
Researcher (PI) Gustavo Catalan Bernabe
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA DE NANOCIENCIA I NANOTECNOLOGIA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2012-StG_20111012
Summary "Flexoelectricity is a general property of all insulators whereby they generate a voltage when subjected to an inhomogeneous deformation such as bending. Research on this property has taken off with the observation that, due to the large gradients they can accommodate, devices operating in the nanoscale display colossal flexoelectric effects. The present proposal aims to set up Euroe’s first laboratory specialized on the exploration and exploitation of flexoelectricity. It shall focus on three areas with specific targets:
1) Flexoelectricity for energy harvesting: the inverse relationship between flexoelectricity and device size means that, at the nanoscale, flexoelectric energy harvesting can deliver electromechanical performances superior to the current state of the art. We aim to demonstrate record-high effective piezoelectric coefficients through the use of flexoelectricity.
2) Flexoelectricity for information technologies: Flexoelectricity affords mechanical control of polarity. This opens the door to novel memory device concepts where polarization (and magnetization) can be controlled by pushing with the tip of a scanning probe. We aim to achieve flexoelectric writing of domains under electrodes, and also to demonstrate the indirect coupling between flexoelectricity and magnetization (“flexomagnetism”).
3) Bioflexoelectricity: Flexoelectricity participates in human hearing, and is expected to participate in other bioelectric phenomena. In particular, bones are known to generate electricity in response to stress, and it has been hypothesised that this is due to strain gradients; if demonstrated, this would represent a significant step towards osteogenetic implants. Determining the role of flexoelectricity in in bone piezoelectricty will be the third aim of this project."
Summary
"Flexoelectricity is a general property of all insulators whereby they generate a voltage when subjected to an inhomogeneous deformation such as bending. Research on this property has taken off with the observation that, due to the large gradients they can accommodate, devices operating in the nanoscale display colossal flexoelectric effects. The present proposal aims to set up Euroe’s first laboratory specialized on the exploration and exploitation of flexoelectricity. It shall focus on three areas with specific targets:
1) Flexoelectricity for energy harvesting: the inverse relationship between flexoelectricity and device size means that, at the nanoscale, flexoelectric energy harvesting can deliver electromechanical performances superior to the current state of the art. We aim to demonstrate record-high effective piezoelectric coefficients through the use of flexoelectricity.
2) Flexoelectricity for information technologies: Flexoelectricity affords mechanical control of polarity. This opens the door to novel memory device concepts where polarization (and magnetization) can be controlled by pushing with the tip of a scanning probe. We aim to achieve flexoelectric writing of domains under electrodes, and also to demonstrate the indirect coupling between flexoelectricity and magnetization (“flexomagnetism”).
3) Bioflexoelectricity: Flexoelectricity participates in human hearing, and is expected to participate in other bioelectric phenomena. In particular, bones are known to generate electricity in response to stress, and it has been hypothesised that this is due to strain gradients; if demonstrated, this would represent a significant step towards osteogenetic implants. Determining the role of flexoelectricity in in bone piezoelectricty will be the third aim of this project."
Max ERC Funding
1 478 400 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-01-01, End date: 2017-12-31
Project acronym FLINT
Project Finite-Length Information Theory
Researcher (PI) Albert Guillen I Fabregas
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Shannon's Information Theory establishes the fundamental limits of information processing systems. A concept that is hidden in the mathematical proofs most of the Information Theory literature, is that in order to achieve the fundamental limits we need sequences of infinite duration. Practical information processing systems have strict limitations in terms of length, induced by system constraints on delay and complexity. The vast majority of the Information Theory literature ignores these constraints and theoretical studies that provide a finite-length treatment of information processing are hence urgently needed. When finite-lengths are employed, asymptotic techniques (laws of large numbers, large deviations) cannot be invoked and new techniques must be sought. A fundamental understanding of the impact of finite-lengths is crucial to harvesting the potential gains in practice. This project is aimed at contributing towards the ambitious goal of providing a unified framework for the study of finite-length Information Theory. The approach in this project will be based on information-spectrum combined with tight bounding techniques. A comprehensive study of finite-length information theory will represent a major step forward in Information Theory, with the potential to provide new tools and techniques to solve open problems in multiple disciplines. This unconventional and challenging treatment of Information Theory will advance the area and will contribute to disciplines where Information Theory is relevant. Therefore, the results of this project will be of benefit to areas such as communication theory, probability theory, statistics, physics, computer science, mathematics, economics, bioinformatics and computational neuroscience.
Summary
Shannon's Information Theory establishes the fundamental limits of information processing systems. A concept that is hidden in the mathematical proofs most of the Information Theory literature, is that in order to achieve the fundamental limits we need sequences of infinite duration. Practical information processing systems have strict limitations in terms of length, induced by system constraints on delay and complexity. The vast majority of the Information Theory literature ignores these constraints and theoretical studies that provide a finite-length treatment of information processing are hence urgently needed. When finite-lengths are employed, asymptotic techniques (laws of large numbers, large deviations) cannot be invoked and new techniques must be sought. A fundamental understanding of the impact of finite-lengths is crucial to harvesting the potential gains in practice. This project is aimed at contributing towards the ambitious goal of providing a unified framework for the study of finite-length Information Theory. The approach in this project will be based on information-spectrum combined with tight bounding techniques. A comprehensive study of finite-length information theory will represent a major step forward in Information Theory, with the potential to provide new tools and techniques to solve open problems in multiple disciplines. This unconventional and challenging treatment of Information Theory will advance the area and will contribute to disciplines where Information Theory is relevant. Therefore, the results of this project will be of benefit to areas such as communication theory, probability theory, statistics, physics, computer science, mathematics, economics, bioinformatics and computational neuroscience.
Max ERC Funding
1 303 606 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-08-01, End date: 2017-07-31
Project acronym INTELEG
Project The Intellectual and Material Legacies of Late Medieval Sephardic Judaism: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Researcher (PI) Esperanza Alfonso
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2007-StG
Summary From the 13th to the 15th centuries, the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula (Sepharad) lived side by side with Christians and Muslims. Although persistent tensions existed between these three groups, their members also participated in a common artistic, intellectual and scientific endeavour that produced the requisite conditions for the dawn of the European Renaissance. The worldviews of all three communities revolved around their sacred texts—the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the Qur’an. This project will take as a focal point Judaism and its sacred text, and will explore its role and impact in late medieval society at large. The project will coordinate the research of a group of young scholars doing groundbreaking work in the field, all sharing a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. As a group, we will bring under analysis a wide range of concepts—the production of sacred texts as objects, the history of their cataloguing and preservation, the multiple and conflicting interpretations of their contents, their role as social agents that fostered coexistence or created exclusions, their impact in literature and the arts, their relationship with medieval science, and their relationship to Muslim and Christian Scriptures. The project has a special relevance for today’s multicultural and pluralistic Europe, as it can help to minimize fundamentalist readings of the sacred texts, bring about a greater understanding of the historical roots of modern intercultural conflict and, ultimately, contribute to the development of non essentialist theories of race and culture.
Summary
From the 13th to the 15th centuries, the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula (Sepharad) lived side by side with Christians and Muslims. Although persistent tensions existed between these three groups, their members also participated in a common artistic, intellectual and scientific endeavour that produced the requisite conditions for the dawn of the European Renaissance. The worldviews of all three communities revolved around their sacred texts—the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the Qur’an. This project will take as a focal point Judaism and its sacred text, and will explore its role and impact in late medieval society at large. The project will coordinate the research of a group of young scholars doing groundbreaking work in the field, all sharing a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. As a group, we will bring under analysis a wide range of concepts—the production of sacred texts as objects, the history of their cataloguing and preservation, the multiple and conflicting interpretations of their contents, their role as social agents that fostered coexistence or created exclusions, their impact in literature and the arts, their relationship with medieval science, and their relationship to Muslim and Christian Scriptures. The project has a special relevance for today’s multicultural and pluralistic Europe, as it can help to minimize fundamentalist readings of the sacred texts, bring about a greater understanding of the historical roots of modern intercultural conflict and, ultimately, contribute to the development of non essentialist theories of race and culture.
Max ERC Funding
719 336 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-09-01, End date: 2012-08-31
Project acronym LATIN INTO HEBREW
Project Latin Philosophy into Hebrew: Intercultural Networks in 13th and 14th Century Europe
Researcher (PI) Alexander Fidora Riera
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH4, ERC-2007-StG
Summary The intercultural networks between Arabic, Christian and Jewish communities of learning during the Middle Ages have played a decisive role in the evolution of Western thought and have helped to shape the European identity. Until now, scholarly research has focused almost exclusively on the transmission of Arabic philosophy and science into Latin. The influence of Latin texts on Jewish thought has been largely neglected. The goal of this project is to study how Latin-Christian texts written at Toledo were received in the Jewish tradition of the 13th and 14th centuries, and to draw an intellectual topography of the intercultural and interreligious networks that extended across Europe. The work will involve the philosophical analysis of various texts together with their translations and reception, showing how the networks between the different religious communities in the Mediterranean can be understood as an attempt to work on a shared philosophical tradition. This tradition provided a common and continuous medium for dialogue between the faiths, based upon a commitment to philosophical reason. Our approach will be combined with historical and philological research on the conditions and methods of transmission and translation of Latin texts into Hebrew. In addition, the project aims at editing and translating some of the Hebrew texts of reference. The project is only possible in a trans-disciplinary research group, for it requires philosophical, historical and philological skills as well as a high degree of familiarity with the different traditions involved.
Summary
The intercultural networks between Arabic, Christian and Jewish communities of learning during the Middle Ages have played a decisive role in the evolution of Western thought and have helped to shape the European identity. Until now, scholarly research has focused almost exclusively on the transmission of Arabic philosophy and science into Latin. The influence of Latin texts on Jewish thought has been largely neglected. The goal of this project is to study how Latin-Christian texts written at Toledo were received in the Jewish tradition of the 13th and 14th centuries, and to draw an intellectual topography of the intercultural and interreligious networks that extended across Europe. The work will involve the philosophical analysis of various texts together with their translations and reception, showing how the networks between the different religious communities in the Mediterranean can be understood as an attempt to work on a shared philosophical tradition. This tradition provided a common and continuous medium for dialogue between the faiths, based upon a commitment to philosophical reason. Our approach will be combined with historical and philological research on the conditions and methods of transmission and translation of Latin texts into Hebrew. In addition, the project aims at editing and translating some of the Hebrew texts of reference. The project is only possible in a trans-disciplinary research group, for it requires philosophical, historical and philological skills as well as a high degree of familiarity with the different traditions involved.
Max ERC Funding
511 574 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-09-01, End date: 2012-02-29
Project acronym LINKSPM
Project Linking atomic-scale properties of 2D correlated materials with their mesoscopic transport and mechanical response
Researcher (PI) Miguel MORENO UGEDA
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACION DONOSTIA INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS CENTER
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Fundamental material properties become highly susceptible to external perturbations in low dimensions. This presents tremendous new opportunities for manipulating the behavior of novel 2D layered materials and ultimately achieving unprecedented control over their performance when integrated into highly specific functional devices. However, strategies that enable such control are sorely lacking to date and remain an outstanding challenge for the materials science community. Progress here requires of a comprehensive microscopic picture of the fundamental properties of 2D materials in clear connection to their macroscopic behavior, a knowledge that is still missing due to the lack of experimental techniques that simultaneously probe multiple length regimes.
The main objective of the proposed research is to demonstrate control over the electronic ground states of 2D materials via external strain and electromagnetic fields to build links of applicability for signal processing in electromechanical nanodevices. We will focus on 2D correlated materials exhibiting collective electronic phases such as superconductivity, which respond dramatically to external perturbations. The project aims to understand the interplay between these external stimuli and microscopic electronic phases, and to unambiguously correlate them with mesoscopic electrical transport and mechanical response. This project comprises three research thrusts: (i) Development of new instrumentation that provides a direct way to correlate atomic-scale and mesoscopic properties of materials, and to establish links between (ii) the electrical conductivity and (iii) the mechanical response of 2D correlated materials with their atomic-scale structure and stimulus-dependent electronic phase diagram. This project has the potential to transform this field by providing new pathways to control the behavior of layered nanostructures.
Summary
Fundamental material properties become highly susceptible to external perturbations in low dimensions. This presents tremendous new opportunities for manipulating the behavior of novel 2D layered materials and ultimately achieving unprecedented control over their performance when integrated into highly specific functional devices. However, strategies that enable such control are sorely lacking to date and remain an outstanding challenge for the materials science community. Progress here requires of a comprehensive microscopic picture of the fundamental properties of 2D materials in clear connection to their macroscopic behavior, a knowledge that is still missing due to the lack of experimental techniques that simultaneously probe multiple length regimes.
The main objective of the proposed research is to demonstrate control over the electronic ground states of 2D materials via external strain and electromagnetic fields to build links of applicability for signal processing in electromechanical nanodevices. We will focus on 2D correlated materials exhibiting collective electronic phases such as superconductivity, which respond dramatically to external perturbations. The project aims to understand the interplay between these external stimuli and microscopic electronic phases, and to unambiguously correlate them with mesoscopic electrical transport and mechanical response. This project comprises three research thrusts: (i) Development of new instrumentation that provides a direct way to correlate atomic-scale and mesoscopic properties of materials, and to establish links between (ii) the electrical conductivity and (iii) the mechanical response of 2D correlated materials with their atomic-scale structure and stimulus-dependent electronic phase diagram. This project has the potential to transform this field by providing new pathways to control the behavior of layered nanostructures.
Max ERC Funding
1 734 625 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-10-01, End date: 2023-09-30
