ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Computational Electromagnetics (CEM) is the scientific field at the origin of all new modeling and simulation tools required by the constantly arising design challenges of emerging and future technologies in applied electromagnetics. As in many other technological fields, however, the trend in all emerging technologies in electromagnetic engineering is going towards miniaturized, higher density and multi-scale scenarios. Computationally speaking this translates in the steep increase of the number of degrees of freedom. Given that the design cost (the cost of a multi-right-hand side problem dominated by matrix inversion) can scale as badly as cubically with these degrees of freedom, this fact, as pointed out by many, will sensibly compromise the practical impact of CEM on future and emerging technologies. For this reason, the CEM scientific community has been looking for years for a FFT-like paradigm shift: a dynamic fast direct solver providing a design cost that would scale only linearly with the degrees of freedom. Such a fast solver is considered today a Holy Grail of the discipline. The Grand Challenge of 321 will be to tackle this Holy Grail in Computational Electromagnetics by investigating a dynamic Fast Direct Solver for Maxwell Problems that would run in a linear-instead-of-cubic complexity for an arbitrary number and configuration of degrees of freedom. The failure of all previous attempts will be overcome by a game-changing transformation of the CEM classical problem that will leverage on a recent breakthrough of the PI. Starting from this, the project will investigate an entire new paradigm for impacting algorithms to achieve this grand challenge. The impact of the FFT’s quadratic-to-linear paradigm shift shows how computational complexity reductions can be groundbreaking on applications. The cubic-to-linear paradigm shift, which the 321 project will aim for, will have such a rupturing impact on electromagnetic science and technology.

2 000 000 €

Start date: 2017-09-01, End date: 2022-08-31

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.

1 499 719 €

Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31

Parameterized mathematical models have been central to the understanding and design of communication, networking, and radar systems. However, they often lack the ability to model intricate interactions innate in complex systems. On the other hand, data-driven approaches do not need explicit mathematical models for data generation and have a wider applicability at the cost of flexibility. These approaches need labelled data, representing all the facets of the system interaction with the environment. With the aforementioned systems becoming increasingly complex with intricate interactions and operating in dynamic environments, the number of system configurations can be rather large leading to paucity of labelled data. Thus there are emerging networks of systems of critical importance whose cognition is not effectively covered by traditional approaches. AGNOSTIC uses the process of exploration through system probing and exploitation of observed data in an iterative manner drawing upon traditional model-based approaches and data-driven discriminative learning to enhance functionality, performance, and robustness through the notion of active cognition. AGNOSTIC clearly departs from a passive assimilation of data and aims to formalize the exploitation/exploration framework in dynamic environments. The development of this framework in three applications areas is central to AGNOSTIC. The project aims to provide active cognition in radar to learn the environment and other active systems to ensure situational awareness and coexistence; to apply active probing in radio access networks to infer network behaviour towards spectrum sharing and self-configuration; and to learn and adapt to user demand for content distribution in caching networks, drastically improving network efficiency. Although these cognitive systems interact with the environment in very different ways, sufficient abstraction allows cross-fertilization of insights and approaches motivating their joint treatment.

2 499 595 €

Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30

The goal of the ARS project is the derivation of a unified framework for the autonomous execution of robotic tasks in challenging environments in which accurate performance and safety are of paramount importance. We have chosen surgery as the research scenario because of its importance, its intrinsic challenges, and the presence of three factors that make this project feasible and timely. In fact, we have recently concluded the I-SUR project demonstrating the feasibility of autonomous surgical actions, we have access to the first big data made available to researchers of clinical robotic surgeries, and we will be able to demonstrate the project results on the high performance surgical robot “da Vinci Research Kit”. The impact of autonomous robots on the workforce is a current subject of discussion, but surgical autonomy will be welcome by the medical personnel, e.g. to carry out simple intervention steps, react faster to unexpected events, or monitor the insurgence of fatigue. The framework for autonomous robotic surgery will include five main research objectives. The first will address the analysis of robotic surgery data set to extract action and knowledge models of the intervention. The second objective will focus on planning, which will consist of instantiating the intervention models to a patient specific anatomy. The third objective will address the design of the hybrid controllers for the discrete and continuous parts of the intervention. The fourth research objective will focus on real time reasoning to assess the intervention state and the overall surgical situation. Finally, the last research objective will address the verification, validation and benchmark of the autonomous surgical robotic capabilities. The research results to be achieved by ARS will contribute to paving the way towards enhancing autonomy and operational capabilities of service robots, with the ambitious goal of bridging the gap between robotic and human task execution capability.

2 750 000 €

Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30

Over the past decades, silicon became the most used material for electronic, however its indirect band gap limits its use for optics and optoelectronics. As a result alternatives semiconductor such as III-V and II-VI materials are used to address a broad range of complementary application such as LED, laser diode and photodiode. However in the infrared (IR), the material challenge becomes far more complex. New IR applications, such as flame detection or night car driving assistance are emerging and request low cost detectors. Current technologies, based on epitaxially grown semiconductors are unlikely to bring a cost disruption and organic electronics, often viewed as the alternative to silicon based materials is ineffective in the mid-IR. The blackQD project aims at transforming colloidal quantum dots (CQD) into the next generation of active material for IR detection. CQD are attracting a high interest because of their size tunable optical features and next challenges is their integration in optoelectronic devices and in particular for IR features. The project requires a combination of material knowledge, with clean room nanofabrication and IR photoconduction which is unique in Europe. I organize blackQD in three mains parts. The first part relates to the growth of mercury chalcogenides nanocrystals with unique tunable properties in the mid and far-IR. To design devices with enhanced properties, more needs to be known on the electronic structure of these nanomaterials. In part II, I propose to develop original methods to probe static and dynamic aspects of the electronic structure. Finally the main task of the project relates to the design of a new generation of transistors and IR detectors. I propose several geometries of demonstrator which for the first time integrate from the beginning the colloidal nature of the CQD and constrain of IR photodetection. The project more generally aims to develop a tool box for the design of the next generation of low cost IR.

1 499 903 €

Start date: 2018-02-01, End date: 2023-01-31

The quantum technology revolution promises a transformational impact on the society and economics worldwide. It will enable breakthrough advancements in such diverse fields as secure communications, computing, metrology, and imaging. Quantum photonics, which recently received an incredible boost by the use of integrated optical circuits, is an excellent technological platform to enable such revolution, as it already plays a relevant role in many of the above applications. However, some major technical roadblocks needs to be overcome. Currently, the various components required for a complete quantum photonic system are produced on very different materials by dedicated fabrication technologies, as no single material is able to fulfil all the requirements for single-photon generation, manipulation, storage and detection. This project proposes a new hybrid approach for integrated quantum photonic systems based on femtosecond laser microfabrication (FLM), enabling the innovative miniaturization of various components on different materials, but with a single tool and with very favourable integration capabilities. This project will mainly focus on two major breakthroughs: the first one will be increasing the complexity achievable in the photonic platform and demonstrating unprecedented quantum computation capability; the second one will be the integration in the platform of multiple single-photon quantum memories and their interconnection. Achievement of these goals will only be possible by taking full advantage of the unique features of FLM, from the possibility to machine very different materials, to the 3D capabilities in waveguide writing and selective material removal. The successful demonstration and functional validation of this hybrid, integrated photonic platform will represent a significant leap for photonic microsystems in quantum computing and quantum communications.

2 381 875 €

Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30

The terahertz (THz) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is the junction between optics and electronics. THz is a gate to sensing applications and spectroscopy as well as appealing for material inspection, non-invasive imaging for safety and medical applications and short-range high data rate wireless communication which are being extended to higher frequencies entering the THz range. Optical frequency combs have dominated the scene of laser physics in the last 10 years revolutionizing many fields of optics from metrology to high precision spectroscopy. Optical frequency combs act as rulers in the frequency domain and are characterized by their perfectly equally spaced and coherent modes. An extremely appealing application of optical frequency combs is the so-called dual-comb spectroscopy where multi-heterodyne detection is performed allowing Fourier transform spectroscopy with high resolution, high sensitivity and no moving parts. The objective of this proposal is to create on-chip, self-referenced frequency combs operating in the spectral region from 1.5-5-5 THz. Two main approaches will be followed: direct generation with THz QC lasers (cryogenically cooled) and room temperature non-linear generation by means of Mid-IR QCL combs. Such devices will be groundbreaking since they will allow high resolution THz spectroscopy and they will pave the way to high-rate local data transmission and coherent communication. We recently demonstrated octave spanning lasing from a THz QCL: this will constitute the foundation of our efforts. The developed combs will be implemented in the extremely powerful dual-comb scheme with innovative on-chip self-stabilization and detection of the multi-heterodyne signals. The self-referencing and the independence from an external detector makes the proposed devices disruptive due to their extreme compactness, intrinsic stability and large bandwidth.

1 999 055 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28

Developing minimalistic biological neural networks and observing their functional activity is crucial to decipher the information processing in the brain. This project aims to address two major challenges: to design and fabricate in vitro biological neural networks that are organized in physiological relevant ways and to provide a label-free monitoring platform capable of observing neural activity both at the neuron resolution and at large fields of view. To do so, the project will develop a unique microfluidic compartmentalized chips where populations of primary neurons will be seeded in deposition chambers with physiological relevant number and densities. Chambers will be connected by microgrooves in which neurites only can grow and whose dimensions will be tuned according to the connectivity pattern to reproduce. To observe the activity of such complex neural networks, we will develop a disruptive observation technique that will transduce the electrical activity of spiking neurons into optical differences observed on a lens-free platform, without calcium labelling and constantly in-incubo. By combining neuro-engineering patterning and the lens-free platform, we will compare individual spiking to global oscillators in basic neural networks under localized external stimulations. Such results will provide experimental insight into computational neuroscience current approaches. Finally, we will design an in vitro network that will reproduce a neural loop implied in major neurodegenerative diseases with physiological relevant neural types, densities and connectivities. This circuitry will be manipulated in order to model Huntington and Parkinson diseases on the chip and assess the impact of known drugs on the functional activity of the entire network. This project will engineer microfluidics chips with physiological relevant neural network and a lensfree activity monitoring platform to answer fundamental and clinically relevant issues in neuroscience.

1 727 731 €

Start date: 2016-11-01, End date: 2021-10-31

Large-scale technological, biological, economic, and social complex systems act as complex networks of interacting autonomous agents. Large numbers of interacting agents making self-interested decisions can result in highly complex, sometimes surprising, and often suboptimal, collective behaviors. Empowered by recent breakthroughs in data-driven cognitive learning technologies, networked agents collectively give rise to evolutionary dynamics that cannot be easily modeled, analysed and/or controlled using current systems and control theory. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new theoretical foundations to tackle the emerging challenging control problems associated with evolutionary dynamics for networked autonomous agents. The aim of this project is to develop a rigorous theory for the control of evolutionary dynamics so that interacting autonomous agents can be guided to solve group tasks through the pursuit of individual goals in an evolutionary dynamical process. The theory will then be tested, validated and improved against experimental results using robotic fish. To achieve the aim, I will: (1) develop a general formulation for stochastic evolutionary dynamics with control inputs, enabling the study on controllability and stabilizability for evolutionary processes; (2) introduce stochastic control Lyapunov functions to design control laws; (3) construct new classes of conditional strategies that may propagate controlled actions effectively from focal agents in multiple time scales; and (4) validate experimentally on tasks with unknown difficulties that require a group of robotic fish to evolve and adapt. The project will result in a major advance from the conventional usage of evolutionary game theory with the systematic design to actively control evolutionary outcomes. The combination of theory with experimentation and the multi-disciplinary nature of the approach will lead to new applications of autonomous robotic systems.

1 998 933 €

Start date: 2018-05-01, End date: 2023-04-30

Emergence of a large number of distributed decision and control systems (e.g., in health care, transportation, and energy management), combined with increasing demands of traditional communications (e.g., due to multiview videos), create an imminent need for highly improved communication systems. We advocate that—combined with improvements in battery, antenna, and chip technologies—context- and/or task-oriented communication techniques will bring the desired breakthrough. Specifically, context- oriented techniques will greatly improve performance, because future networks have complex infrastructures (with cache-memories, cloud-RANs, etc.) allowing the terminals to collect side-informations about other terminals’ data or signals, and because many distributed decision systems rely on numerous devices with correlated measurements. Task-oriented techniques promise even larger gains, especially in distributed decision systems where decisions take value on a small range, and thus the traditional approach of communicating sequences of observed signals results in a huge overhead. Information theory, and in particular distributed joint source-channel coding, provides a general framework for designing context-oriented communication techniques. Such a general framework is missing for task-oriented communication. Previous results indicate that creative usages of information theory on its frontier to statistics and decision theory are well-suited for designing task-oriented communication techniques for applications as diverse as coordination of smart devices, distributed hypothesis testing, and clustering of data. Our goal is to design context- and/or task-oriented communication techniques for these three applications and for cache-aided communication. Besides the high gains that our new techniques bring directly to these applications, the complementarity of our applications and obtained results will facilitate a future general framework for context- and task-oriented communication.

1 495 288 €

Start date: 2017-05-01, End date: 2022-04-30

The continuing increase in Internet data traffic is pushing the capacity of single-mode fiber to its fundamental limits. Space division multiplexing (SDM) offers the only remaining physical degree of freedom – the space dimension in the transmission channel – to substantially increase the capacity in lightwave communication systems. The microresonator comb is an emerging technology platform that enables the generation of an optical frequency comb in a micrometer-scale cavity. Its compact size and compatibility with established semiconductor fabrication techniques promises to revolutionize the fields of frequency synthesis and metrology, and create new mass-market applications. I envision significant scaling advantages in future fiber-optic communications by merging SDM with microresonator frequency combs. One major obstacle to overcome here is the poor conversion efficiency that can be fundamentally obtained using the most stable and broadest combs generated in microresonators today. I propose to look into the generation of dark, as opposed to bright, temporal solitons in linearly coupled microresonators. The goal is to achieve reliable microresonator combs with exceptionally high power conversion efficiency, resulting in optimal characteristics for SDM applications. The scientific and technological possibilities of this achievement promise significant impact beyond the realm of fiber-optic communications. My broad international experience, unique background in fiber communications, photonic waveguides and ultrafast photonics, the preliminary results of my group and the available infrastructure at my university place me in an outstanding position to pioneer this new direction of research.

2 259 523 €

Start date: 2018-05-01, End date: 2023-04-30

We propose to develop the theoretical foundations of transforming memory into data rates, and to explore their practical ramifications in wireless communication networks. Motivated by the long-lasting open challenge to invent a communication technology that scales with the network size, we have recently discovered early indications of how preemptive use of distributed data-storage at the receiving communication nodes (well before transmission), can offer unprecedented throughput gains by surprisingly bypassing the dreaded bottleneck of real-time channel-feedback. For an exploratory downlink configuration, we unearthed a hidden duality between feedback and preemptive use of memory, which managed to doubly-exponentially reduce the needed memory size, and consequently offered unbounded throughput gains compared to all existing solutions with the same resources. This was surprising because feedback and memory were thought to be mostly disconnected; one is used on the wireless PHY layer, the other on the wired MAC. This development prompts our key scientific challenge which is to pursue the mathematical convergence between feedback-information-theory and preemptive distributed data-storage, and to then design ultra-fast memory-aided communication algorithms that pass real-life testing. This is a structurally new approach, which promises to reveal deep links between feedback information theory and memory, for a variety of envisioned wireless-network architectures of exceptional promise. In doing so, our new proposed theory stands to identify the basic principles of how a splash of memory can surgically alter the informational-structure of these networks, rendering them faster, simpler and more efficient. In the end, this study has the potential to directly translate the continuously increasing data-storage capabilities, into gains of wireless network capacity, and to ultimately avert the looming network-overload caused by these same indefinite increases of data volumes.

1 978 778 €

Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31

The ultimate goal of device miniaturization is to rely on a single charge provided by a single dopant atom: solotronics. Currently the gate length in a transistor cannot be reduced beyond 10-12 nm, as variability between nominally identical devices reaches unacceptable levels. Elaborate quantum transport experiments can monitor the presence and spin state of a single charge, but do not provide information about location and distribution (wavefunction) of the charge or the local chemical and crystallographic environment. The latter, however, determine why the charge is present at a specific location with a particular distribution. Scanning probe techniques can measure charges but are restricted to the near surface region. In contrast, the phase of an electron in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can probe the sample volume and is sensitive to charge. The target of the e-See project is the first real time observation of the wavefunction associated to a single electron charge in the volume of a device with atomic resolution. I aim to implement low temperature quantum transport experiments in a TEM to allow simultaneous electrical manipulation of this charge. Combined visualization and manipulation of a single charge trapped by Coulomb blockade in a transistor will (i) identify the origins of device variability, and (ii) show how the local properties of the sample affect localization of a single charge and its wavefunction. The project impact involves understanding of variability, improving device design and creation of a new research field on low temperature electrical in situ TEM experiments. It will provide the tool to visualize a single charge wavefunction in any device, enabling ultimate device engineering: deterministic 3D atomic scale control of the position of charge localization. To this end, I will use electron holography and scanning TEM, develop a low temperature electrical TEM sample holder, and novel sample preparation.

1 998 958 €

Start date: 2018-10-01, End date: 2023-09-30

To build interfaces between the electronic domain and the human nervous system is one of the most demanding challenges of nowadays engineering. Fascinating developments have already been performed such as visual cortical implants for the blind and cochlear implants for the deaf. Yet implantation of most electrical stimulation systems requires complex surgeries which hamper their use for the development of so-called electroceuticals. More importantly, previously developed systems based on central stimulation units are not adequate for applications in which a large number of sites must be individually stimulated over large and mobile body parts, thus hindering neuroprosthetic solutions for patients suffering paralysis due to spinal cord injury or other neurological disorders. A solution to these challenges could consist in developing addressable single-channel wireless microstimulators which could be implanted with simple procedures such as injection. And, indeed, such solution was proposed and tried in the past. However, previous attempts did not achieve satisfactory success because the developed implants were stiff and too large. Further miniaturization was prevented because of the use of inductive coupling and batteries as energy sources. Here I propose to explore an innovative method for performing electrical stimulation in which the implanted microstimulators will operate as rectifiers of bursts of innocuous high frequency current supplied through skin electrodes shaped as garments. This approach has the potential to reduce the diameter of the implants to one-fifth the diameter of current microstimulators and, more significantly, to allow that most of the implants’ volume consists of materials whose density and flexibility match those of neighbouring living tissues for minimizing invasiveness. In fact, implants based on the proposed method will look like short pieces of flexible thread.

1 999 813 €

Start date: 2017-05-01, End date: 2022-04-30

Very recently, a new class of sub-luminous accreting neutron stars and black holes has been identified. I propose to use these objects to probe the extreme physical processes which are associated with such compact stars. Just as with their better known brighter cousins, studying them when they are actively accreting and when they are in their quiescent states will give us clues about the behavior of ultra-dense matter in neutron stars and the way neutron-star magnetic fields decay due to the accretion of matter. However, given that these new systems behave differently, I expect to derive from their study a novel perspective which will gain in value even further when contrasted with our current knowledge. I further believe their study will allow me to significantly strengthen the observational proof for the presence of event horizons in black holes. The uncommon nature of these systems suggests that they are very unusual outcomes of binary evolution, and I expect this will also provide us with a different set of clues than we have had until now about the formation of binaries which harbor compact stars. These objects have only recently been discovered, both because we did not have the sensitivity to see them, and because we did not know how to optimize our searches to find them. Current instruments finally have reached the necessary sensitivity. I propose new approaches to find and study these sub-luminous systems using these X-ray and radio instruments in combination with multi-wavelength studies. I expect to find these systems in greater numbers than before, allowing systematic studies of their properties which in turn will provide the ingredients needed to investigate the fundamental physics associated with neutron stars and black holes and serve as input for my proposed theoretical study into binary evolution.

500 000 €

Start date: 2008-10-01, End date: 2013-09-30

Due to sensory loss diabetic patients are prone to falls and to foot ulcers, which consequently increase the risk of amputations. Because of the lack of sensory feedback amputees experience falls, perceive the prosthesis as a foreign body and therefore do not rely on it during walking. This causes counterbalancing movements that increase fatigue. Both types of patients suffer neuropathic pain, associable to aberrant sensory inputs. Neural pathways between the periphery and the brain are still functional above the damage or the amputation. Targeting these structures with peripheral neural interfaces could allow the restoration of natural sensory functionalities. The aim of project is to develop the first neuroprosthesis restoring natural foot sensations, through sciatic nerve stimulation, to patients with diabetic neuropathy or leg amputation. To that aim we will develop a detailed computational model of the sensory loop of the sciatic nerve. It will merge the electrical stimulation effects on sensory fibers and transduction of mechanical deformations of the skin into action potentials. Modelling results will be validated. Applying this modeling framework we will optimize the geometry of a peripheral neural interface, its surgical placement and define stimulation protocols that mimic natural sensory feedback responses. Effective device for feedback restoration will be constructed, able to translate the signals recorded by sensorized sole placed under the prosthetic or diabetic foot into the natural foot sensations perceived by subject. The interventional tools for embodiment boosting and pain relief will be developed. Clinical tests on amputee and diabetic subjects will assess the efficacy of the FeelAgain conceptual and technological framework by examination of pain, embodiment, ulcer prevention, falls avoidance and walking ability.

1 499 637 €

Start date: 2018-04-01, End date: 2023-03-31

Thin-film transistor technologies are present in many products today that require an active transistor backplane e.g. flat-panel displays and flat-panel photodetector arrays. Unipolar n-type transistors based on amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (a-IGZO) as semiconductor is currently the most promising technology for next generation products demanding a high-performant, low power transistor, manufacturable on flexible substrates enabling curved, bendable and even rollable displays. a-IGZO is a wide bandgap material characterized by extremely low off-state leakage currents and electron mobility of ~20 cm2/Vs. IGZO transistors fabricated on flexible substrates will also find their use in applications that require flexible integrated circuits. The goal of this FLICs proposal is to develop disruptive technology and ground-breaking design innovations with amorphous oxide TFTs on plastic substrates, targeting large scale or very large scale flexible integrated circuits with unprecedented characteristics in terms of power consumption, supply voltage and operating speed, for applications in IoT and wearable healthcare sensor patches. We introduce a new logic style, “quasi-CMOS”, which is based on unipolar, oxide dual-gate thin-film transistors. This logic style will drastically decrease the power consumption of unipolar logic gates in a novel way by taking advantage of dynamic backgate driving and of the transistor’s unique low off-state leakage current, without compromising on switching speed. In addition, we also introduce downscaling of the transistor’s dimensions, while remaining compatible with upscaling to large-area manufacturing platforms. Finally, we will investigate novel ultralow-power design techniques on system-level, while exploiting the quasi-CMOS logic gates. We will demonstrate the power of this innovation with circuits for item-level Internet-of-Things, UHF RFID, and wearable health sensor patches.

1 499 155 €

Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31

To detect or generate complex light beams that are increasingly needed in biology and photonics (light with non-zero angular momentum and non-classical light), it is necessary to rely on bulky and sophisticated setups, considerably limiting their potential. The FORWARD project aims at obtaining the same functionalities with a new generation of optoelectronic components of submicron thickness in the near infrared range. This ambitious objective implies to devise radically new ways of creating and manipulating complex light at the nanoscale. In FORWARD, this tremendous challenge will be addressed by hybridizing two classes of artificial media-colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) and metamaterials-and leveraging advanced cooperative behaviours within the hybrids. In the new devices, which will be pumped electrically, the active layers will be made of a film of CQDs interwoven with the metallic inclusions of an optical metamaterial. FORWARD has a strong multidisciplinary character as it lies at the crossroads of nanocrystal processing, nanofabrication, nanophotonics, condensed matter physics and optoelectronics. First, we will hybridize metallic metamaterials and CQDs, study the transport properties in these devices and develop metamaterial/CQD photodetectors demonstrating the advantage of the hybridization. Second, we will induce classical cooperative effects between the different metamaterial inclusions and utilize this approach to fabricate hybrids LEDs capable of emitting optical vortices. Last, we will induce quantum synchronizations among the CQDs and demonstrate hybrids LEDs that produce coherent and non-classical light. Each demonstrator of the project will be a world first in terms of functionalities, miniaturization and operation principle. Besides, this initiative can be seen as the first of its kind that takes a unified and multidisciplinary view at artificial media, opening new horizons for synthetic composite materials in optics, electronics and optoelectronics.

1 965 045 €

Start date: 2018-11-01, End date: 2023-10-31

"Fibre optics are critical infrastructure for society because they carry nearly all the global Internet traffic. For a long time, optical fibre systems were thought to have infinite information-carrying capabilities. With current traffic demands growing by a factor between 10 and 100 every decade, however, this is no longer the case. In fact, it is currently unknown if the installed optical infrastructure will manage to cope with these demands in the future, or if we will face the so-called ""capacity crunch"". To satisfy traffic demands, transceivers are being operated near the nonlinear regime of the fibres. In this regime, a power-dependent nonlinear phenomenon known as the Kerr effect becomes the key impairment that limits the information-carrying capability of optical fibres. The intrinsic nonlinear nature of these fibres makes the analysis very difficult and has led to a series of unanswered fundamental questions about data transmission in nonlinear optical fibres, and nonlinear media in general. For example, the maximum amount of information that optical fibres can carry in the highly nonlinear regime is still unknown, and the design of transceivers well-suited for this regime is also completely unexplored. In this project, the PI will answer these fundamental questions by studying the simplest nontrivial building blocks underlying optical fibres, and will give a definitive answer to the capacity crunch question. The PI will use a systematic methodology that aims at embracing nonlinear effects, consider the continuous-time channel as the correct starting point for analysis, and redesign optical transceivers from scratch, lifting all linear assumptions. The proposed methodology is in sharp contrast with current research trends, which aim at mitigating nonlinearities, and consider discrete-time models in the linear regime. Due to the central role of information transmission in modern society, the results in this project will have broad societal impact."

1 497 982 €

Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31

The goal of GRIFFIN is the derivation of a unified framework with methods, tools and technologies for the development of flying robots with dexterous manipulation capabilities. The robots will be able to fly minimizing energy consumption, to perch on curved surfaces and to perform dexterous manipulation. Flying will be based on foldable wings with flapping capabilities. They will be able to safely operate in sites where rotorcrafts cannot do it and physically interact with people. Dexterous manipulation will be performed maintaining fixed contact with a surface, such as a pole or a pipe, by means of one or more limbs and manipulating with others overcoming the limitations of dexterous manipulation in free flying of existing aerial manipulators. Compliance will play an important role in these robots and in their flight and manipulation control methods. The control systems will be based on appropriate kinematic, dynamic and aerodynamic models. The GRIFFIN robots will have autonomous perception, reactivity and planning based on these models. They will be also able to associate with others to perform cooperative manipulation tasks. New software tools will be developed to facilitate the design and implementation of these complex robotic systems. Thus, configurations with different complexity could be derived depending on the requirements of flight endurance and manipulation tasks from simple grasping to more complex dexterous manipulation. The implementation will be based on additive and shape deposition manufacturing to fabricate multi-material parts and parts with embedded electronics and sensors. In GRIFFIN we will develop a small flapping wings proof of concept prototype which will be able to land autonomously on a small surface by using computer vision, a manipulation system with the body attached to a pole, and finally full size prototypes which will demonstrate flying, landing and manipulation, including cooperative manipulation, by maintaining the equilibrium.

2 499 750 €

Start date: 2018-11-01, End date: 2023-10-31

The HYPNOTIC project aims at achieving a breakthrough in Silicon laser science and technology by taking forward the III-V semiconductors on Silicon hybrid technology into the nanophotonic world to make the dream of the convergence of microelectronics and photonics on a chip come true. This project intends to take up the challenge of bringing to reality electrically powered photonic crystal nanolasers as reference sources for dense integration and logical processing in a Silicon-based optical platform by accomplishing: (i) power efficiency with extremely low activation energies of few fJ, (ii) high bandwidth beyond 40Gbits/s, (iii) compactness with footprints less than 100µm² for high integration density of 103-104 of devices per mm2. A paradigm change will be brought to Silicon photonics by laying down 3 corner stones which consist firstly in the realisation of ultimate nanolaser diode sources at telecom wavelengths using an optimised single hybrid active nanocavity. Secondly, the groundbreaking atomic physics concepts of superradiance and lasing without inversion of population resonators will be transposed to nanophotonics by coupling several active nanocavities. Besides studying them for their fundamental interest, the project will capitalise on them to drastically augment the power efficiency and the modulation bandwidth of the nanosources. Finally, the fabricated nanolaser diodes using these novel concepts will be exploited to demonstrate cutting-edge flip-flop and memory devices able to surpass current off-chip electronic random access memories in access times and bandwidth which could enable unprecedented computational power.

1 981 721 €

Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31

Complex, structured optical beams have unique properties offering new degrees of freedom for achieving unusual wavefront, polarisation and optical angular momentum demanded in microscopy, optical trapping and manipulation of nano-objects, information encoding in optical communications, holography, quantum technologies and laser micromachining. Metasurfaces, a subwavelength-thin nanostructured films, which were initially developed for controlling the phase of light and its reflection and transmission beyond the Snell’s law, provide a rich playground for generation and manipulation of structured beams. iCOMM will establish a metasurface platform for generating and controlling complex vector beams in space and time and develop its applications in sensing and identification of chiral molecules and nonlinear optical trapping. Using unique optical properties of designer-metasurfaces capable of controlling both phase and amplitude of light, nonlinear interactions of pulsed vector beams will be optimised and explored. We will aim to develop a series of active metamaterial chips for nonlinear control of CVBs, linear and nonlinear sensing of chiral molecules and optical trapping applications, opening new application areas in information processing and biochemical technologies. This will be a transformative development for the applications of complex vector beams and metasurfaces in optical communications, displays, security and bio- and chemical sensing and optical trapping. The success of the project will unlock the potential of metasurfaces in providing tuneability for the improvement of the real-world photonic devices and provide insight into physical phenomena which are vital for various areas of photonics and sensing, demonstrating commercially-viable application of metasurfaces and complex beams. It will transform the areas of both complex beams and metasurfaces by introducing real-time active control and consolidate and enhance the European leadership in this field.

2 737 327 €

Start date: 2018-09-01, End date: 2023-08-31

Next generation global telecommunication paradigms will require entirely new technologies to address the current limitations to massive capacity and connectivity. A full integration between optical fibre and wireless networks will be the key for the upcoming multigigabit-per-second 5G wireless communications and the era of Internet of Things. Microwave Photonics (MWP) is the multidisciplinary technology to achieve such a convergence. There is one revolutionary approach that has however been left untapped in finding innovative ways to increase the end user capacity and provide adaptive radiofrequency-photonic interfaces: exploiting space - the last available degree of freedom for optical multiplexing. Space-Division multiplexing (SDM) has been recently touted as a solution for the capacity bottleneck in digital communications by establishing independent light paths in a single fibre. My pioneering idea is to develop a novel area of application for SDM by exploiting for the first time its inherent parallelism to implement a broadband tuneable true time delay line for radiofrequency signals, which is the basis of multiple MWP functionalities. Within this project I envision an unprecedented revolution in fibre-wireless communications through the powerful concept of SDM that will lead to unique processing capabilities as well as to a reduction of size, weight and power consumption. My unique research background developed around the two core of this project, SDM and MWP, puts me in the privileged position to unify them in this truly interdisciplinary program, merging novel ideas and methods from physics, radiofrequency and photonics. Based on my profile, my preliminary results and the available infrastructure at my host organization, I am best positioned to successfully carry out this innovative high-gain/high-risk approach, which will lead to revolutionary advancements of the state of the art and prospective evolution of MWP for future ubiquitous communication scenarios.

1 998 500 €

Start date: 2017-03-01, End date: 2022-02-28

Shannon's Information Theory paved the way for the information era by providing the mathematical foundations of digital information systems. A key underlying assumption of Shannon's key results is that the probability law that governing system is known, allowing to optimize the codebook and decoder accordingly. There are a number of important situations where perfectly estimating the system law is impossible; in these situations the codebook and decoder must be designed without complete (or no) knowledge of the system law. The vast majority of the Information Theory literature makes strong simplifying assumptions on the model. Theoretical studies that provide a general treatment of information processing with uncertain laws are hence urgently needed. For general systems, standard asymptotic techniques cannot be invoked and new techniques must be sought. A fundamental understanding of the impact of uncertainty in general systems 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 Information Theory with uncertain laws. A general framework based on hypothesis testing will be developed and code designs and constructions that naturally follow from the hypothesis testing formulation will be derived. This unconventional and challenging treatment of Information Theory will advance the area and will contribute to Information Sciences and Systems disciplines where Information Theory is relevant. A comprehensive study of the fundamental limits and optimal code design with law uncertainty for general models will represent a major step forward in the field, with the potential to provide new tools and techniques to solve open problems in close disciplines. Therefore, the outcomes of this project will not only benefit communications, but also areas such as probability theory, statistics, physics, computer science and economics.

1 888 033 €

Start date: 2017-08-01, End date: 2022-07-31