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 3DNANOMECH
Project Three-dimensional molecular resolution mapping of soft matter-liquid interfaces
Researcher (PI) Ricardo Garcia
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE4, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary Optical, electron and probe microscopes are enabling tools for discoveries and knowledge generation in nanoscale sicence and technology. High resolution –nanoscale or molecular-, noninvasive and label-free imaging of three-dimensional soft matter-liquid interfaces has not been achieved by any microscopy method.
Force microscopy (AFM) is considered the second most relevant advance in materials science since 1960. Despite its impressive range of applications, the technique has some key limitations. Force microscopy has not three dimensional depth. What lies above or in the subsurface is not readily characterized.
3DNanoMech proposes to design, build and operate a high speed force-based method for the three-dimensional characterization soft matter-liquid interfaces (3D AFM). The microscope will combine a detection method based on force perturbations, adaptive algorithms, high speed piezo actuators and quantitative-oriented multifrequency approaches. The development of the microscope cannot be separated from its applications: imaging the error-free DNA repair and to understand the relationship existing between the nanomechanical properties and the malignancy of cancer cells. Those problems encompass the different spatial –molecular-nano-mesoscopic- and time –milli to seconds- scales of the instrument.
In short, 3DNanoMech aims to image, map and measure with picoNewton, millisecond and angstrom resolution soft matter surfaces and interfaces in liquid. The long-term vision of 3DNanoMech is to replace models or computer animations of bimolecular-liquid interfaces by real time, molecular resolution maps of properties and processes.
Summary
Optical, electron and probe microscopes are enabling tools for discoveries and knowledge generation in nanoscale sicence and technology. High resolution –nanoscale or molecular-, noninvasive and label-free imaging of three-dimensional soft matter-liquid interfaces has not been achieved by any microscopy method.
Force microscopy (AFM) is considered the second most relevant advance in materials science since 1960. Despite its impressive range of applications, the technique has some key limitations. Force microscopy has not three dimensional depth. What lies above or in the subsurface is not readily characterized.
3DNanoMech proposes to design, build and operate a high speed force-based method for the three-dimensional characterization soft matter-liquid interfaces (3D AFM). The microscope will combine a detection method based on force perturbations, adaptive algorithms, high speed piezo actuators and quantitative-oriented multifrequency approaches. The development of the microscope cannot be separated from its applications: imaging the error-free DNA repair and to understand the relationship existing between the nanomechanical properties and the malignancy of cancer cells. Those problems encompass the different spatial –molecular-nano-mesoscopic- and time –milli to seconds- scales of the instrument.
In short, 3DNanoMech aims to image, map and measure with picoNewton, millisecond and angstrom resolution soft matter surfaces and interfaces in liquid. The long-term vision of 3DNanoMech is to replace models or computer animations of bimolecular-liquid interfaces by real time, molecular resolution maps of properties and processes.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 928 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31
Project acronym ATMOPACS
Project Atmospheric Organic Particulate Matter, Air Quality and Climate Change Studies
Researcher (PI) Spyridon Pandis
Host Institution (HI) FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY HELLAS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Despite its importance for human health and climate change organic aerosol (OA) remains one of the least understood aspects of atmospheric chemistry. We propose to develop an innovative new framework for the description of OA in chemical transport and climate models that will be able to overcome the challenges posed by the chemical complexity of OA while capturing its essential features.
The objectives of ATMOPACS are: (i) The development of a new unified framework for the description of OA based on its two most important parameters: volatility and oxygen content. (ii) The development of measurement techniques for the volatility distribution and oxygen content distribution of OA. This will allow the experimental characterization of OA in this new “coordinate system”. (iii) The study of the major OA processes (partitioning, chemical aging, hygroscopicity, CCN formation, nucleation) in this new framework combining lab and field measurements. (iv) The development and evaluation of the next generation of regional and global CTMs using the above framework. (v) The quantification of the importance of the various sources and formation pathways of OA in Europe and the world, of the sensitivity of OA to emission control strategies, and its role in the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on climate.
The proposed work involves a combination of laboratory measurements, field measurements including novel “atmospheric perturbation experiments”, OA model development, and modelling in urban, regional, and global scales. Therefore, it will span the system scales starting from the nanoscale to the global. The modelling tools that will be developed will be made available to all other research groups.
Summary
Despite its importance for human health and climate change organic aerosol (OA) remains one of the least understood aspects of atmospheric chemistry. We propose to develop an innovative new framework for the description of OA in chemical transport and climate models that will be able to overcome the challenges posed by the chemical complexity of OA while capturing its essential features.
The objectives of ATMOPACS are: (i) The development of a new unified framework for the description of OA based on its two most important parameters: volatility and oxygen content. (ii) The development of measurement techniques for the volatility distribution and oxygen content distribution of OA. This will allow the experimental characterization of OA in this new “coordinate system”. (iii) The study of the major OA processes (partitioning, chemical aging, hygroscopicity, CCN formation, nucleation) in this new framework combining lab and field measurements. (iv) The development and evaluation of the next generation of regional and global CTMs using the above framework. (v) The quantification of the importance of the various sources and formation pathways of OA in Europe and the world, of the sensitivity of OA to emission control strategies, and its role in the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on climate.
The proposed work involves a combination of laboratory measurements, field measurements including novel “atmospheric perturbation experiments”, OA model development, and modelling in urban, regional, and global scales. Therefore, it will span the system scales starting from the nanoscale to the global. The modelling tools that will be developed will be made available to all other research groups.
Max ERC Funding
2 496 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2015-12-31
Project acronym BAR2LEGAB
Project Women travelling to seek abortion care in Europe: the impact of barriers to legal abortion on women living in countries with ostensibly liberal abortion laws
Researcher (PI) Silvia De Zordo
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2015-STG
Summary In many European countries with ostensibly liberal abortion laws, women face legal restrictions to abortion beyond the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as other barriers to legal abortion, in particular shortages of providers willing and able to offer abortion due to poor training and to conscientious objection among physicians. The Council of Europe has recognized that conscientious objection can make access to safe abortion more difficult or impossible, particularly in rural areas and for low income women, who are forced to travel far to seek abortion care, including abroad. The WHO also highlights that delaying abortion care increases risks for women’s reproductive health. Despite the relevance of this topic from a public health and human rights perspective, the impact of procedural and social barriers to legal abortion on women in countries with ostensibly liberal abortion laws has not been studied by social scientists in Europe. This five-year research project is envisaged as a ground-breaking multi-disciplinary, mixed-methods investigation that will fill this gap, by capitalizing on previous, pioneer anthropological research of the PI on abortion and conscientious objection. It will contribute to the anthropology of reproduction in Europe, and particularly to the existing literature on abortion, conscientious objection and the medicalization of reproduction, and to the international debate on gender inequalities and citizenship, by exploring how barriers to legal abortion are constructed and how women embody and challenge them in different countries, by travelling or seeking illegal abortion, as well as their conceptualizations of abortion and their self perception as moral/political subjects. The project will be carried out in France, Italy and Spain, where the few existing studies show that women face several barriers to legal abortion as well as in the UK, the Netherlands and Spain, where Italian and French women travel to seek abortion care.
Summary
In many European countries with ostensibly liberal abortion laws, women face legal restrictions to abortion beyond the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as other barriers to legal abortion, in particular shortages of providers willing and able to offer abortion due to poor training and to conscientious objection among physicians. The Council of Europe has recognized that conscientious objection can make access to safe abortion more difficult or impossible, particularly in rural areas and for low income women, who are forced to travel far to seek abortion care, including abroad. The WHO also highlights that delaying abortion care increases risks for women’s reproductive health. Despite the relevance of this topic from a public health and human rights perspective, the impact of procedural and social barriers to legal abortion on women in countries with ostensibly liberal abortion laws has not been studied by social scientists in Europe. This five-year research project is envisaged as a ground-breaking multi-disciplinary, mixed-methods investigation that will fill this gap, by capitalizing on previous, pioneer anthropological research of the PI on abortion and conscientious objection. It will contribute to the anthropology of reproduction in Europe, and particularly to the existing literature on abortion, conscientious objection and the medicalization of reproduction, and to the international debate on gender inequalities and citizenship, by exploring how barriers to legal abortion are constructed and how women embody and challenge them in different countries, by travelling or seeking illegal abortion, as well as their conceptualizations of abortion and their self perception as moral/political subjects. The project will be carried out in France, Italy and Spain, where the few existing studies show that women face several barriers to legal abortion as well as in the UK, the Netherlands and Spain, where Italian and French women travel to seek abortion care.
Max ERC Funding
1 495 753 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30
Project acronym BIGSEA
Project Biogeochemical and ecosystem interactions with socio-economic activity in the global ocean
Researcher (PI) Eric Douglas Galbraith
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary The global marine ecosystem is being deeply altered by human activity. On the one hand, rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases are changing the physical and chemical state of the ocean, exerting pressure from the bottom up. Meanwhile, the global fishery has provided large economic benefits, but in so doing has restructured ecosystems by removing most of the large animal biomass, a major top-down change. Although there has been a tremendous amount of research into isolated aspects of these impacts, the development of a holistic understanding of the full interactions between physics, chemistry, ecology and economic activity might appear impossible, given the myriad complexities. This proposal lays out a strategy to assemble a team of trans-disciplinary expertise, that will develop a unified, data-constrained, grid-based modeling framework to represent the most important interactions of the global human-ocean system. Building this framework requires solving a series of fundamental problems that currently hinder the development of the full model. If these problems can be solved, the resulting model will reveal novel emergent properties and open the doors to a range of previously unexplored questions of high impact across a range of disciplines. Key questions include the ways in which animals interact with oxygen minimum zones with implications for fisheries, the impacts fish harvesting may have on nutrient recycling, spatio-temporal interactions between managed and unmanaged fisheries, and fundamental questions about the relationships between fish price, fishing cost, and multiple markets in a changing world. Just as the first coupled ocean-atmosphere models revealed a wealth of new behaviours, the coupled human-ocean model proposed here has the potential to launch multiple new fields of enquiry. It is hoped that the novel approach will contribute to a paradigm shift that treats human activity as one component within the framework of the Earth System.
Summary
The global marine ecosystem is being deeply altered by human activity. On the one hand, rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases are changing the physical and chemical state of the ocean, exerting pressure from the bottom up. Meanwhile, the global fishery has provided large economic benefits, but in so doing has restructured ecosystems by removing most of the large animal biomass, a major top-down change. Although there has been a tremendous amount of research into isolated aspects of these impacts, the development of a holistic understanding of the full interactions between physics, chemistry, ecology and economic activity might appear impossible, given the myriad complexities. This proposal lays out a strategy to assemble a team of trans-disciplinary expertise, that will develop a unified, data-constrained, grid-based modeling framework to represent the most important interactions of the global human-ocean system. Building this framework requires solving a series of fundamental problems that currently hinder the development of the full model. If these problems can be solved, the resulting model will reveal novel emergent properties and open the doors to a range of previously unexplored questions of high impact across a range of disciplines. Key questions include the ways in which animals interact with oxygen minimum zones with implications for fisheries, the impacts fish harvesting may have on nutrient recycling, spatio-temporal interactions between managed and unmanaged fisheries, and fundamental questions about the relationships between fish price, fishing cost, and multiple markets in a changing world. Just as the first coupled ocean-atmosphere models revealed a wealth of new behaviours, the coupled human-ocean model proposed here has the potential to launch multiple new fields of enquiry. It is hoped that the novel approach will contribute to a paradigm shift that treats human activity as one component within the framework of the Earth System.
Max ERC Funding
1 600 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-07-01, End date: 2021-06-30
Project acronym BIO2CHEM-D
Project Biomass to chemicals: Catalysis design from first principles for a sustainable chemical industry
Researcher (PI) Nuria Lopez
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO PRIVADA INSTITUT CATALA D'INVESTIGACIO QUIMICA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE4, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary The use of renewable feedstocks by the chemical industry is fundamental due to both the depletion of fossil
resources and the increasing pressure of environmental concerns. Biomass can act as a sustainable source of
organic industrial chemicals; however, the establishment of a renewable chemical industry that is
economically competitive with the present oil-based one requires the development of new processes to
convert biomass-derived compounds into useful industrial materials following the principles of green
chemistry. To achieve these goals, developments in several fields including heterogeneous catalysis are
needed. One of the ways to accelerate the discovery of new potentially active, selective and stable catalysts is
the massive use of computational chemistry. Recent advances have demonstrated that Density Functional
Theory coupled to ab initio thermodynamics, transition state theory and microkinetic analysis can provide a
full view of the catalytic phenomena.
The aim of the present project is thus to employ these well-tested computational techniques to the
development of a theoretical framework that can accelerate the identification of new catalysts for the
conversion of biomass derived target compounds into useful chemicals. Since compared to petroleum-based
materials-biomass derived ones are multifuncionalized, the search for new catalytic materials and processes
has a strong requirement in the selectivity of the chemical transformations. The main challenges in the
project are related to the high functionalization of the molecules, their liquid nature and the large number of
potentially competitive reaction paths. The requirements of specificity and selectivity in the chemical
transformations while keeping a reasonably flexible framework constitute a major objective. The work will
be divided in three main work packages, one devoted to the properties of small molecules or fragments
containing a single functional group; the second addresses competition in multiple functionalized molecules;
and third is dedicated to the specific transformations of two molecules that have already been identified as
potential platform generators. The goal is to identify suitable candidates that could be synthetized and tested
in the Institute facilities.
Summary
The use of renewable feedstocks by the chemical industry is fundamental due to both the depletion of fossil
resources and the increasing pressure of environmental concerns. Biomass can act as a sustainable source of
organic industrial chemicals; however, the establishment of a renewable chemical industry that is
economically competitive with the present oil-based one requires the development of new processes to
convert biomass-derived compounds into useful industrial materials following the principles of green
chemistry. To achieve these goals, developments in several fields including heterogeneous catalysis are
needed. One of the ways to accelerate the discovery of new potentially active, selective and stable catalysts is
the massive use of computational chemistry. Recent advances have demonstrated that Density Functional
Theory coupled to ab initio thermodynamics, transition state theory and microkinetic analysis can provide a
full view of the catalytic phenomena.
The aim of the present project is thus to employ these well-tested computational techniques to the
development of a theoretical framework that can accelerate the identification of new catalysts for the
conversion of biomass derived target compounds into useful chemicals. Since compared to petroleum-based
materials-biomass derived ones are multifuncionalized, the search for new catalytic materials and processes
has a strong requirement in the selectivity of the chemical transformations. The main challenges in the
project are related to the high functionalization of the molecules, their liquid nature and the large number of
potentially competitive reaction paths. The requirements of specificity and selectivity in the chemical
transformations while keeping a reasonably flexible framework constitute a major objective. The work will
be divided in three main work packages, one devoted to the properties of small molecules or fragments
containing a single functional group; the second addresses competition in multiple functionalized molecules;
and third is dedicated to the specific transformations of two molecules that have already been identified as
potential platform generators. The goal is to identify suitable candidates that could be synthetized and tested
in the Institute facilities.
Max ERC Funding
1 496 200 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-10-01, End date: 2015-09-30
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
