Projects at a Glance

  • HiMat - Hybrid layered materials for next generation electronics

    HiMat focuses on the development of hybrid layered materials (HLMs) with tailored physical  properties and their integration in lab-scale devices for opto- and spin- electronics or quantum computing. By taking advantage from the chemical flexibility of organic molecules, HiMat explores tailored HLMs obtained through a top-down approach as intercalated compounds and through a bottom-up approach as organic-inorganic metal-halide perovskites.

     

  • LSD - Low-dimensional Spin Devices

    This project explored materials and architectures with low dimensionality and symmetry to develop spintronic devices. We created structures based on van der Waals materials or quiral materias in order to study the effect of symmetry breaking on the materials’ spin properties.

     

  • Functional Nano-Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine PhD programme

    The mission of NanoReMedi is to define a joint doctorate educational training model in Functional Nano-Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine where Academia and Industry join their forces to create a highly innovative research network for training a new generation of researchers who will enter the area of nanoscience from adjacent disciplines (such as chemistry, material sciences and bioinformatics) establish a solid framework for long-term research cooperation between a pool of leading Universities and Enterprises build a solid foundation for long-term European excellence in medical nanotechnology. 

  • QMOLESR - Addressing molecular spin qubits by ESR-STM

    The emergence of ESR-STM has recently opened new perspectives on the coherent manipulation of individual spin qubits. However, to date ESR-STM experiments are essentially focused on individual magnetic atoms deposited on MgO/Ag(100). The insulating layer of MgO seems to be an essential ingredient to obtain addressable and functional single atom qubits, e.g. to fix the spin along certain directions and enable ways for its manipulation. The aim of this project is to go beyond the current restriction of ESR-STM on individual atomic qubits on MgO layers and expand its usage towards robust qubits in other environments. This will be done by using metallo-organic complexes whose organic structure is designed in such a way to play the role of the MgO layer. ESR will be performed on individual magnetic molecules and their potential as molecular spin qubits in contact with metals will be probed. The overall methodology of the project is divided into three main objectives: (1) demonstrate ESR-STM on magnetic molecules; (2) demonstrate ESR-STM on magnetic molecules in direct contact with a metallic substrate and use molecules as magnetic sensors; (3) protection of spin coherence by superconductivity. The impact of the project goes beyond the purely scientific interest and it extends to the industrial sectors of technology and telecommunications. This is because it actually opens the possibility of implementing spintronic devices aimed at storage and manipulation of quantum information in which the individual qubits can be concretely addressed thanks to some type of electrode. Moreover, the coherent control of quantum states is currently under large demand in Europe. In this regard, the highly specialized expertise acquired by the researcher thanks to this project will clearly be an added value in the preparation of his future career. In conjunction with its scientific aim, QMOLESR is designed to train an excellent, independent researcher who will develop his research career.

  • OPTOMETAMAG - Optical-control of thermally driven magnetic phase transitions in metamaterials

    The project aims at developing hybrid systems combining the ultralow energy, speed, and control of plasmonic opto-heating with the unique property of nanoscale graded magnetic metamaterials to display magnetic phase transitions across precisely engineered critical temperatures. 

  • NANOSPEC - Advanced near-field optical nanospectroscopy and novel applications in material sciences and nanophotonics

    The objectives of the project include establishing correlative nano-FTIR, TERS, and TEPL spectroscopy, studying industrially relevant polymers, exploring organic conductors' conductivity, and investigating phonon polaritons in 2D materials. The project targets developing advanced near-field spectroscopy instrumentation and achieving vibrational strong coupling in nanoresonators and molecular vibrations.

  • CARDIOPRINT - Advanced multifunction 3D biofabrication for the generation of computationally modelled human-scale therapeutic cardiac tissues 

    CARDIOPRINT is born with the ambition of shaping a quantum leap in the fields of Additive Manufacturing and Biofabrication of therapeutic human cardiac tissues, at both the technological and applicative levels. The overall concept of this enterprising project is to develop a new multifunctional additive manufacturing technology able to provide the sufficient accuracy for the manufacturing of human tissues at an organ scale for the first time. 

  • HYTEM - Organic-inorganic hybrid thermoelectric materials through a new concept of simultaneous vapor phase coating and infiltration (VPI/SCIP)

    Polymers and inorganics come together to support novel waste heat harvesting.

    Organic-inorganic hybrid materials can significantly enhance the design space for novel functionalities, integrating the best properties of the individual components and even resulting in new ones. Polymers and functional inorganic compounds are the top players in the world of materials science. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the HYTEM project will bring them together literally, generating inorganic structures simultaneously in the subsurface of a bulk polymer and on its top surface. The expected result: novel hybrid thermoelectric materials able to scavenge waste heat and turn it into electricity with unparalleled efficiency.

  • SNOMCELL - Near-field microscopy for label-free ultrastructural pathology

    This project aims at establishing s-SNOM as a platform technology for label-free ultrastructural pathology. s-SNOM is an emerging technique -- co-developed at nanoGUNE -- that beats the diffraction limit and allows for obtaining infrared images with nanoscale spatial resolution. Applied to ultrathin cell sections, s-SNOM will allow for an unprecedented view on the chemical composition of the interior of a cell that cannot be easily calculated nor measured. Thus, s-SNOM will provide a reference data set that will help to validate already existing medical application of infrared microscopy and may even lead to the discovery of new nano-IR biomarkers.