Projects

Projects at a Glance

MicroMech - Nanomechanics of Microbial Infection:Towards Mechanopharmacology

Microbes use surface proteins to infect hosts, with bacterial adhesins, like long filaments, crucial for attachment, resisting mechanical forces from pico to nanoNewtons. This resistance is vital for anchoring in shear-rich environments like urinary tract infections. Understanding the link between adhesin mechanical resistance, attachment ability, and pathogenicity remains incomplete. The proposal aims to study Staphylococcus aureus mechanics in active endocarditis, exploring adhesin proteins Clumping factor A (ClfA) and Fibronectin-binding protein A (FnBPA) connections to infection. Techniques span atomic force spectroscopy, magnetic tweezers, and clinical S aureus strains, seeking to correlate pathogenicity with adhesin mechanics and discover molecules to prevent infections, contributing to Mechanopharmacology.
ENSEMBLES3 Phase II - Centre of ExcelleNce for nanophotonicS, advancEd Materials and novel crystal growth-Based technoLogiEs

The grand objective of the project is to create the Centre of Excellence ENSEMBLE3, which will focus on research excellence and innovation performance in the area of crystal growth-based technologies, novel functional materials with innovative electromagnetic properties, and applications in nanophotonics, optoelectronics and medicine.
LICONAMCO - Light-controlled nanomagnetic computation schemes

Computation using nanomagnets could serve as a low-power alternative to existing CMOS technologies. Here, binary information is encoded into two stable magnetic configurations of single-domain nanomagnets.
ANTHEM - Advanced Hybrid Thermoelectric Materials through Vapor Phase Infiltration
2DSTOP - Spin transport and spin-orbit phenomena in 2D materials

We live in a technological world where usage of electronic devices for information technology is an integral part of everyday life. Present and future technological progress requires miniaturization of such devices, continuous improvement of their performances and decreasing of energy consumption.
SPRING - SPin Research IN Graphene

The EU-funded H2020 project SPRING (project ID 863098) is focused on the development of new graphene-based magnetic components that contribute to the creation of faster and environmentally friendly electronic devices. This international research project is coordinated by CIC nanoGUNE (ES) in partnership with IBM (CH), University of Santiago de Compostela (ES), Technical University of Delft (NL) and University of Oxford (UK), and Donostia International Physics Center (ES).
Evaporador - Evaporador para el crecimiento de películas delgadas en alto vacío

El proyecto tiene como finalidad la compra de un evaporador de alto vacío provisto de dos tipos diversos de evaporación de materiales y un equipo de ataque físico por iones. Las características de este equipo nos permitirán ampliar los materiales disponibles en nuestra sala blanca, así como acometer procesos de fabricación con condiciones ideales en cuanto a limpieza de intercapas y con un nivel ideal de rotación de usuarios.
NOVASPEC - Novel instrumentation and applications of IR & THz nano-spectroscopy

The project aims to develop ultrahigh-resolution microscopy techniques using s-SNOM and nano-FTIR spectroscopy to map material properties and nanoscale light fields in novel materials and photonic devices. The main objectives include advancing the instrumentation, applying it for chemical characterization of polymers, and exploring polaritons in 2D materials for novel infrared detectors and sensors.
PHOTOTHERMAG - Nanomagnet logic via photothermal excitation of nanomagnetic networks

The project explores a new concept of nanomagnetic logic devices based on optothermal activation of hybrid plasmonic-magnetic metamaterials to implement ultralow power, ultrafast, and optically controlled reconfigurable Boolean and neuromorphic/stochastic computation schemes.
SCARFACE - Spin Control And Related effects at interFACES and heterostructures

This project studied spin materials and processes for beyond-CMOS devices, with a special focus on spin-to-charge conversion (an effect that allows inserting and reading spin information in a circuit without the need of magnetic materials) and molecular spinterfaces (i.e., the way in which a molecular layer affects and it is affected by a ferromagnetic underlayer).