New magneto-transport phenomena have been discovered in magnetic multilayers and are now being optimized for industrial applications, extending the conventional electronics with new functionality. However, most of the current research on magnetic multilayer materials and its device applications rely on conventional equilibrium electron transport. The full potential of nano-structuring, which leads to a broad spectrum of novel non-equilibrium transport phenomena, is therefore not realized. In this research project we will focus on practically unexplored functional principles that can be implemented in nanostructures produced by state-of-the-art lithography and surface manipulation techniques. Our main idea is to use electrically controlled spin currents in highly non-equilibrium regimes with respect to energy and temperature; hence “spin-thermo-electronics”. The large amount of heat generated in nanoscale devices is today one of the most fundamental obstacles for reducing the size of electronics. In this proposal we turn the problem around by instead using electrically controlled local heating of magnetic nano-circuits to achieve fundamentally new functionality, relevant to several key objectives of the information and communication technology. Particular emphasis will be put on investigating and technologically evaluating the interplay of spin, charge, and heat in magnetic structures of sub-10 nm dimensions. Such structures, although inaccessible by today’s lithographic means, are in our view crucial for further miniaturization of electronic devices.

The general goal of this project is to train young researchers in nanotechnology, to go for a technology leap from purely silicon technology to new and more advanced technologies in the future Europe. A broad interdisciplinary training program in the field of nanotechnology is proposed covering three areas, 1) The improvement of analysis methods for nanotechnology, 2) prototyping of nano-devices and 3) a novel and future process for nanotechnology, i.e., self-assembly. The objectives of the training program are:O1: Challenge the limits of high-resolution imaging and explore new types of electron sources. O2: Perform research on new ways to image and understand self-assembly processes.O3: Investigate ways to enhance electron beam lithography and nano-deposition techniques.O4: Research on a new ion source that can produce focused ion beams of any desired atom.O5: Build sensors for bio-molecules from nanotubes and nanowires, using self-assembly and micro-contact printing.O6: Build sensors for bio-molecules using self-assembly of magnetic particles. It is expected that the proposed training will meet the stringent needs of a modern science and technology training, which will give the trainees a strong basis to start a research career at international top-level. The training will be in Philips Research Labs in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, mounted in the sector Materials and Process Technology. This sector, where all activities of Philips Research on basic physics, chemistry and nano-technology are concentrated, consists of a staff of 130 highly skilled researchers. The program is embedded in a large structure of successful Philips internal projects related to nanotechnology and a network of national- and international contacts with university groups. The requested 6 trainees will be coached by 10 senior-, or principal scientists at Philips Research and by 6 professors from 4 Dutch universities (Delft, Eindhoven, Leiden and Utrecht).

The main objective of the Ultra-ID Project is to study the fundamental size limits, when the electron transport in one-dimensional (1D) systems can be considered qualitatively similar to macroscopic regime, and to explore qualitatively new phenomena appearing below the certain scale. Project will focus on fabrication, theoretical and experimental study of electron transport in the state-of-the-art narrow 1D objects: normal metals, superconductors, semiconducting heterojunctions and carbon nanotubes. Principal technological objective of the Project is to elaborate old and develop new methods of microfabrication, pushing the reproducible limit of 1D object fabrication down to ~ 10 nm scale. Three independent, but complimentary methods will be used for fabrication of metallic systems: high- resolution e-beam lithography, electrochemical growth of ultra thin nanowires, and progressive reduction of the effective diameter of pre-fabricated 1D objects by plasma etching. Principal technological objective related to activity with 1D semiconductors is the fabrication of high-quality systems enabling application of external potential. Main technological objective related to electron properties of carbon nanotubes is the fabrication of structures suspended on top of a terraced plane or a cleaved edge of superlattice. Research activity with normal electron transport will be concentrated at three main topics: metal- insulator transition in ultra-thin wires, electron decoherence in 1D limit, peculiarities of electron transport in 1D systems with controlled external periodic potential. Study of superconductors will be focused on the problem of quantum phase slips in ultra-thin 1D systems (wires and rings). Experimental part of the scientific activity will include state-of-the-art low noise transport and magnetic measurements at ultra-low temperatures. Theoretical investigation will use modern methods of quantum solid state physics.

We plan to chase new goals by exploring the limits of gold chemistry and organic synthesis. A major goal is to promote copper to the level of gold as the catalyst of choice for the activation of alkynes under homogeneous conditions. Another major goal is to develop enantioselective reactions based on a new chiral catalyst design to overcome the inherent limitations of the linear coordination of d10 M(I) coinage metals. We whish to contribute to bridge the gap between homogeneous and heterogeneous gold catalysis discovering new reactions for C-C bond formation via cross-coupling and C-H activation. We will apply new methods based on Au catalysis to fill the gap that exists between chemical synthesis and physical methods such as graphite exfoliation or laser ablation for the synthesis of nanographenes and other large acenes.

Mass data storage on magnetic hard drives in portable products is a new and fast growing market with an estimated turnover of several billion EUR per year. However, continued growth of storage density is limited as a result of the thermal instability of recorded data. To overcome this so called 'superparamagnetic effect', the use of discrete media, in which information is stored in single nanostructures, will become mandatory. However, the relevant roadmaps indicate that the required lithography tools will not be able to provide the needed feature size, performance and cost efficiency in time. Therefore it is likely that magnetic recording media will be the first technology which requires the introduction of nanostructuring by self-assembly processes. MAFIN aims at developing a new magnetic recording media at prove-of-concept level for ultrahigh density magnetic storage applications, by using low-cost, environmentally friendly processes and both advanced and new nanotechnologies. MAFIN will provide the required breakthroughs for an innovative concept of magnetic media: based upon assisted self-assembly to produce a periodic array of nanoparticles expandable to wafer size scale, and further, the controlled sputter-deposition of magnetic films with high magnetic anisotropy deposited onto the nanospheres. Furthermore, by tilting the deposition direction with respect to the substrate normal 'tilted media' can be realized, a novel concept providing the writability of the recording media. All progress in these innovative concepts will be constantly monitored by various techniques, and will be underpinned by micromagnetic modelling. In addition, the recording performance will be investigated and screened by state-of-the art write/read testing and probe recording. The new knowledge gained will be protected by appropriate IPR and will strengthen the European position in many competitive and strategic fields, in particular, in data storage.

The technological objective of MONARCH is to produce the world????'s first scanning electron microscope (SEM) on-a-chip. Such an instrument would represent a step-change in electron beam (e-beam) technology comparable with the introduction of the silicon chip to electronics. This device will be orders of magnitude smaller than existing technology, would operate at lower voltages and have an order of magnitude higher resolution for a fraction of the cost of a current state-of-the-art SEM. It would provide the first instrument capable of rapidly scanning a surface layer and producing an image with elemental identification at atomic resolution. This disruptive technology has dramatic implications for many sectors other than electron microscopy, including e-beam lithography, genetic sequencing, ultra-high density data storage and focussed ion beam milling. In particular it is expected to be a key enabling tool for the booming sectors of nanotechnology and MNEMS (micro-nano-electromechanical systems). Crucially it could also allow lithography on a scale suitable for true nano-electronics.The physics behind the MONARCH project are beautifully simple: by scaling the device dimensions down to the nano-scale, the voltages, beam energies and aberrations are scaled down proportionally. The system becomes diffraction-limited, rather than aberration-limited, and the lenses can be electrostatic rather than magnetic. These principles have been known for decades, but the realisation of such devices has only been made possible through very recent parallel advances in several nano-machining technologies: improved FIB techniques, the evolution of MEMS technology and scanning probe microscopy (e.g. very short focal length electrostatic lenses). In short these techniques have transformed a thought-experiment into a realistic possibility: ultra-low energy, ultra-high power, ultra-pure e-beams.MONARCH will deliver a prototype operational integrated SEM-on-a-chip system.

Phosphorus (P) is a key and often limiting nutrient for phytoplankton in the ocean. A strong positive feedback exists between marine P availability, primary production and ocean anoxia: increased production leads to ocean anoxia, which, in turn, decreases the burial efficiency of P in sediments and therefore increases the availability of P and production in the ocean. This feedback likely plays an important role in the present-day expansion of low-oxygen waters (“dead zones”) in coastal systems worldwide. Moreover, it contributed to the development of global scale anoxia in ancient oceans. Critically, however, the responsible mechanisms for the changes in P burial in anoxic sediments are poorly understood because of the lack of chemical tools to directly characterize sediment P. I propose to develop new methods to quantify and reconstruct P dynamics in low-oxygen marine systems and the link with carbon cycling in Earth’s present and past. These methods are based on the novel application of state-of-the-art geochemical analysis techniques to determine the burial forms of mineral-P within their spatial context in modern sediments. The new analysis techniques include nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS), synchotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). I will use the knowledge obtained for modern sediments to interpret sediment records of P for periods of rapid and extreme climate change in Earth’s history. Using various biogeochemical models developed in my research group, I will elucidate and quantify the role of variations in the marine P cycle in the development of low-oxygen conditions and climate change. This information is crucial for our ability to predict the consequences of anthropogenically-enhanced inputs of nutrients to the oceans combined with global warming.

The performance of thermoelectric generation has long since been limited by the fact that it depends on hardly tunable intrinsic materials properties. At the heart of this problem lies a trade-off between sufficient Seebeck coefficient, good electrical properties and suitably low thermal conductivity. The two last being closely related by the ambivalent role of electrons in the conduction of both electrical and thermal currents. Current research focuses on materials composition and structural properties in order to improve this trade-off also known as the figure of merit (zT). Recently, evidences aroused that nanoscale structuration (nanowires, quantum dots, thin-films) can improve zT by means of electron and/or phonon confinement. The aim of this project is to tackle the intrinsic reasons for this low efficiency and bring TE conversion to efficiencies above 10% by exploring two unconventional and complementary approaches: Phononic Engineering Conversion consists of modulating thermal properties by means of a periodic, precisely designed, arrangement of inclusions on a length scale that compares to phonon means free path. This process is unlocked by state of the art lithography techniques. In its principles, phononic engineering offers an opportunity to tailor the phonon density of states as well as to artificially introduce thermal anisotropy in a semiconductor membrane. Suitable converter architecture is proposed that takes advantage of conductivity reduction and anisotropy to guide and converter heat flow. This approach is fully compatible with standard silicon technologies and is potentially applicable to conformable converters. The Micro Thermionic Conversion relies on low work function materials and micron scale vacuum gaps to collect a thermally activated current across a virtually zero heat conduction device. This approach, though more risky, envisions devices with equivalent zT around 10 which is far above what can be expected from solid state conversion.

Conventionally, electronic device functions are generated by combining various materials, in which each material has one particular functionality. With the atomic limit as the ultimate achievable goal in sight, we try to explore methods that do not need extensive use of top-down nanotechnology, including lithography and deposition/etching techniques, but use device structures that are spontaneously created by nature in the general framework of electronic phase separation. Here one material can adopt more than one electronic state, and by judicious organization of these electronic states device functions can be generated with built-in atomic precision. In a number of materials like manganites, a spectacularly diverse range of exotic magnetic, electronic and crystal structures can coexist at different locations on the same crystal. What looks in one sense like awkward complexity is in fact a route toward engineering without the difficulties of atomic scale lithography - by manipulating the propensity of phase separation and phase coexistence in these materials we may make dynamically controlled functional electronic structures. The coexisting phases may form robust magnetic, electronic and crystallographic textures on 'mesoscopic' length scales. By controlling an array of textured phases analogous to those in liquid crystals we may be able to control locally the electronic structure and properties without atomic-scale fabrication. In manganites, for example, a simple domain wall in the ferromagnetic metallic phase could spontaneously develop an insulating barrier of the charge order phase creating the ultimate spin-tunnel junction. COMEPHS is the first European project that aims to concentrate all necessary resources in Europe in order to achieve functionality of mesoscopic textured states. The research aims to provide basis for a new set of electronic technology and COMEPHS is expected to ensure European preeminence in this strategic domain.

Inorganic nanotubes (INT) and particularly inorganic fullerene-like materials (IF) from 2-D layered compounds, which were discovered in the PI laboratory 16 years ago, are now in commercial use as solid lubricants (www.apnano.com) with prospects for numerous applications, also as part of nanocomposites, optical coatings, etc. The present research proposal capitalizes on the leadership role of the PI and recent developments in his laboratory, much of them not yet published. New synthetic approaches will be developed, in particular using the WS2 nanotubes as a template for the growth of new nanotubes. This include, for example PbI2@WS2 or WS2@NbSe2 core-shell nanotubes, which could not be hitherto synthesized. Other physical synthetic approaches like ablation with solar-light, or pulsed laser ablation will be used as well. Nanooctahedra of MoS2 (NbS2), which are probably the smallest IF (hollow cage) structures, will be synthesized, isolated and studied. Extensive ab-initio calculations will be used to predict the structure and properties of the new INT and IF nanoparticles. Cs-corrected transmission electron microscopy will be used to characterize the nanoparticles. In particular, atomic resolution bright field electron tomography will be developed during this study and applied to the characterization of the INT and IF nanoparticles. The optical, electrical and mechanical properties of the newly sythesized INT and IF materials will be investigated in great detail. Devices based on individual nanotubes will be (nano)fabricated and studied for variety of applications, including mechanical and gas sensors, radiation detectors, etc. Low temperature measurements of the transport properties of individual INT and IF will be performed.