NEreO addresses to the study and the development of nano-scale field-effect transistors (i.e. transistors with source-drain inter-electrodes distance varying from hundreds to few nanometers) based on organic molecular films. Organic materials are expected, in the near future, to give rise to a new generation of devices for electronics, photonics and optoelectronics, which will cause a paradigm shift in the production of electronic devices and pave the way for the era of plastic electronics. The main goals of NEreO will be achieved by the original combination of a sophisticated nano-scale fabrication method, namely e-beam lithography, with the unprecedented ability of the Supersonic Molecular Beam Epitaxy deposition technique to control morphology, structure and interfaces of organic films. Besides technological applications, nano-scale organic field-effect transistors will be basic tools for studying charge transport, charge injection and interfaces in organic materials. At Cornell, the fellow will benefit by the presence of several multicultural scientific communities built around national facilities such as the Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility, the Cornell Center for Materials Research and the Cornel High Energy Synchrotron Source. The fellow will thus attain levels of world-class excellence, satisfying the objectives of the Specific Programme, and acquire the professional independence required to realize the objectives of the Work Programme. The success of NEreO will rely on the multidisciplinary approach pursued together with the state-of-the-art facilities and methodologies adopted. The collaboration between two world-class leading experts will give the chance to Dr Cicoira to grow as a leading scientist with global thinking and ability to promote networks and common strategy for the creation of new facilities.

The goal of the proposed research is the evaluation of an entirely new path to fabricate strained Si nano-devices which are compatible to Si CMOS processing. The idea is to fabricate field effect transistors from strained Si bridges, which have been manufactured by disposing embedded, sacrificial Ge islands (dots). To achieve the required positioning of the Ge dots, templated self assembling will be explored. This approach promises high speed electronics, due to the large mobility of carriers in strained Si, substantially reduced short channel effects, since the thickness of the channel is defined by an air bridge, and an improved thermal conductivity, which is attributed to the all Si device design. Alternative paths for the templated self assembly of Ge dots will be investigated, including e-beam lithography and x-ray interference lithography for the pre-pattern and molecular beam epitaxy as well as chemical vapour deposition for the growth of the ordered Ge islands. Care will be taken to analyse by grazing incidence x-ray diffractometry the strain and its uniformity in the Si bridges before and after removal of the Ge dots as well as after the fabrication of the gate stack. The actual devices will be processed using CMOS compatible Si device technology. The fabrication of the devices will be accompanied by intensive structural and electronic modelling. Special emphasis will be put on the strain distribution in the Si channel prior and after the removal of the dots and its impact on the electronic properties of the devices.To tackle this complex multi-faceted project experts in the field of crystal growth, structural and electronic analysis, device processing, modelling of crystal growth and device simulation will closely cooperate. As a result detailed insights into the correlation between structural and electronic properties in Si nano-electronic devices are expected as well as the successful fabrication of this new device - the disposable dot FET.

The goal of the project is the development of a novel analytical tools allowing in-vivo speciation of metal-protein complexes. The interest in this topic is driven by the fact that this information turns out to be crucial for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of metal transport, chelation, and biotransformation which govern the bioavailibility of the metal and resistance of an organism to metals present in high concentrations in the environment. There is sufficient evidence in human for the carcinogenicity of cadmium and cadmium compounds; therefore the project is focused on the detection and characterization of proteins that are molecular targets for cadmium in model organisms such as Arabidopsis thaliana. The analytical tools are going to be based on two complementary approaches. In the first one, consisting of in vivo screening for a non-denaturating 2D gel electrophoresis, laser ablation ICP MS detection will be developed. In the alternative approach, a library of proteins of an organism will be created by the conventional (denaturating) 2D electrophoresis and made react with cadmium. For screening the library, electrophoresis on a chip coupled with ICP MS via a dedicated nanonebulizer will be developed for the high-throughput detection of the metal-protein complexes in the biological environment. Structural information of cadmium-protein will be obtain by use of molecular mass spectrometry MALDI-TOF (matrix assisted laser desoption ionization time-of flight) MS and ES (electrospray) MS/MS.

The project 'Development of Lithography Technology for Nanoscale Structuring of Materials Using Laser Beam Interference (DELILA)' focuses on researching and developing a new production technology for fabrication of nano structures and devices. In particular, DELILA will enable low cost and large volume production of surface structures and patterns with nanometric resolution. Industrial end-users are currently discouraged from expanding their nanotechnology-related business activities by either unacceptably high costs or the impossibility to control production processes on a nanometric scale. DELILA will play a key role in realising the full potential of laser interference lithography as current nanofabrication tools are limited to archaic, slow processing rates, or do not achieve a competitive cost-effective strategy. DELILA is driven by industrial needs to down-scale feature sizes to nano dimensions, lower fabrication costs and efficiently increase throughput, with the following industrial and scientific objectives: (1)Fundamental exploration of multiple beam interference lithography and its capabilities; (2)Development of computer software for the analysis of interference of several coherent beams of laser radiation and for the calculation of the results of diffraction of the radiation by periodic structures of different forms; (3) Development of DELILA system. The main outcome of the project will be a nano fabrication tool that has the potential to create a breakthrough in nanolithography technology for both 2D and 3D structuring of materials. It is the aim of DELILA to empower interference nanolithography technology with a clear focus on industrial use. The main advantageous features of the DELILA system in fabrication of nano structures and devices are high resolution (better than 40 nm) compared with other optical technologies, and low cost and high efficiency compared with other beam technologies.

Laser Ablation-ICP-MS has become the most important and successful technique for direct elemental analysis in solids, including: silicate samples, nano tubes, glass, metals, archaeological samples, etc. Despite this, recent studies in LA-ICP-MS show that all three individual processes during sampling and detection (ablation, aerosol transport and vaporization, atomisation and ionisation) are distinct sources of elemental fractionation and can lead to inaccurate quantification. Therefore, any reduction in elemental fractionation will significantly improve the future applications of this technique.Research shall be carried out to describe the composition of the aerosol after ablation, during transport and within the ICP-MS. The main goal is to understand the various processes involved in LA-ICP-MS to achieve representative sampling, transport and excitation of laser-induced aerosols for quantitative analysis using non-matrix matched calibration standards. At present, a transport efficiency of 10 % of the laser-generated aerosol and the vaporization and ionisation efficiency of 2-3 % of the total introduced mass into the ICP represent a severe loss of valuable analytical information and leads to problems in quantification. Therefore, the aerosol formation and transport processes need modifications, which will be studied by direct gas phase reactions of theablated material using different gas combinations to enhance sample transport.Our research will also focus on fundamentals of 266 nm femtosecond laser ablation. Such a system will be established and used for aerosol production studying the capabilities of non-thermal ablation processes. The fs-laser ablation process leads to less thermal treatment of the ablated material, which is expected to create a more representative aerosol and a smaller average particle size distribution that is more efficiently vaporized and ionized within the ICP-MS.

Access is offered to advanced micro- and nanotechnology device processing environments for microwave and photonic devices and for nanotechnology at the Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2) at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden. The laboratory provides means to develop process steps, process sequences, and components in small/medium quantities. In 1240 m2 clean-room area more than 150 tools are available, including two e-beam lithography systems (one of which is a JBX 9300FS from JEOL with a spot diameter of 4 nm and a minimum feature size of below 10 nm), silicon processing on up to 150 mm wafers, III-V and wide bandgap processing, molecular beam epitaxy, CVD and dry etching systems.

Dramatic progress has recently been made in the development and convergence of communication and computing technologies. Increasing numbers of networked consumer goods and remote electronic services requiring instant bandwidth are adding a huge burden to existing electronic infrastructure. While optical technologies are being deployed in increasingly diverse information systems, making a major impact on the use of ethernet networks, switching and routing functions remain in the electronic domain. This results in major bottlenecks, and while photonic integrated circuits have the promise to process ultrahigh speed data, stringent cost, power and space constraints have so far prevented deployment.TERABIT CHIPS provides a route map to high capacity active integrated photonic circuits using cutting edge fabrication solutions, advanced photonic design concepts, and sub-system architectures by exploiting parallel processing concepts. While the size of photonic circuits may be constrained by the wavelength of light, interaction lengths for electrooptic phenomena and limits to lithography, exploiting parallelism through wavelength multiplexing within the photonic circuit is identified as a highly efficient way to unleash a potential multiterabit capacity without prohibitive space, management or power overheads. This work proposes the multiwavelength components to realise such circuits.This proposal targets fast nanosecond reconfigurable routers for data traffic as the demonstration technology for prototyping high functionality high capacity integrated circuits. The designs will be deployed to ensure near digital operation with minimal signal impairment. Prototypes will be fabricated and demonstrated for broadband loss-free transmission, and nanosecond scale network reconfiguration times. The technology will exploit cutting edge fabrication, being compatible with off the shelf hardware, linking in to existing physical layer standards.

Molecular scale interactions at artificial and naturally occurring responsive surfaces, e.g. the cell membrane, play a crucial rolein many biological and biomedical processes. Responsive surfaces with molecular level control are considered as key to manycrucial problems in nanobiotechnology. We aim at contributing to the development of such surfaces starting from afundamental understanding of structure-property relationships in advanced nanomaterials and processes from the molecularscale. Specifically we propose to investigate the translation of external stimuli into forces in single macromolecules by meansof atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements for two classes of stimuli-responsive polymers, i.e. unique redox-activeorganometallic poly(ferrocenylsilanes) and elastin-based biopolymers. The communication with single molecules occurs viaconformational/dimensional changes of these polymers under stress via changes in chain torsional potential energy landscapeand thus variations in the corresponding macromolecular characteristic ratio. These occur upon redox stimulation or uponchanges in e.g. temperature or pH. The challenging project will be tackled in a rational manner (control instead of trial anderror) by depositing molecules individually at precisely defined positions using scanning probe lithography. Subsequently, thenanomechanical properties of an ensemble of individually addressable molecules will be probed molecule for molecule bysingle molecule force spectroscopy, hence avoiding a convolution of data of many molecules. This approach will also beutilized to selectively pick up individual macromolecules by chemically functionalized tips, followed by AFM measurements thataim at unraveling the effects of several external stimuli on the macromolecules response. Based on the results, responsivesurfaces with molecular level control can be designed for applications in the areas of (bio)sensors, drug delivery,nano/microfluidics, and smart coatings.

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.

Nano-templates fabricated from chemically stable, resistant materials provide a flexible basis for a range of fabrication technologies including forming, moulding, imprinting and hot embossing. The purpose of this proposal is to establish large-area novel nano-forming technologies based on patterning porous anodised alumina (Al2O3) and their application to the fabrication of organic solar cell devices, quantum dot based photonic LEDs/Lasers and photonic crystal structure elements. The specific aims are 1. To research and develop technologies compatible with semiconductor microfabrication technologies for nano-patterning using porous anodised alumina or titania thin films, to form arrays of ultra-small structures; 2. To apply porous anodised alumina nano-masking and nano-imprinting to selective area epitaxial growth, to produce GaN quantum dots of unparalleled size uniformity for enhanced light emitting devices and lasers; 3. To apply anodised nano-templates to the fabrication of novel high-aspect ratio photonic devices by nano-imprint lithography; 4. To apply self-ordered porous alumina nano-templates to the mass market fabrication of two-dimensional and three-dimensional photonic crystal structure devices in semiconductors, dielectrics and polymers. Meeting each aim will involve a detailed, multi-disciplinary programme of microfabrication and materials and device characterisation.