This proposal addresses new scientific challenges in spintrontronics, with the focus on the miniaturization of magnetic sensors. Bismuth crystals and graphene layers show anomalously high Fermi wave length and mean free path. This allows us the observation of electron confinement effects in the length scale of nano-lithography techniques. Both systems can be grown and processed on Si-based substrates, which paves the way for the integration with the existing semiconducting technology. Quantum transport properties are to be studied twofold: by means of intense magnetic fields in nano-patterned devices, and by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) at the surface level. In Bi epitaxial films and graphene flakes, Landau quantization grants access to the topology of the Fermi surface through magnetotransport measurements. The exceptional high-mobility of Bi and graphene gives rise to giant Hall and magnetoresistance effects (> 300,000 %), strongly influenced by structural parameters. Another consequence is the large spin-difussion length, which enables the transport of spin-polarized currents through large distances. Furthermore, the spin-split surface state of Bi crystals and graphene in contact with magnetic electrodes opens up the possibility of polarizing magnetically the medium and injecting spin-polarized currents. The purpose of STM studies here is to assess the influence of structural details at the atomic level on the macroscopic magnetotransport properties of Bi and graphene. STM in combination with pulsed field experiments will be used to investigate the loss of the 2-dimensional character of the electric transport as a function of the sample thickness. Both research lines are very appealing because of the enormous potential for practical device applications and the underlying Physics behind them.

The overall objective of this 3-year project is to develop a CMOS-compatible industrial process for the fabrication of field effect transistors based on carbon nanotubes (CNT-FETs). In order to solve the CNT manipulation and placement problems, two approaches based on template growth in engineered porous structures will be investigated. In the first one, CNTs will be grown inside porous alumina templates obtained by anodic oxidation of Al films. The originality of the method is that the pores are synthesised parallel to the surface of the substrate (instead of perpendicular as usual) which will greatly ease the contacting operations for the source, drain and gate electrodes of the CNT-FETs with large numbers of CNTs connected in parallel. In the second approach, CNTs will be grown in vertical pore structures obtained by nanolithography and reactive ion etching. In both cases, the catalyst particles (necessary for the nucleation and growth of CNTs at low to medium temperature) will be electrodeposited at the bottom of the pores prior to chemical vapour deposition growth of the CNTs. As the catalyst particles are confined inside the pores, high temperature surface diffusion is prevented during (or before) growth and the nanometric size of the particles is preserved, leading to uniform CNT diameters. Moreover, by using monocrystalline films or substrates at the bottom of the pores, we propose to deposit the catalyst particles in an epitaxial-type mode, which will lead to a perfectly controlled structure likely to induce chirality control for the CNTs. This point is of paramount importance for the future of CNT-based electronics. The project brings together 4 European partners with complementary skills, from 3 different countries. If the proposed approach is successful, only Europe would have the critical size to set up new standards and industrial practices for CNT-based electronics. It is therefore essential that such research is carried out at European level.

CATHERINE will provide a new unconventional concept for local and chip-level interconnects that will bridge ICT beyond the limits of CMOS technology._x000d_

The rapid development of novel nanoelectronic devices utilizing the spin degree of freedom of the charge carriers and thus reaching beyond the limitations of traditional semiconductor based technologies is one of the central issues in nowadays spintronics. A special emphasis is put on the fabrication and investigation of hybrid nanostructures exploiting the complementary benefits of metallic, semiconducting, magnetic as well as the recently explored, low dimensional carbon based systems (carbon nanotubes, graphen). The proposed project aims to design various hybrid nanostructures defined by optical and electron beam lithography and to develop novel schemes for determining spin-related material parameters (g-factor, spin diffusion length, spin-injection efficiency and spin transfer torque) via transport measurements. This is essential in order to explore electron spin dynamics, decoherence and relaxation for multifunctional applications (fast switching elements, combined logical and storage devices, quantum dot based semiconductor spin qbits) and to determine conditions for coherent spin-transfer in nano/micro-circuits as well as methods of detection of spin currents. These experiments help to understand and control the coherent spin states of individual charge carriers, which is fundamental for the field of quantum computation in a solid state environment. The host institute possesses all the necessary nanofabrication facilities and the high-end cryogenic background for the successful implementation of device fabrication and low-level magnetotransport measurements. The host has also pioneered the measurement technique for determining spin-polarization and spin transfer torque in nanoscale magnetic systems with a resolution down to the scale of atomic junctions.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) form the basis of most current nanotechnology research due to their unique and extreme properties including ballistic electron transport at room temperature, structure-dependent metallic/semiconductor behaviour, electromechanical properties and extremely high Young mudulus. Several important achievements have been realised in nanotubes electronics. However, a major hindrance for the emergence of real applications is the lack of control in fabricating these nanoscale devices. This project will develop new rational design methods for CNTs based electronic nanodevices. Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) will be employed to grow CNTs at the desired location by placing the catalyst dots where required by focused ion beam and e-beam lithography. We will combine Ni and Co colloids chemistry and e-beam lithography to obtain small catalyst dots suitable for the growth of single wall CNTs. The recently discovered mechanism of sequential catalytic growth will be used to control the direct insertion of CNTs with spin-polarised particles during their growth. Plasma enhanced CVD will be employed for growing CNTs on thermal-sensitive substrates. Nanotubes will be oriented by the application of an electric field and by lateral growth using growth barriers. The ballistic transport of nanotubes is presently accompanied by a large contact resistance, so that the overall conductance is much lower in practice than the expected theoretical conductance. In situ growth will enable direct connecting of the nanotubes and prevent damage and pollution induced by the usual suspension/deposition process. Individual CNT structure will be characterised by in situ AFM/Raman analyses to correlate growth conditions, structural and transport properties. By using these tools, we intend to develop direct and controlled design of CNT based interconnects, field emission transistors and spin-valve devices.

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.

The recent progress in the fabrication and direct synthesis of laterally confined structures, thanks to lithography techniques, has given rise to renewed interest in understanding the interaction between spin-polarized current and magnetic domain walls (DWs), because of it is a key technology for the future spintronics. Although there are several possible ways in which current can interact with magnetic domains, the most interesting interaction is that in which spin angular momentum transferred from the spin-polarized current results in motion of the domain wall. The main aim of the present project is the study of CIDWM in nanostrips with different configurations of magnetic anisotropy. As a starting point, permalloy nanostrips with longitudinal anisotropy will be analyzed, where the composition will be varied in order to modify the STT. In a second stage, the project will be focused towards more original systems with perpendicular anisotropy. The research combines different activities: elaboration and nanofabrication of metallic nanostrips, study of the domain wall motion induced by spin-polarized current (this includes analysis of DW topology, depinning, velocity, mobility and position as a function of dimensions of nanostrips and current) using advanced magnetic imaging techniques, and advances in the micromagnetic modeling of the spin transfer torque. An important aspect of this project will be the effort for understanding inconsistencies and unresolved issues in the interaction of spin-polarized current with DW (existence and nature of non adiabatic contribution, thermal effects, maximum speed of DW driven by current and magnitude of current required to sustain the motion of DW along a nanostrip), whose answer will determine how useful CIDWM will be for technological applications. Therefore, the project pretends to include a good balance between fundamental, applied and theoretical research

Today we live in a world completely dominated by vision with a strong tendency to a constant increase of visual information. However, miniaturization of elements is done by applying similar optical principles known to the designers for many decades. Novel fabrication technologies are permanently developed and applied, but there is no consequent search for new vision principles to fully exploit the newly gained technological capabilities that allow completely new and unexpected fields of application. Main research projects at the Fraunhofer-Institute are related to these topics. Based on a strong experience in optics engineering and a well established facility of optical fabrication technology from macro- to nanoscale novel optical systems are developed. Recently demonstrated bio-inspired vision systems such as planar artificial compound eyes for ultra-compact image acquisition are just a first step in this direction. Within the proposed project, novel vision systems will be designed and manufactured applying electron-beam- and photo-lithography. The main focus of research is related to artificial receptor arrays on a curved basis. This is a highly demanding and at the same time promising topic not only for artificial compound eyes but also for the simplification of classical imaging systems. The major difference of natural and artificial image acquisition systems at this stage is the planar arrangement of the artificial receptor arrays compared to the curved geometry of the natural ones. This is the consequence of todays limitation to planar lithographic patterning technologies. The advantages of a curved basis compared to a planar one are obvious: There are the immanence of a large field of view, the avoiding of off-axis aberrations and declining illumination with increasing field angle. Different technologies are to be applied and evaluated such as laser-lithography on curved surfaces and polymer (flexible) artificial receptor arrays.

The Project aims to develop novel approaches for detection and characterization of particles in the critical nanometer – micrometer size range. An improved knowledge of the make-up and origin of such particles that are present in the atmosphere and working environments is crucial for understanding their role in atmospheric pollution and human health. The role of atmospheric particles in influencing climate behavior is also poorly understood and requires more sophisticated analysis techniques. The detection of neutral isolated nanoparticles is an extremely challenging problem. The compositions and structures of particles present in the atmosphere are largely unknown owing to limited measurement capabilities. Recently it has been shown that femtosecond laser ablation is a promising technique for nanoscale depth-resolved chemical analysis while graphene nanoresonators offer much promise as ultrasensitive mass detectors. This multidisciplinary Project includes two key areas that could revolutionize particle monitoring: (1) depth-resolution analysis of micro- and nanoparticles using fs laser ablation mass spectrometry and (2) the combination of nanoelectromechanical mass sensing and fs laser ablation mass spectrometry for the detection and elemental analysis of neutral nanoparticles. A dual time-of-flight mass spectrometer will be constructed for analysis of individual aerosol particles. The potential of fs-laser ablation mass spectrometry for providing a particle depth profile will be explored and tested on well-defined core-shell micro-/nanoparticles. In addition, the elemental analysis potential of fs laser ablation mass spectrometry will be coupled with sensitive neutral particle detection, using a graphene-based mass sensor that will be developed in the host group. The outcome of the Project will be in making an important step from fundamental concepts of particle detection and characterization to laboratory proof-of-principle studies and prototype development.

Carbon nanotubes have many unique and extreme physical properties for this reason they will playa key role in the next future of society. Many governments allover the world are investing great resources in nanotechnologies research activities. The reason is the great performances of nanostructured materials and the large variety of applications of these technologies. The objective of this proposal is to realize a new machinery based on a cheap technological procedure, the Channel Spark Ablation (CSA), to produce high quality single walled carbon nanotubes which should yield the same quality as laser ablation, but at much lower costs. The nanotubes produced by this equipment will be used as passive electronic elements into innovative solar cells and dye sensitised solar cells. The major innovation of the proposal IS the idea to adopt an innovative technology to provide single-walled nanotubes at first on the kilogram scale and ultimately on a tonne scale. The.CSA is a system based on the pulsed electron-beam generation from the glow-discharge plasma environment. The applicability of the CSA to nanotubes preparation relies on the high effective temperatures that can be reached at the target surface and on its similarities to Pulsed Laser Ablation. It is clear that the development of sophisticated equipment and its further adjustment required for different materials utilisation can not be tackled by an only company. The contribution of the RTD performers will be essential to avail the indispensable know-how and resources to overcome the theoretical and technical problems and so to get the final positive result. The economical reason of the trans-national cooperation is given by the great industrial interest, allover the Europe, for this new, promising technique for nanotubes mass production. Actually the most important limitation of the nanostructured materials is due to the high production cost mainly due to high energy consumption and low process pro