NanoTemplates STREPS project will push the Frontiers of Science of a unique range of nano- objects made by further extending nanotechnology developed in two EU RTD projects [NanoPTMS & GMR - BE95-1761 & NanoPTT - G5RD -CT1999-00135]. It will seek advantageous property discontinuities arising from the nano-regime and explore these through a range of novel nano-systems to identify promising areas for further development. The project will be underpinned by IPR from previous EC projects employing UCL technology based on heavy ion bombardment and track etching of polymers for nano-object fabrication. Fundamental studies of the track etching and patterning processes will be made. Nanoporous substrates (pores down to 10nm), polymeric and metallic nanowires and nanotubes in various forms (Nano-objects), including particulate and embedded within coatings and self-supporting films, will be developed (UCL, Epigem, CNRS). Alternative route to nanoporous arrays will also be investigated by using AFM tip generation of pores (CNRS) in spin-coated films. The characterisation of the nano-objects will be performed and specific properties will be measured. It is intended to screen optical, magnetic and chemical properties. The response of magnetic metallic nanowire arrays to high frequency fields will be investigated (Thales, UCL), whilst CRF and Thales will explore the magnetic properties of the nano-structures. Spin dependent phenomena in magnetic nano-objects will be investigated by UCL and CNRS to explore ultimate limits of magnetoresistive effects and potential long- term applications to quantum computing. UNEW and Epigem will integrate nano-objects in microfluid nanosystems and measure biomedical properties. CRF and Durham will explore nano-objects in the form of light sources comprising light emitting polymer diodes (OLED). Confinement effects will be explored to identify benefits for the emission spectrum as well as the light extraction mechanism.

Objective is to bring a major breackthrough in ultrasound transducers design and manufacturing processes with performances well beyond the standard technology of piezoelectrical transducers. Based on MEMS manufacturing process, these new devices will replace existing arrays and sensors used in Ultrasound Medical Imaging and NOT, offering bandwidth over 100% with reduced losses and lower manufacturing cost. Furthermore sensors and transducers operating above 10 MHz will be achievable in a collective way resulting in a high level of yield and reliability. Benefit for EU will be in Medical diagnosis improvment, manufacturing control with performant miniaturized sensors, and will create employements for transducers manufacturing in EU MEMS foundries instead of actual subcontracting labor in non EU countries. The work plan is using main outputs from tha growth Parmenide and the UMIC Eureka projects

The global market for nanotubes (NTs) was worth ?1.4M in 2000, the potential market in 2007 is predicted to reach ?700M. Currently, there is no proven process to manufacture high quality NTs in bulk quantities. Other recognised barriers to industrial take-up include high NT costs (up to ?500/g) and a lack of feasible and affordable applications. The primary Scientific and Technical objective of DESYGN-IT is to establish Europe as the International Scientific Leader in the Design, Synthesis, Growth and Application of nanotubes, nanowires and arrays for industrial technology The project has relevance in applications across several sectors including electronics,mobile applications,diagnostics and high performance composites. DESYGN-IT involves 14 partners, from 6 countries, with complementary leading edge expertise in nanotube, nanowire and array expertise. 3 of the lead researchers have already spun out high-tech companies to exploit research outputs. 2 of the 4 high-tech SMEs partners are nanotech companies. The Technical Programme divides into 4 phases; the 1st is to synthesise a range of NTs and develop processes to scale-up the manufacturing technology. The 2nd phase is to surface engineer the tubes and fill them to form nanowires. In the 3rd phase NT arrays will be grown in a controlled fashion. The 4th and final phase focuses on the development of devices & materials for demonstration to industry and exploitation. DESYGN-IT will deliver -high quality NTs produced in a clean process for industrial use -NTs with defined diameter, chirality and electronic properties for high-tech applications -affordable arrays for device applications -added value products such as high strength materials, sensors to detect bacteria -metallic and semiconductor nanowires for future nanoelectronic applications A well placed European investment in DESYGN-IT will lead to substantial international scientific impact and the desired transformation of industry.

The major abjective of the proposal is to develop a new generation of sensors that will create a break-through in the diagnostic quality of X-ray images in health, industry and security. The new sensors will incorporate technology that will enable adaptive imaging. Thes will lead to optimisation of the recorded information at the same time as minimising the radiation dose or duration of examination; in practice the ideal imaging system. These objectives closely match those stated in the Call FP62002-NMP-1 'to provide a new generation of sensors and systems for health, safety and security of people and the environment'. To develop this new I-ImaS technology the project is dicided into three phases. Firstly an analysis of the important cues to diagnostic information in an image and how these might be monitored by an inteligent sensor. Secondly, a phase where a new generation of CMOS sensors, the I-ImaS sensors, are designed and manufactures that incorporate the appropriate level of intelligence. Finally a quantitative evaluation of the success of I-ImaS technology when incorporated into an adaptive imaging system. The project will concentrate on two diverse and challenging medical imaging areas as a proof of principle. The consortium consists of an impressive team of scientists, end users and industrialists. Nine groups from five member states provide the critical mass and the necessary degree of complementarity in the key areas of sensors technology and applications. Each participant plays a vital role in bringing unique skills to the project. The strategic impact of the I-ImaS intelligent imaging approach is planned to be: * improved patient management and lower radiation burden for the population, and for the future * higher quality control in manufacturing industry with invreased throughput leading to less component failures and greater customer satifaction, and * total threat detection in security scanning with improved throught leading to a safer #

We propose to launch an exhaustive investigation of hybrid nanostructures incorporating superconducting (S) and ferromagnetic (F) metal components. We will investigate experimentally and theoretically fundamental quantum electronic and magnetic phenomena occurring in superconductor and ferromagnet-based hybrids, dynamic and kinetic transport effects, the processes of spin filtering and spin injection, and the possibility of coherent manipulation of an individual electron spin. In the course of this work, we shall master the metal- ferromagnet interface technology, and develop techniques for manufacturing micron and submicron-size circuits. The exciting new feature of S-F hybrid structures consists of the competition between ferromagnetism and superconductivity, representing two antitheses in condensed matter physics, which is of abiding interest in fundamental and applied materials science and occurs naturally only in few exotic materials. Now we aim to produce it artificially in nano-structured composite materials, such as S-films with embedded magnetic nano- clusters, in S-F-S and F-S-F multi-layers, and in sub-micron size hybrid circuits. The mutual proximity between superconductivity and ferromagnetism, possible as these are brought together within a nanometre scale, will create new quality with not yet known quantum ground state and kinetic properties. In the long term, new emergent quantum and mesoscopic phenomena will be found that are not observed in bulk materials, only in such artificial structures. Understanding of the physics involved will be combined with the search for novel guiding principles for the next generation magnetic memory and, in the long term, enhancing the material and device functionalities via combining the specific properties of ferromagnets and superconductors.

The project explores a superior property in nanoscale magnetic thin film devices - the spin dependent ballistic electronic transport, which is a size-dependent phenomenon that may only occur in nanoscale materials and devices due to quantum mechanics effect. The subject area and the objectives of the project have a close relevance to the NMP priority area 3.4.1.1 for 2003, which calls for long term, ambitious interdisciplinary research addressing, theoretically (incl. modelling) and experimentally, size-dependent phenomena, including quantum and/or mesoscopic scale phenomena. The nanotechnology and nanoscience explored in the project represent a new approach to materials science and engineering, as well as for design of new devices and processes for future data storage, spintronic devices and computers. The consortium consists of European leading experimentalists (P1) in BMR of wire nanocontacts, leading BMR theorists (P5), laboratories with the state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques (P3) and magnetotransport thin films and devices (P2 and P6), and leading researchers in spin injection and spin transport studies (P4), aiming to integrate the complementary knowledge, infrastructure and expertise for the exploration of the spin dependent ballistic transport properties in thin film nanocontacts. Our overall rrare to employ the state-of-the-art nanofabrication technology for the fabrication of thin film nanoconstrictions with diameter of 50 ~ 5 nm, and to carry out a concerted experimental and theoretical study of the spin transport properties in relation to physical sizes, micromagnetic structures, interfacial and ferromagnetic/semiconductor electrode materials, and polarization in the vicinity of the nanocontacts, aiming to explore high ballistic magnetoresistance (BMR), we will study the magnetoelastic deformations of the contacts that can contribute to the transport process. As well as the contribution by pulsed laser illumination.

The overall aim of MEPHISTO is to develop a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based hybrid integration platform ('optical motherboard', OMB) for implementing optical subsystems encompassing optical, optoelectronic and electronic functions. Such a comprehensive hybridised integration will be a key technology to meet the demands of increasing compactness and complexity, mass production, cost reduction, and reliability of future optical components to be used in photonic networks, but also for other emerging areas like sensor and microsystems technologies, and in particular optical interconnects in high-speed VLSI electronics. It is unlikely that in the foreseeable future such complex integrated subsystems will rely on a fully monolithic integration approach due to inherent drawbacks with respect to overall performance and yield. SOI material will be employed as integration platform because it offers a number of distinct advantages over competing materials (silica-on-silicon, polymers or silicon-oxynitride), both technically and economically. Compared to previous developments in this field the target of the MEPHISTO project takes the concepts of optical motherboards much further, involving the hybridisation of the active III-V components with sophisticated silicon optical circuits which will comprise arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) and variable optical attenuators (VOA), and the integration of Si VLSI electronics. More specifically, the goals of MEPHISTO are to study and develop crucial, innovative enabling technologies and building blocks for realizing advanced SOI based OMB subsystems. These will be used in particular to implement 'proof-of-concept' integrated dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transmitter components for C-band wavelength (1535-1565 nm) operation incorporating complex optical, optoelectronic, and electronic functions. The practicability, the issues and challenges involved in the SOI based optical motherboard technology will be assessed.

Our project aims at observing the spatial modulations of local electron probability density along a quantum ring fabricated from a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in an InGaAs heterostructure. As a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the plane of such a ring, a periodic pattern of maxima and minima of electron probability density is predicted to appear, due to interferences of electron partial waves inside the ring (these interferences give rise to the well-known Aharonov-Bohm effect, causing periodic oscillations in the ring magnetoresistance). In order to observe this phenomenon, we plan to use a low temperature (4.2 K) atomic force microscope (AFM) in non-contact mode. A voltage bias will be applied on the tip of the AFM in order to create a local perturbation in the 2DEG underneath. The principle is to record the changes of conductance of the quantum ring as a function of the tip position (i.e. the perturbation position) over the quantum ring, which will produce images related to the changes of electron probability density (the technique was demonstrated for quantum point contacts in M.A. Topinka et al., Science 289, 2323 (2000)). Using voltages applied on lateral (in-plane) gates patterned close to the quantum ring, we will investigate the influence of the coupling of the ring to external electron reservoirs as well as the influence of the asymmetry of the ring. The biased scanning tip will also be used as a static scatterer on one arm of the ring, and the influence of the position of the tip on Aharonov-Bohm oscillations will be characterized. Potential outcomes of this project are in the field of experimental quantum physics, quantum computation and electron optics.

This project consists on the study of the interaction of single molecules on surfaces and their manipulation with a Low Temperature Ultra High Vacuum Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (LT UHV STM). In order to study the interaction between single molecules, the electronic and vibrational properties of individually selected and targeted molecules will be measured.The project can be divided into two parts:The first part, carried out during the outgoing phase of the project, will be dedicated to study the interaction of water with different systems. First, the interaction of water with hydrophobic and hydrophylic molecules will be studied in order to understand the wetting of water at the molecular level. After that, the interaction of water molecules with biological molecules such as aminoacids and nucleotides will be studied. The exact atomic positions at the water-adsorbate and water-surface interfaces will be determined by means of electronic and vibrational spectroscopy and arranging a controlled envirnonment by manipulating the molecules with the STM tip.The second part, carried out in the re-integration phase, will consist on the study of the electronic properties of nano-objects, focusing on single organic molecules that can be used in molecular electronics. The main part of the project will consist on how these are integrated into the electronic devices, i.e. the interface between the molecules and the leads. In order to understand the effect of the leads on the electronic properties of the molecules, a precise analysis is needed at the atomic scale, and LT UHV STM has proved so far to be the only technique capable of relating in-situ atomic structure to electronic properties.The interest of the project covers a large number of fields, such as nanoelectronics, nanocatalysis, biophysics or environmental science.

In the future, the (information) society will drastically change. With the current progress in sub-100nm CMOS, digital signal processing (DSP), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), RF CMOS and nanoelectronics that rapidly merge with biotechnology, we are entering the post PC-era. We are evolving towards an intelligent environment in which we will be surrounded by smart things that communicate with each other and thereby augment our consciousness, protect our health and globally connect people and things. IMEC has anticipated on this evolution by its so called 'horizontal or heterogeneous integration” activities in which process modules are developed that provide additional functionalities to the core CMOS processes such as analog and passive devices for RF-CMOS applications, bipolar devices (BICMOS) for high frequency wireless applications, high Q passives and RF MEMS for wireless communications, embedded flash and RAM memories for data and code storage applications and devices for smart power applications. In order to support the training of European researchers in this important field of the technology, this project aims at the creation of a research-training platform for early stage researchers with focus on the interdisciplinary research, necessary to extend current technologies with extra functionality. This Early Stage Research Training (EST) project will provide an efficient way to give universities access to these technologies via a ‘sandwich Ph.D.’. In this concept, the Fellow performs his/her Ph.D. at a university in cooperation with the Host organization. In practice this means that the fellows carry out their Ph.D. partly at the university and partly at the Host organization. The research-training program will host researchers in the 5 fields of horizontal and heterogeneous integration activities: Embedded Flash and RAM memories, Mixed technology devices, Smart Power devices, RF-MEMS and Supporting activities (Reliability, Characterization)