Project description
Surface analysis with ultrafast microscopy
Surface phenomena on non-transparent materials remain challenging to study in real-time, particularly when it comes to understanding ultrafast processes. Industries like semiconductors, batteries, and green energy require precise, label-free monitoring to optimise operations. However, traditional microscopy often struggles to provide the resolution and speed needed for these applications. This gap often leads to inefficiencies. The ERC-funded SURFLIGHT is developing a high-resolution microscope capable of imaging down to 2 nm and capturing ultrafast processes on surfaces in real-world conditions. Its ability to monitor active sites in real-time offers potential for industries focused on catalysis and energy conversion, improving efficiency, reducing costs, and prolonging catalyst lifespans. Overall, SURFLIGHT promises to minimise process failures and maximise performance across sectors.
Objective
SURFLIGHT is at the forefront of optical microscopy innovation, aiming to bring an exceptional microscope to the market. We have developed a high-resolution microscope (up to 2 nm) capable of monitoring ultrafast surface processes (s-scale) on non-transparent materials under real operational conditions. This innovation holds promise for industries like semiconductors, batteries, and green energy, where it is critical to visualize surface phenomena label-free and in real-time.
SURFLIGHT's microscope excels in identifying active sites on surfaces and nanomaterials, essential for catalytic reactions or solar energy conversion. This technology streamlines catalysis R&D by offering real-time visualizations, cutting costs, and optimizing catalyst utilization. Moreover, it minimizes the need for repetitive tests, conserving time and resources, while enhancing catalyst lifespans and reducing replacements through real-time monitoring of catalyst degradation under real-world conditions. Most importantly, it safeguards against large-scale process failures, resulting in substantial cost savings in materials and reduced downtime.
A thorough market analysis within SURFLIGHT will allow us to step up our dialogue with academic as well as industrial partners and thoroughly characterize the industrys demands and needs for the microscope. This will allow us to undertake a final optimization of the microscope once identified the initial targeted customer sector. This ERC PoC will be central for pursuing these goals. We envision SURFLIGHT in the market rapidly and attracting commercial interest from a wide range of industrial sectors.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopy
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsHost institution
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany