Project description
Advancing chiral semiconductors for next-generation electronics
Chiral solution-processable semiconductors, a new class of materials that enable circularly polarised light (CPL) emission and spin control at room temperature without magnetic fields, could transform optoelectronics. However, progress is limited by the lack of methods to study the mechanisms behind this technology. The ERC-funded MACHIRO project aims to develop a revolutionary ultrafast broadband magneto-chiroptical microscope to map the Stokes vector of light polarisation emitted by chiral materials with diffraction-limited spatial and femtosecond temporal resolution. This solution will allow for direct and accurate tracking of key mechanisms and processes, provide universal design rules for this field, and pave the way for discovering a vast range of insights across various fields and sectors.
Objective
Chiral solution-processable semiconductors are a new class of materials that could revolutionize optoelectronics by enabling circularly polarized light (CPL) emission and spin control without external magnetic fields at room temperature. This could enhance the efficiency of displays, solar cells, holography, cryptography, and biomedical imaging, while opening new possibilities in quantum information processing. However, current trial-and-error approaches, limited by the absence of suitable techniques to probe mechanisms, prevent systematic breakthroughs in designing chiral materials with strong CPL emission and spin polarization.
MACHIRO will overcome these limitations. We will develop the first ultrafast broadband magneto-chiroptical microscope to map the Stokes vector of light polarization emitted from chiral materials with diffraction-limited spatial and femtosecond-temporal resolution. This will enable us to directly track the interplay between charge, spin, and light polarization in time and space, to mechanistically understand how CPL and spin polarization arise from structural chirality imprint on the excited state.
We will use this new tool to study a range of i) heavy-element containing chiral halide perovskite semiconductors, as well as ii) purely molecular twisted materials with much less spin orbit coupling. We will systematically vary dimensionality (3D bulk to 0D quantum dots), hierarchical level of chirality, helical pitch and addition magnetic impurities, while always monitoring the role of local disorder through mapping. Thus, we will identify dominant loss channels and arrive at a unified mechanism of how light and spin polarization are connected.
Finally, we will integrate insights across all materials, establishing universal design rules for using chirality to control spin and light simultaneously, enabling next-generation solution-processable spin-optoelectronic technologies with unprecedented energy efficiency.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1015 Lausanne
Switzerland
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