Project description
Advancing research in plasmonic nanocavities
Plasmonics allows to manipulate the strength of how light interacts with materials at very small scales. This enables, for example, the detection of single small molecules or controlling chemical reactions. A special structure called a plasmonic gap nanocavity has proven particularly suitable to amplify light matter interaction signals significantly. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ECOLE project will improve these nanocavities by controlling them electrically, thereby making them a more reliable sensing tool and helping scientists test their formation mechanisms. Researchers will study how light and electricity interact in these systems and create a scalable and potentially cheaper way to detect mid-infrared radiation. This could make mid-infrared technology more accessible for various practical uses related to molecular sensing and detection.
Objective
Controlling and engineering light matter interactions at ever smaller scales is an ambitious research enterprise that has fostered the field of plasmonics, leading to improved molecular sensing, monitoring of chemical reactions at the single molecule level and the exploration of new phenomena such as room-temperature strong coupling. One of the most powerful and prolific approaches has been to engineer plasmonic gap cavities with (sub) nanometric gaps yielding high field enhancements. At such small scales, the displacements of one or few atoms leads to an additional, highly localized field enhancement, termed picocavity, that allows for example to robustly detect SERS signals stemming from a single molecule by boosting its signal more than 1000 times.
In Ecole I will equip such small plasmonic gap nanocavities with electrical connections. First, I will achieve electrical control over the formation and dynamics of picocavities, making them a more reliable sensing tool and testing current hypotheses about their microscopic nature and formation mechanisms.
Subsequently I will use this increase enhancement to study the electron-phonon coupling in a molecular junction. Looking at the influence of strong optical resonances and drive on the the electron transport and phonon generation, allowing to reach non-classical states. Third, I will then demonstrate electrically driven mid-IR upconversion from a molecular junction, where the incoming excites vibrations of fluorescent molecules and thereby triggers overbias electroluminescence. This paves the way for a new all electrical detection scheme of mid-IR radiation, with a more scalable and potentially cheaper approach than current technology, enabling to integrate the advantages and promises of the mid-IR technology in a larger range of products and applications.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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97070 Wuerzburg
Germany
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