Imaging the Plasmonic Activity of Magnetic Nanostructures

Objective

"The proposed project concerns the study of magnetoplasmonic systems, that is nanostructures exhibiting both magneto-optic (MO) properties and surface plasmon resonances (SPRs). Particularly, localized SPRs appearing in magnetic nanostructures will be studied using local probe microscopy techniques.

The typical magnetoplasmonic nanostructure is a Noble-Metal/Ferromagnetic-Metal/Noble-Metal trilayer. They can be fabricated either as continuous thin films that are subsequently patterned using lithography and etching, or by lithography, evaporation and lift-off. Nanostructure arrays will be fabricated in various compositions, shapes, separations and symmetries (in particular, colloidal lithography will be used to obtain disordered arrays, whereas e-beam lithography will be used to prepare ordered ones). First, their collective optical and MO behavior will be characterized using far-field measurements. Afterwards, the local electromagnetic near-field distribution at single objects will be imaged using Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM). The local measurements will be correlated to the optical and MO collective measurements. Both optical-fiber SNOM and apertureles SNOM (aSNOM) measurements will be performed. Metal-coated Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) tips will be used for aSNOM. The interest is in performing aSNOM using ferromagnetic-metal-coated AFM tips, thus allowing for Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) measurements to be performed simultaneously with SNOM. The illuminated light will excite surface plasmons, and the magnetic component of their electromagnetic field distribution will be imaged using MFM.

Magnetoplasmonics research has been pioneered at the host group, and the proposed project is a natural continuation of the so far host activity. Magnetoplasmonics allow for the development of active plasmonic devices (their properties can be tuned with a magnetic field), with applications in photonic nanocircuits and advanced biosensors."

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.

• natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics electromagnetism
• engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors biosensors
• natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics quasiparticles
• natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
• engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

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.

• FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

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.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator