PHANTASY

Photonic Applications of Nanoparticle Assemblies and Systems

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The proposal covers the planned actions of a consortium consisting of five members. These are all research organisations, three of which are EU -based with one other being based in Russia and the final organisation being based in Japan. The consortium intends to establish a research programme which is aimed at the production of advanced structures that include colloidal assemblies, nanoparticles, oxides and metals in order to gain a fundamental understanding of their properties with the aim of using them for manipulation of light on the nanoscale. The planned work is described in detail in the form of three work packages (WP). The first addresses key roadblocks in the exploitation of nanophotonic materials and is entitled 'From ‘imperfect’ colloidal crystals to functional engineered nanophotonic architectures'. The second is entitled 'Metallodielectric colloidal crystal platform for plasmonic circuits and optical transformations ' and addressing key issues associated with novel device operation. The third is devoted to the idea of organising two Summer Schools, one in Europe and one in Japan, thus disseminating the most up-to-date knowledge available. The School(s) intend to cover the area of the interaction between light and a range of optically-active materials under differing conditions, while they will also focus on possible applications of these materials.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

What electrons are to electronics, photons (discrete packets of light) are to photonics. An EU-funded training network is developing new materials to control the flow of light on the nano scale for scintillating new photonics devices.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Rapid advances in the field of nanomaterials with exotic optical, electrical and magnetic properties are providing important building blocks for a field of growing importance. The EU-funded training network PHANTASY (Photonic applications of nanoparticle assemblies and systems) brings together three European partners and one each from Russia and Japan to develop advanced nanostructures for the manipulation of light. Scientists and fellows are focusing on colloidal assemblies, nanoparticles, oxides and metals.

Photonic crystals are periodic structures that can control the flow of light in interesting ways. Given their multiple reflective surfaces on very small length scales similar to the wavelength of incident light, they can force light around sharp turns or even trap it completely.

The team has produced self-assembled colloidal photonic crystals on both rigid and flexible substrates. Researchers then filled in the gaps among crystals with metals or oxides using atomic layer deposition and characterised the properties of the novel nanoparticle systems.

In parallel, scientists have successfully established another crystallisation method and are in the process of implementing two more approaches to colloidal assembly. In addition, the team has created templates for tailoring defects in crystals. Photonic crystals are particularly sensitive to structural disorder and that can be used to the designer's advantage. These tools expand the repertoire of the consortium and will speed development of exotic photonic materials.

Another line of work is developing a metallodielectric colloidal crystal platform for plasmonic circuits, optical transformations and quantum information processing. Within the current period, scientists prepared plasmonic-photonic hybrid crystals and arrays of metal and semiconductor nanowires using channels of asbestos as templates. The nanomaterials were characterised experimentally and theoretically in some cases, achieving good agreement between measured and predicted responses.

With additional financial support from NATO, the project organised an Advanced Study Institute (ASI) titled Nanomaterials and Nanoarchitectures. Fifty-five students from 20 countries participated, including 17 from PHANTASY partners.

PHANTASY is developing novel nanomaterials for applications in the burgeoning field of photonics. Along the way, it is training a new generation of researchers to speed development.