UTFacultiesTNWNewsSeed funding from MESA+ and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology

Seed funding from MESA+ and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology for three research projects

A delegation of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) visited MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology (MESA+) on October 16th and 17th 2019. At this meeting is was agreed to jointly fund three collaborative research projects for one year with €50,000.- and CAN$75,000.-. The selection committees at both MESA+ and WIN received many excellent proposals and reviewed each carefully. On behalf of WIN and MESA+ we congratulate the recipients and look forward to following the progress of these projects.

Three recipients
  • Klaus Boller (MESA+) with Hamed Majedi (WIN): On-chip Platform for Tunable Nonlinear Optics and Reconfigurable Quantum Photonics
  • Gertjan Koster (MESA+) with Kevin Musselman (WIN): Laser-synthesized 2D nanosheets for epitaxial growth of functional oxides on any substrate
  • Jeff Wood (MESA+) with Anna Klinkova (WIN): Integrated Solution for Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide Recycling to Fertilizers and Fuels

INTEGRATED PHOTONIC PLATFORM

Electronic and photonic technologies have become an essential part of our daily life. They are the backbone of a multitude of applications, from smartphones to medical instrumentation. The proposal of Klaus Boller and Hamed Majedi aims at the development of an integrated photonic platform for two seemingly distant areas of nonlinear optics and quantum optics. This platform can be used for a plethora of applications from ultrafast switches to advanced transceivers for fibre optical telecommunication networks.

Applicants: Klaus Boller, Jelmer Renema (MESA+), Hamed Majedi and Bo Cui (WIN)

TWO-DIMENSIONAL NANOSHEETS

Thin films are critical components of all modern-day electronics, communication devices, and display technologies. The focus of the proposed collaborative project from Gertjan Koster and Kevin Musselman is to develop two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets (sheets of materials approximately one atomic layer thick) with controlled dimensions and well-defined shapes. The nanosheets can self-organize into a single layer with in-plane ordering/orientation on different substrates. These organized nanosheets will then be used as seed layers to grow oriented and crystalline oxide thin films on different substrates.

Applicants: Gertjan Koster, Mark Huijben, André ten Elshof, Monica Morales-Masis (MESA+) and Kevin Musselman (WIN)

AMMONIA AND CARBON DIOXIDE RECYCLING

The project of Jeff Wood and Anna Klinkova focusses on an integrated solution for the recycling of ammonia and carbon dioxide into fertilizers and fuels. Current treatment schemes focus on converting ammonia into nitrogen gas and are not always 100% effective. In order to develop a more sustainable process where ammonia can be captured, recycled and reused as a biological-based fertilizer the researchers propose the reuse of ammonia captured using ion-exchange membrane technology as a nitrogen source in order to produce new bio-based fertilizer.

Applicants: Jeff Wood, Joris de Grooth (MESA+) and Anna Klinkova (WIN)

K.W. Wesselink - Schram MSc (Kees)
Science Communication Officer (available Mon-Fri)