Short- and long-term prediction of solar activity and space weather are long-standing problems, affecting the society at a large scale: being able to issue a prediction earlier and more reliably will prevent economic losses for industries, space sector, and governments. During our ongoing ERC CoG project UniSDyn, we have numerically and observationally demonstrated the potential of a novel data product, the internal surface gravity oscillation mode, tracing the sub-surface magnetic field in the Sun, and here formulated methodologies to build prediction tools based on it both over short and long timescales. Earlier prediction methods have relied on magnetic fields on the solar surface or in the interplanetary space, while now we propose to use the solar internal oscillations as basis of the predictions - hence our ideas are novel and ground-braking. Innovation potential is augmented by the demonstrated capacity of the team to perform the demanding data analysis of the required data products for the proof-of-concept tools. Large innovation potential is also contained in new type of data service to be built: they augment the sustainability and re-usability of generic scientific data products, and enhance the renewal of science.

In researches about hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) at the anode of a fuel cell, most researchers concentrate on the intrinsic activity and stability of catalysts, while few researches study the gas diffusion effect in depth, which is however the rate-determine step for most HOR. Enlightened by the efficient lungs’ supply of oxygen to human with multistage bronchi and pulmonary alveoli, we plan to improve the hydrogen gas diffusion for HOR by constructing multistage superaerophilic gas channels (MSGC) in the catalyst layer (CL). Traditionally, to build gas channels in CL, people modify powder catalysts with aerophilic binder, which however cause aggregation and therefore hindered the transfer of electron and mass. Besides, part of the randomly made gas channels are closed that cannot transfer hydrogen actually. Thus, there are two challenges in MSGC construction: a solid and strong hierarchical micro-nano skeleton, that won’t aggregate, to support catalyst and channels, and a method to control the direction of the channels. Herein, we propose tungsten carbide nanoarrays (WC NA) as the skeleton for Pt catalyst and invent a vacuum-control method based on superwetting technology to direct the gas channels. Although WC nanoparticles have been proved promising as the substrate of Pt for HOR, WC NA has never been tried. Based on the novel structure, we will study the relationship between structure, gas diffusion, and HOR efficiency in depth. Targeting at the rate-determine step of HOR, we’re expecting a theoretical breakthrough in HOR, which will offer an alternative approach for making hydrogen anode in fuel cell industry.

Sandwiching ultra-thin out-of-plane magnetized materials between heavy metal and oxide layers in multilayer heterostructures has led to important new discoveries which offer a path to fast, non-volatile, low power electronics. The first important effect, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), favours orthogonal alignment of neighbouring spins, causing stable Néel domain walls of well-defined chirality. The second, spin-orbit torques (SOTs), are torques on the magnetization caused by spin accumulation under applied in-plane currents. In combination these effects lead to very high domain wall velocities and allow the creation of mobile topological objects called skyrmions, both suitable for technological applications. While DMI and SOTs are dominated by the interfaces, their precise microscopic origins are not well understood. This proposal takes advantage of newly developed techniques to control magnetic interfaces with electric fields. Through strain effects, created by electric fields on a ferroelectric layer, or through electrical fields across an insulating oxide or through electric field-induced oxygen migration in an ionic conductor, the interfacial properties of suitable devices will be altered. All these effects change the filling of hybridized interfacial electronic orbitals, which allows the strength of the DMI and SOTs to be tuned for applications and lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Magintlec will be conducted at Aalto University where the host group provides frontier expertise and state-of-the-art experimental facilities for electric-field controlled magnetism (film growth, lithography, magnetic and magnetotransport characterization). The applicant, Dr Rhodri Mansell, brings an excellent track record in nanomagnetism and spintronics. For the last five years, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Cambridge University focusing on spin-orbit effects and logic devices in out-of-plane magnetized multilayers.

The project aims at introducing a paradigm shift in the development of nonlinear photonics with atomically-engineered two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals superlattices (2DSs). Monolayer 2D materials have large optical nonlinear susceptibilities, a few orders of magnitude larger than typical traditional bulk materials. However, nonlinear frequency conversion efficiency of monolayer 2D materials is typically weak mainly due to their extremely short interaction length (~atomic scale) and relatively large absorption coefficient (e.g.,>5×10^7 m^-1 in the visible range for graphene and MoS2 after thickness normalization). In this context, I will construct atomically-engineered heterojunctions based 2DSs to significantly enhance the nonlinear optical responses of 2D materials by coherently increasing light-matter interaction length and efficiently creating fundamentally new physical properties (e.g., reducing optical loss and increasing nonlinear susceptibilities). The concrete project objectives are to theoretically calculate, experimentally fabricate and study optical nonlinearities of 2DSs for next-generation nonlinear photonics at the nanoscale. More specifically, I will use 2DSs as new building blocks to develop three of the most disruptive nonlinear photonic devices: (1) on-chip optical parametric generation sources; (2) broadband Terahertz sources; (3) high-purity photon-pair emitters. These devices will lead to a breakthrough technology to enable highly-integrated, high-efficient and wideband lab-on-chip photonic systems with unprecedented performance in system size, power consumption, flexibility and reliability, ideally fitting numerous growing and emerging applications, e.g. metrology, portable sensing/imaging, and quantum-communications. Based on my proven track record and my pioneering work on 2D materials based photonics and optoelectronics, I believe I will accomplish this ambitious frontier research program with a strong interdisciplinary nature.

During the recent years, biological materials have extensively inspired materials scientists towards new properties, e.g., for composites, photonics, and wetting. The future grand challenge is to mimic biological active materials towards new properties that commonly have not been connected with man-made materials. Due to the biological complexity, conceptually new approaches are needed in materials science. In the project DRIVEN, field-driven dissipative out-of-equilibrium self-assemblies are developed in the colloidal and molecular scale. In the proposal, instead of using chemical fuels to drive dissipative self-assemblies, which is ubiquitous in Nature, imposed fields are here used to drive the system out-of-equilibrium towards new assemblies and functions. The project show steps with growing risks towards highly ambitious new materials mimicking aspects from active biological materials.