The project, funded by the European Union through the FLAG-ERA initiative, has ICN2 senior researcher Dr Marianna Sledzinska as primary investigator. Over the next three years, MINERVA will study amorphous 2D materials for application in high performance electronics.
One of the ten projects funded in 2021 by the EU FLAG-ERA initiative on graphene research and applications, MINERVA (“MakIng New ElectRonic deVices from Amorphous materials”) kicked off early this year and has now a brand new webpage where objectives, members, news and results will be posted. This three-year project brings together researchers from the University of Lyon (France) —coordinator of the project—, the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2, Spain), the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), and Uppsala University (Sweden).
The primary investigator (PI) for ICN2 is Dr Marianna Sledzinska, senior researcher in the Phononic and Photonic Nanostructures Group, led by ICREA Prof. Dr Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres who will also participate in coordinating the project activities, together with Dr Emigdio Chavez Angel (postdoctoral researcher in the same group). Other researchers from our institute collaborating in the project are ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche, head of the Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience Group, and Onurcan Kaya, doctoral student in Prof. Roche’s group.
The MINERVA project focuses on the study and development of amorphous 2D materials --specifically amorphous boron nitride (aBN) layered materials (and related compounds)— for application in high performance electronics. As opposed to crystalline 2D materials, structurally disordered 2D materials are easier to fabricate, require lower manufacturing costs, and presents excellent uniformity over large areas. In particular, amorphous boron nitride is characterised by ultra-low dielectric-constant, excellent field emission performance, and high thermal conductivity. In the framework of MINERVA, a-BN thin films will be grown over large surfaces of various substrates and their properties will be thoroughly investigated. Modelling and analytical techniques will be adopted and the potentiality of these materials for different applications will be explored.
FLAG-ERA is an initiative of the European Union that aims at facilitating the integration of nationally and regionally funded research into the Flagship work plans, at encouraging multidisciplinary collaborations to extend the scope of the Flagships, and at launching dedicated transnational initiatives.
Learn more about MINERVA.