HE ERC Advanced Grant 2026-2031
EDO
Electronic Doping of Soft Semiconductors
Abstract: EDO will develop protocols for intentional, spatially controlled, and stable electronic doping in metal halide semiconductors. Electronic doping implies engineering of carrier density in semiconductors through the intentional introduction of a defect and it is necessary to achieve high performances in micro and optoelectronic technologies. Unlike established semiconductors, which are typically covalent solids, those belonging to the class of soft materials, such as molecules and polymers, forming van der Waals solids, and metal halide perovskites, forming ionic solids, host complex doping mechanisms. As a result, the design of free carrier density is far from being established and exploited in metal halides perovskites thin films. Intrinsic challenges, such as compensation and migration of defects, charge localization, phase segregation and the strong doping−processing relationship, may hide or hamper the designed doping process. Characterization and control of such phenomena require the combined knowledge of electronic, chemical and morphological/structural information, which is often missing. As a result, reports are often contradictory and advanced tools are in demand to draw a complete picture. Synchrotron facilities may help reaching the target, however, their limited access hampers direct feedback between synthesis and characterization. EDO will develop an unprecedent multimodal experimental tool, in laboratory environment, to quantitatively assess the doping and examine its impact on the optoelectronic properties of metal halides perovskites semiconductors. A photoemission microscope will be coupled to tunable coherent sources, covering the entire spectrum from NIR to soft X-ray radiation to map at nanometer scale the Fermi level shift, the electronic structure and the elemental composition and organization of thin films, and the relative optoelectronic dynamics, transferring the secured knowledge to the development of materials processing.
Total budget: 2.930.312,00€
Total contribution: 2.930.312,00€
FLE-X
H2020 ERC - Proof of Concept Grant 2021-2022
Flexible x-ray detectors for large area imagers: towards consumer electronics
Abstract: Techniques for non-destructive and non-invasive inspections are more and more required in our society, in different areas such as medical, industrial and security. X-ray radiation and its detection is the current inspection tool, coupled with electronic systems to gather information. However, while the electronic has gone through an impressive development to respond more and more to the need of a capillary presence in our life, without disturbing perception, the X-ray detection has remained behind. Thus, Users are limited to costly, cumbersome, fragile and extremely heavy detection devices, which do not allow nor extension to large areas neither easy integrability/conformability to a large variety of objects. FLE-X will develop the prototype of a low cost, flexible direct x-ray detector for imaging applications, which can be customized. It will be suitable for large areas inspections, and bendable around complex objects. It will be easy to handle. This will be achieved by developing printed thin films (<< 100 um) fabricated from lead-halides perovskites inks. Such device does not exist on the market. Once transformed into a commercial product, it will enable a shift paradigm for the X-ray detection market and will be a gate for new applications. To make this happen, FLE-X will identify the first process flow compatible with industrialization, will deliver a prototype of flexible X-ray imager and will provide a model and business plan which will allow an efficient technology transfer.
Total budget: 121.741,00€
Total contribution: 121.741,00€
SOPHY
H2020 ERC - Consolidator Grant 2018-2024
The role of Softness in the Physics of Defects: Probing Buried Interfaces in Perovskites
Abstract: SOPHY will develop the tools and knowledge to probe optoelectronic processes at buried interfaces, in devices, at operating conditions, delivering a long time pursued target in many fields of nanotechnology.