ERC Consolidator Grants for Laserlab Researchers

Thomas Bocklitz (Leibnitz-IPHT): Non-invasive computational immunohistochemical staining based on deep learning and multimodal imaging

In order to distinguish between healthy and diseased tis- sue in tumour diagnostics, conventional methods involve staining tissue samples and then having them examined by pathologists. These steps are labour-intensive and require a great amount of time and money. Researchers in the ERC Consolidator Grant project STAIN-IT want to develop a faster and gentler procedure. In the transdisciplinary project, Thomas Bocklitz, head of the research department “Photonic Data Science” at the Leibniz IPHT, and his team are researching and developing a digital staining method. Their goal is to use multimodal imaging techniques in a non-invasive way. To do this, image data is analysed using artificial intelligence to mimic immunohistochemical staining.

Ioachim Pupeza (Leibniz-IPHT):Laser-based infrared vibrational electric-field fingerprinting

The major goal of the ERC Consolidator Grant project LIVE (Laser-based infrared vibrational electric-field fingerprinting), led by Ioachim Pupeza, is to research and develop novel light sources as well as innovative IR technologies and instruments and to open up application potentials for the diagnostic analysis of biomedical samples. The process is expected to significantly increase both the throughput rate of procedures and shorten the time required for a single analysis, which is an important factor for the clinical setting.

Costanza Toninelli (LENS): Quantum interfaces with single molecules

Costanza Toninelli has received an ERC Consolidator Grant for her project “Quantum interfaces with single molecules” (QUINTESSEnCE) project. The challenge is to exploit quantum effects in systems of increasing complexity such as molecules in the solid state, with the possibility of miniaturisation and portability typical of integrated photonic devices. QUINTESSEnCE takes up the challenge, combining the extreme flexibility of molecular chemistry, which allows the creation of molecules with customised energy states, with the most advanced nano- photonic techniques.

Frederico Fiúza (IST): Extreme particle acceleration in shocks: from the laboratory to astrophysics

Astrophysical shocks, generated by violent interactions of supersonic plasmas, are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. The underlying physics of particle acceleration in astrophysical shocks is not yet well understood, nor fully explored in the laboratory.
But this is about to change. Advances in computational power and fully-kinetic plasma simulations are making it possible to conduct new research. New machine learning tools enable the development of models that can capture the interplay between the plasma microphysics and the global dynamics of these distant systems. Such advances are complemented by developments in high-power lasers, intense particle beams, and plasma diagnostics. Using his ERC Consolidator Grant, Frederico Fiúza takes advantage of the opportunities these new developments provide to probe plasma physics processes and particle acceleration mechanisms in well-controlled laboratory experiments.

Leticia Tarruell (ICFO): Unconventional superfluids in quantum gases with competing interactions

Leticia Tarruell aims to exploit the full potential of ultracold quantum gases with competing interactions, unlocking the observation of unconventional superfluid phases. To this end, the project will explore three distinct mechanisms resulting in unconventional superfluid behaviour: quantum fluctuations, engineered dispersion relations, and interactions with non-zero orbital angular momentum. Exploiting various combinations of bosonic and fermionic potassium atoms will allow the realisation of novel types of ultradilute quantum liquids, supersolid-like gases and liquids, density- dependent artificial gauge fields, and elastic multi-body interactions. The project will also investigate a new approach towards the long-sought px+ipy topological superfluid phase of 2D Fermi gases. These experiments will deepen our understanding of the mechanisms behind unconventional super- fluidity, serving the whole range of disciplines where unconventional superfluids or superconductors play a key role.

Jochen Mikosch (MBI): Chemistry in motion – Lasers challenge the start-time dilemma

Jochen Mikosch aims to answer fundamental questions about the structural dynamics of chemical reactions. Efforts to examine the transition states which occur over the course of a chemical reaction have long been hampered by the so-called “start-time dilemma.” Usually, reactants are randomly distrib- uted and oriented in space, and even with an ultra-short laser pulse there is no external control over the precise moment when a reaction takes place. This project addresses these issues by holding the reaction partners closely together in a well-defined initial configuration. The reaction can then be initiated with a femtosecond laser pulse, and by tuning its wavelength the reaction rate can be adjusted. The three-dimensional structure of the transition state is then imaged with a method called Coulomb explosion imaging.

Stefan Witte (LLAMS): Seeing the invisible: Light-based 3D imaging of opaque nanostructures
Lensless imaging, in which an image of the desired ob-ject or feature is digitally reconstructed based on the diffraction pattern of light through the object, offers a solution in situations where traditional imaging optics cannot be used. This is of particular significance to UV and X-ray imaging, in which the development of suitable lenses has been extremely difficult. By using lensless imaging techniques with soft x-rays as well as acoustic waves, both produced by ultra-fast laser pulses, it is possible to gain a complete 3-D picture of the interior of structures which are entirely opaque to visible light, with an improved resolution compared to optical microscopes. Associate Professor Stefan Witte has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant to extend this technique to the study of nanostructures, following on from his ERC Starting Grant award in 2014. The project is targeted specifically at nanostructures because of their increasing centrality to everyday life, from smartphones to novel medical devices. As such, an accurate picture of their structure and function is crucial to improvements in design for the next generations of devices.

Francesco Scotognella (POLIMI): Harvesting more solar energy

Earth is inhabited by an energy-hungry human society. The Sun, with a global radiation at ground level of more than 1 kW/m 2 , is our largest source of energy. However, 45% of the total radiation is in the near infrared (NIR) and is not absorbed by most photovoltaic materials. In his Consolidator Grant project, Francesco Scotognella will try to increase the capacity of solar energy conversion by extracting plasmon-assisted hot carriers from NIR plasmonic materials. He intends to enhance the lifetime of these hot carriers by linewidth narrowing in plasmonic nanoparticle films made of doped semiconductor nanocrystals. The aim is to produce a solar cell device functioning in the near infrared with efficiencies up to 10%. A tandem solar cell, which would combine a commercial silicon solar cell with a power conversion of around 20% with the new PAIDEIA based device, is expected to reach a total power conversion efficiency of 30% by extending the range of utilised wavelengths to the full spectral range delivered by the Sun.

Tomáš Čižmár (IPHT): Holographic micro-endoscopy
To date, no high-resolution in-vivo imaging technique has been introduced which would be applicable deep inside living organisms without causing significant harm to the surrounding tissues. In this context, an important challenge is to increase the penetration depth of superresolution im- aging inside living organisms.
In his Consolidator Grant project, Tomáš Čižmár therefore aims to develop new, ultra-thin endoscopic devices for acquiring high-quality images from unprecedented depths inside tissues of living organisms. For this purpose, assisted by a team of transdisciplinary experts, he intends to push the boundaries of the holographic control of light propagation in multimode fibres. The idea is that this approach will enable his team to deploy several light-based imaging methods, including superresolution microscopy, inside freely moving animal models and ultimately humans.
In the first instance, the micro-endoscopy technique will be applied to neuroscience, providing a minimally invasive window into fundamental processes in neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

David Grojo (LP3): Extreme light for micro-fabrication
High peak power compact femtosecond lasers can be used for high-precision laser micro-fabrication. So far, however, the ‘extreme light’ (ultrashort pulses, X-rays and terahertz radiation) produced inside the exposed matter remains unexploited for nano/microfabrication because of the low intensity.
The main objective of David Grojo’s Consolidator Grant project EXCEED is to overcome the intrinsic limits of ultrafast laser material processing by exploiting extreme light pulses. In the proposed concept, the energy required for optical breakdown (local ionisation of the medium) comes mainly from the primary high-power laser source, whereas the desired interaction is initiated by the much weaker secondary pulse of extreme light. Consequently, this method provides the freedom to control the spatial resolution and deposited energy density independently.

Romain Quidant (ICFO): Quantum Optomechanics with a Levitating Nanoparticle
Micro- and nano-mechanical oscillators with high quality (Q)-factors have gained great interest for their capability to sense very small forces, and their related potential to contribute to our further understanding of quantum effects with large objects. So far, the Q-factor of these oscillators has been limited because of their physical contact to a support. A very attractive alternative to conventional mechanical resonators is based on optically levitated nano-objects in vacuum. In particular, a nanoparticle trapped in the focus of a laser beam in vacuum is mechanically disconnected from its environment and hence does not suffer from clamping losses.
With his Consolidator Grant project, Romain Quidant is planning to use the unique capability of optically levitating nanoparticles to create a nano-mechanical oscillator closer to the ground state at room temperature. This will allow him to explore new physical regimes whose experimental observation has so far been hindered by current experimental limitations.

Dario Polli (CUSBO): Very Fast Imaging by Broadband Coherent Raman
Real-time non-invasive imaging of cells and tissues promises to have revolutionary impact on various fields in biology and medicine. The ability to detect the chemically specific vibrational signatures of molecules inside the cell would allow us to develop reliable bio-markers to, e.g., follow cell differentiation and to identify crucial properties of tissues, such as whether a tumour is benign or malignant. In this way tumours can be located and their borders with normal tissue traced for surgery. The goal of Dario Polli’s Consolidator Grant project is to combine the most detailed molecular information over the entire vibrational spectrum with the highest acquisition speed. In order to achieve this, his team will develop a complete coherent Raman microscope for near-video-rate broadband vibrational imaging. The aim is to validate the vibrational imaging system by studying two important biomedical problems: cancerous cell differentiation and detection of neuronal tumours.

Davide Iannuzzi: Micromachined optomechanical devices (DIDYMUS)
The project of Davide Iannuzzi, University Research Chair professor at LaserLaB Amsterdam, builds upon his ‘fibre-top’-technology, which allows producing an atomic force microscope probe at the end of an optical fibre. In three ambitious research lines, he intends to combine the senses of ‘sight’ (optics) and ‘touch’ (mechanics) in three different optomechanical instruments that should allow him to tackle unanswered questions on each of the three most relevant scales in life sciences: cells, tissues, and organs.
The first project entails designing and testing a new optomechanical probe to investigate how a sustained mechanical load on a brain cell of a living animal may trigger changes in its central nervous system. In the second project, an optomechanical tactile instrument will be developed in order to assess how subsurface tissues deformin response to a mechanical stroke. The last research projectaims at delivering an acousto-optical gas trace sensor,which should be so compact that it can be used inside lungs to find early signs of life threatening pulmonary diseases.