Pioneering research into nanoelectronics receives European recognition
Prof. Wilfred van der Wiel from the University of Twente awarded prestigious ERC Starting Grant
26 October 2009
Wilfred van der Wiel, newly appointed Professor of Nanoelectronics at the University of Twente, has scooped a major research grant from the European Research Council. This will enable him to carry out research for the MESA Institute for Nanotechnology into the use of molecules as building blocks for new generations of chips. The grant is 1.75 million euros.
The field of nanoelectronics has developed apace since the
dimensions of chip components were shrunk to the nanometre scale -
one nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre. The tremendous
miniaturization in chip components over recent decades has led to a
huge increase in memory capacity and speed and a drastic reduction
in costs. From a technological point of view, however, it has
become increasingly more complicated to achieve even smaller
dimensions. Van der Wiel wants to investigate whether you can
employ the bottom up strategy to create larger structures
using the smallest biological building blocks. He asks whether
using organic molecules as electronic components is a realistic
option? He points specifically to a hybrid approach which would
incorporate today's advanced chip technology: a combination of
bottom up and top down strategies.
Self-organization and control
The organization and grouping of molecules plays a critical role
in this combined approach. Van der Wiel wants to make use of the
self-organization and self-assembly processes inherent in all
living organisms. This might involve giving organic molecules a
specific function and equipping them with "branches" that conduct
electricity, which allows them to interact with each other and
their environment. "So far controlling the manufacturing process
has been the most difficult step in attempting to exploit molecular
electronics," explains the young professor. "But eventually we hope
to create electronic circuits whose properties can be focused at
the level of a single electron or used to emit light (individual
photons) on demand."
Wilfred van der Wiel will receive a 5-year Starting
Independent Researcher Grant worth 1.75 million euros from the
European Research Council (ERC) to complete his research. This is
one of two types of grants offered by the ERC and the first
starting grant to be awarded to a researcher at the University of
Twente. Albert van den Berg, also a member of the MESA Institute
for Nanotechnology at UTwente, had previously received the ERC's
Advanced Investigators Grant which is awarded to researchers who
have already established themselves as independent research leaders
in their own right. More information about ERC and its Grants is
available at http://erc.europa.eu.
Wilfred van der Wiel was appointed Professor of Nanoelectronics
at the University of Twente on 1 October this year. Before taking
up his new post, Van der Wiel was head of the Nanoelectronics
programme at the MESA Institute for Nanotechnology from 2005. Van
der Wiel studied at Delft University of Technology, where he
obtained his PhD. Before joining MESA+, he was a Pioneer Fellow of
the Japan Science and Technology Agency working at Tokyo
University. In 2006 he became a member of the Young Academy, which
is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
(KNAW). In the same year he received a VIDI grant from the
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
Contact for the press: Wiebe van der
Veen, tel. +31-(0)53-4894244
