Ikerbasque researcher: Luis Hueso
CIC nanoGUNE is a privileged location for nanotechnology
Your research focuses on nanotechnology, can you explain exactly what that means?
Nanoscience is the discipline of studying materials at nanometric level (1 nanometre is 1 millionth part of a millimetre). It's a particularly exciting field as, for about the past twenty years, we have been able to use equipment capable of visualising and manipulating things at this scale. For example, we can create an electronic circuit that's a few nanometres long (barely a few tens of atoms) and then visualize it in such a way as to find out the exact position of each atom in the material. This opens up revolutionary new scientific and technical opportunities.
At the Nano-device Group in CIC nanoGUNE we study how to produce new electronic devices on a nanometric scale.
We believe that current commercial electronics will stop being viable in about 15-20 years time, as Silicon based devices (CPU, memories etc.) will be unable to increase performance exponentially, as in recent decades. Therefore, we're exploring diverse materials to find alternatives: for example, we are studying how some organic materials efficiently transmit new information contained in the electrons across long distances. We are also considering the use of molecules to process information: each new electronic transistor would comprise a single molecule that would perform various functions. Finally, and perhaps at the most applied level, we are exploring new kinds of non-volatile memory, in order to replace the conventional, silicon-based RAM memory in all computers. With these new types of memory, information won’t be lost when the computer suddenly shuts down!
In October it was announced that you had been awarded an ERC grant. What does this mean for your research career?
The European Research Council supported project is an important recognition, both for my career to date (given that 50% of the assessment is based on the candidate's CV) and for a research "idea". It's also key to our research as it provides us with substantial funds for a five-year period.
The project I presented looks to experimentally study how the electron spin behaves in molecular materials. The underlying idea is again to find new materials and structures that serve as a basis for future electronics. At the same time, we hope to increase our knowledge of complex systems of a extremely reduced dimensions.
The project includes an extremely risky work plan and I think this is one of the notable aspects of the ERC: their willingness to subsidize risky projects that don't necessarily have a direct application in the short term.By its very nature, this project perfectly complements other sources of financing that I've been able to achieve since joining Ikerbasque, such as a collaborative project and a Marie Curie network under the 7th EU framework programme, or a research project from the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
How has the Ikerbasque job offer affected your scientific career?
In 2008 I had a permanent professorship (lecturer or reader) in the United Kingdom, however the Ikerbasque offer was particularly attractive as it provides a great deal of flexibility and big opportunities. On the one hand, my teaching workload has disappeared, allowing me to focus on research; on the other, my host centre (CIC nanoGUNE) is a privileged location for nanotechnology.
I believe that these factors have been crucial in allowing me to take another step forward in my research career. I now lead a group of ten people with the most innovative equipment at their disposal for carrying out research at nano-level, and all this in an environment in which research is recognized and actively promoted.The CAPV (University of the Basque Country)'s efforts to strengthen science and technology are remarkable. I believe that initiatives like Ikerbasque provide the research system with the motivational environment, mobility and exchange of ideas that are vital for achieving new challenges.