PSN 2019 PROGRAMME

Sometimes there is an idea in science that takes hold of a whole community at what seems like the same time. “Quantum Materials” is one of those ideas. It is not so easy to trace this idea back to its origins, because the work in this field is so widespread now, but the first I recall hearing the phrase was through what I think has to be called a visionary research program funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in the US. Their program, “EPiQS”, started 5 years ago, as the response of a private foundation that doesn’t generally fund materials physics to what many might perceive as a significant shortcoming in the way that research in that area is funded in the USA. There could actually be a completely different origin for the whole thing; I am not a historian of science after all, I am just describing my personal perceptions. Like many of the best general concepts, I bet that the quantum materials classification is so successful because it worked to tie together ordinarily disparate research topics and put them under a single umbrella. Quantum materials seems like it could be a class of materials that is hard to define, and, like the famous anecdote of blind people asked to define an elephant, it likely means different things to different scientists, but in my opinion these are materials whose electronic or magnetic properties are best explained by the concepts of quantum mechanics, originally formulated in the early 20th century, as opposed to those of classical physics, which of course can explain much about the way our world works. The whole idea has really come to the fore in the past decade through the study of “topological insulators” and related materials, where a concept (topology) whose influence is not described in original formulations of quantum mechanics rules the day, and what were once unpredictable properties for solid matter have now been observed. I am a solid state chemist, not a physicist, and so my understanding of the quantum physics involved is sketchy at best, but, I imagine like in all collaborative fields, finding a common language for communication across boundaries is important, and leads to the exhilaration of discovery. What has developed in this field has both opened the eyes of people who care to see, and promised possible applications far down the road if some of the ideas and materials that embody them can be developed.

Keywords: quantum materials, topological insulators

Globalization and ICT development enhanced new forms of organizational collaboration – virtual teams. Most commonly, they are defined as a group of people sharing common goals virtually, where at least two members are situated at different locations [1]. Distance between them may range from being located at different offices to being located on different continents [2]. Virtual teams are present in all business sectors and academic life as well.

Despite positive aspects of virtual teams, such as cost reduction and faster product delivery, this new organizational structure has brought many challenges that may hamper its effectiveness. Virtual collaboration differs significantly from traditional face-to-face interaction as it delivers less context and data necessary for human cooperation. As a result virtual teams are more prone to conflicts [3]. Team members strive with weak interpersonal bonds, unshared context and poor information sharing [4].

The outlined findings focus on unrevealing best practices in virtual team collaboration based on three yearlong qualitative study among both young Millennials entering job market that participated in virtual team simulation game and employees from companies that employed virtual teams as the main element of organizational structure.

Keywords: virtual teams, distributed teams, communication, trust

References:

[1] P.J. Hinds, M. Mortensen, 12(3), 210-238, (2001).

[2] A. Malhotra, A. Majchrzak, B. Rosen, Academy of Management Perspective, 21 (1), 60-70, (2007).

[3] P.J. Hinds, M. Mortensen, Organization Science, 16(3), 290-307, (2005).

[4] P.J. Hinds, D. Bailey, Organization Science, 14 (6), 615-632, (2003).

Almost ten years ago the PRACE partners started with advanced HPC services for European science. PRACE is supported by the PRACE Member States, and by the EU through a number of implementation projects, and thus has been able to create a common European umbrella over the national HPC ecosystems. It is quite a task to list all the achievements PRACE has made in the meantime, when we can count over 70 partner institutions, 7 top-class systems, 700 large-scale projects, over 100 petaflop/s accumulated peak performance, 12000 trainees in PRACE advanced training courses, seasonal schools, numerous companies supported, peer review on the European level, a unified set of pan-European operational services comprising many satellite centers, support of Industry, the High Level Support teams, market watch, support for CoEs, and so force. “In Service for HPC in Europe”! This is PRACE in short. Since 2010, PRACE offers a comprehensive range of services and support activities to promote the European HPC ecosystem. PRACE is established as the link between the HPC infrastructures of the European member states and our most excellent European HPC users, with their provenience from a very broad range of fields in science and industry. This is strongly emphasised by the latest scientific case study of the PRACE Scientific Steering Committee, the PRACE SSC, that provides a comprehensive overview of the strategic importance of high-performance computing in a growing number of scientific and technical fields and for important industries. It furthermore gives convincing arguments for the convergence of simulation, large-scale data analysis and the importance of HPC for progress in artificial intelligence, in particular deep learning and continual learning. I will give an overview of PRACE as it has evolved its operations. I will describe important contributions of PRACE to Europe`s Grand Challenges in HPC, and I will sketch first ideas of PRACE plans as to a third operation phase starting in 2021. I will talk about new services to help our users successfully mastering the future simulation and data analytics Challenges entering the Exascale realm.

Keywords: HPC, PRACE, exascale

Photovoltaics technology, which converts solar energy into electricity is expected to be the most promising strategy among the common clean renewable energy sources. It is well known that already the fourth generations of the photovoltaic cells based on the various type inorganic and organic semiconductor nanostructures (hetero-junctions) have been elaborated [1]. Apart from above, the most important parts of every solar cell are the transparent electrodes, the light trapping layers, as well as electron transport layers, which are commonly based on the transparent conductive oxides (TCO), and directly determined its final efficiency.

In this work a novel trends in the technology and characterization of the low dimensional TCO nanostructures for above mentioned potential photovoltaic application will be reviewed, including mainly zinc oxide ZnO, titanium dioxide TiO₂ and tin dioxide SnO₂, with a special emphasis on their specific surface/interface properties playing a crucial role in electron charge transport inside the solar cells.

Keywords: photovoltaics, transparent electrodes, oxide nanostructures

Acknowledgments

This work was performed within the Statutory Funding of the Institute of Electronics, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland, and partially supported by the Network Project InTechFun No UDA-POIG.01.03.01-00-159/08, and  by the research grant of National Science Centre, Poland – OPUS 11, No. 2016/21/B/ST7/02244.

 

References:

• Razika Tala-Ighil, Nanomaterials in Solar Cells, in Handbook of Nanoelectrochemistry, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.
• Kwoka, M.Krzywiecki, Materials Letters 154 (2015) 1.
• Kwoka, V.Galstyan, E.Comini, J.Szuber, Nanomaterials 7 (2017) 456.
• Kwoka, B.Lyson-Sypien, A.Kulis, M.Maslyk, M.A.Borysiewicz, E.Kaminska,
  J. Szuber, Materials 11 (2018) 131.

In quantum computers one can use of quantum-mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to perform computation. In nineties, there were published first algorithms that are able to efficiently solve some important problems that are considered hard for classical computers. Since that for last three decades there are steady studies on theoretical background (quantum information theory) as well as on experimental realization of quantum computers. There are several proposal of technological realizations. One of the greatest challenges of these technologies is reducing quantum decoherence. This usually means isolating the system from its environment as interactions with the external world cause the system to decohere. As described in the quantum threshold theorem, if the error rate is small enough, it is thought to be possible to use quantum error correction to suppress decoherence. Academic and industrial research is concentrated on near-term intermediate-scale device and the demonstration of “quantum supremacy”, while large-scale universal quantum computers are likely decades away. The main applications are expected to be: encryption and security, quantum machine learning, and quantum chemistry simulation. Quantum machine learning is based on amplitudes rather than probabilities, providing more sophisticated decision-making. Quantum chemistry has the potential impact on medicine, material sciences as well as basic research. The important step required for the construction of a solid-state quantum computer is to get entangled state of electrons. One of the proposals to obtain entangled pair of electrons is use of superconductor, which is a natural source of such pairs, so called Cooper pairs, and separating them in double quantum dot system. This type of system can be used in the manufacture of logic gates and in spin quantum electronics.

Keywords: quantum computers; superconductors; quantum dots

This study has received support from the National Science Centre of Poland, Grant No. 2015/17/B/ST3/02799.

Translational medicine is a broad term encompassing all studies that aim at bridging the gap from the laboratory bench to the bedside. Typically, mechanistic studies published in high profile journals that reach maximum exposure present advances in basic science, but limited follow-up of such stories makes the patients devoid of any concrete or immediate gain. Our teams have collaborated for 7 years now on various biomarker studies aiming to close the scientific and clinical worlds for the patients’ benefit. The main area of our focus is detection of radiation exposure and the focus to harness the potential of miRNAs associated with this for diagnostic use. Initial studies in mice showed that a signature of irrevocable bone marrow destruction may be defined and proven through in depth mechanistic studies, that such microRNAs are a specific feature of bone marrow stem cells losing their potential to repopulate the irradiated individual leading to death unless allogenic bone marrow is transplanted [1]. The translational potential of such a test was obvious, but obvious ethical considerations precluded the calibration of it on humans. To bring it closer to the bedside we devised a framework for diagnostic test design and validation and supported our claim with bioinformatic analyses of evolutionary conservation predicting the test to work in humans. Given the test excellent performance we hypothesized that circulating microRNAs could be used for diagnostics of malignancies and turned our attention to ovarian cancer. Due to the inherent clinical complexity of human studies, we decided to perform experiments on non-human primates [2]. This project necessitated the use of high-level data mining techniques and multilevel validation procedures documenting the appropriateness of biomarker and classification method selection, the universality of the chosen miRNAs when quantified using different molecular techniques, their specificity towards ovarian cancer and finally, the accuracy of the test on a separate clinical group [3]. Ultimately, the project was wrapped up with a website for easy access of researchers and doctors alike. The projects described above outline the process of devising applicable biomarker tests and highlight the need for seamless integration of biological, clinical, statistical and bioinformatic approaches to solve modern health challenges.

Keywords: microRNA, biomarkers, radiation oncology, translational medicine

References:

1. Acharya SS, Fendler W, Watson J, Hamilton A, Pan Y, Gaudiano E, Moskwa P, Bhanja P, Saha S, Guha C, Parmar K, Chowdhury D. Serum microRNAs are early indicators of survival after radiation-induced hematopoietic injury. Sci Transl Med. 2015 May 13;7(287):287ra69. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa6593.

2. Fendler W, Malachowska B, Meghani K, Konstantinopoulos PA, Guha C, Singh VK, Chowdhury D. Evolutionarily conserved serum microRNAs predict radiation-induced fatality in nonhuman primates. Sci Transl Med. 2017 Mar 1;9(379). pii: eaal2408. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aal2408.

3. Elias KM, Fendler W, Stawiski K, Fiascone SJ, Vitonis AF, Berkowitz RS, Frendl G, Konstantinopoulos P, Crum CP, Kedzierska M, Cramer DW, Chowdhury D. Diagnostic potential for a serum miRNA neural network for detection of ovarian cancer. Elife. 2017 Oct 31;6. pii: e28932. doi: 10.7554/eLife.28932.

We will demonstrate how to utilize the crystal growth methods for manufacturing of novel composite materials for various applications and especially photonics (metamaterials, plasmonic materials [1-7]), and energy conversion [8-9]. We will focus on two novel bottom-up manufacturing methods: (i) method based on directionally-grown self-organized eutectic structures [1, 5-9]; and (ii) NanoParticles Direct Doping method (NPDD) [2-4] based on directional solidification of dielectric matrices doped with various nanoparticles. In both of these methods we can easily use all available resonant phenomena to develop materials with unusual electromagnetic properties. Eutectic composites are simultaneously monolithic and multiphase materials forming self-organized micro/nanostructures, which enable: (i) the use of various component materials including oxides, semiconductors, metals, (ii) the generation of a gallery of geometrical motifs and (iii) control of the size of the structuring, often from the micro- to nanoregimes. On the other hand, the novel method of NanoParticles Direct Doping enables doping of dielectric matrices with various nanoparticles (varying chemical composition, size and shape) and with the possibility of co-doping with other chemical agents as eg. optically active rare earth ions or quantum dots.

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Foundation for Polish Science under TEAM project, as well as the National Science Centre under MAESTRO and HARMONIA projects.

References:
[1] D. A. Pawlak, et al. Adv. Funct. Mat. (2010) 20, 1116.
[2] M. Gajc, et al. Adv. Funct. Mat. (2013) 23, 3443.
[3] R. Nowaczynski, et al. PPSC (2019) 36,1800124.
[4] M. Gajc, et al. Sci. Rep. (2018) 8,13425.
[5] K. Sadecka, et al. Adv. Opt. Mat. (2015) 3, 381.
[6] K. Sadecka, et al. Opt. Express (2015) 23, 19098.
[7] V. Myroshnychenko, Opt. Express (2012) 20, 10879.
[8] K. Wysmulek, et al. Appl. Catalysis B: Environ. (2017) 206, 538.
[9] K. Kolodziejak, et al. J. Catalysis (2017) 352, 93.

Tailoring magnetic materials on the nanometer lengthscale has led to many applications, continuously allows to observe further novel physical effects and thus also holds promise for further advanced applications in the future, e.g. in the areas of data storage and processing. An understanding of the dynamics of the elementary processes is crucial in this context – this implies the observation of processes as fast as a few femtoseconds in complex nanostructured systems made up from many constituent elements.

Large scale x-ray facilities – namely synchrotron radiation sources and free electron x-ray lasers – offer unique pulse parameters to study problems in femto- and nanomagnetism. They are, however, not “unbeatable” and for particular requirements, experiments with lasers pulses or soft x-rays generated by lasers can outperform the large scale facilities – with convenient regular access in the home lab. In fact, the combination of both approaches leads to significant added value for both types of experiments, allowing for better prepared experiments and a more complete view on the particular object of study.

I will discuss the possibilities and demonstrate the synergy in this combined approach, discussing nanometer sized magnetic skyrmions and their manipulation with current pulses [1-3] as well as the ultrafast manipulation of magnetic order with light [4-6], both processes which are currently primarily of fundamental interest but exhibiting potential for future applications in data storage.

Keywords: magnetic skyrmion, ultrafast magnetism, optical switching, data storage

References:
[1] F. Büttner et al., Dynamics and inertia of skyrmionic spin structures, Nature Physics 11, 225 (2015).
[2] F. Büttner et al., Field-free deterministic ultrafast creation of magnetic skyrmions by spin-orbit torques, Nature Nanotechnology 12, 1040 (2017).
[3] L. Caretta et al., Fast current-driven domain walls and small skyrmions in a compensated ferrimagnet, Nature Nanotechnology 13, 1154 (2018).
[4] C. von Korff Schmising et al., Imaging Ultrafast Demagnetization Dynamics after a Spatially Localized Optical Excitation, Physical Review Letters 112, 217203 (2014)
[5] M. Hennecke et al., Angular Momentum Flow During Ultrafast Demagnetization of a Ferrimagnet, Physical Review Letters 122, 157202 (2019)

In the area of design of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) delivery systems, one of the most important problems is finding stable and selective carriers that would meet the criteria of classical auxiliary substances as to the safety of use. The application of a proper carrier material and suitable method of API introduction onto its surface can prevent recrystallization of API and improve their bioavailability, reduce side effects and extend the time of activity of a given API. Porous carriers of active pharmaceutical ingredients can be classified into three groups. According to IUPAC (International Union of Applied Chemistry) notation, microporous materials have pore diameters of less than 2 nm, mesoporous materials containing pores with diameters between 2-50 nm and macroporous materials have pore diameters of greater than 50 nm. For stabilizing amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients, only mesoporous carriers are suitable. Microporous materials (e.g. zeolites, activated carbons) have strong interaction with API molecules which causes complete filling of pores. The uptake of the molecules is constrained by accessible pore volume only and reduces the loading capacity of the microporous carriers. Macroporous materials (e.g. metal oxides) have wide pores which act like a flat surface for adsorbing molecules. In the case of mesoporous carriers, the adsorption of API depends on the interaction between pore walls and adsorbate as well as between API molecules. In the present studies ordered mesoporous carbons of defined structure and controlled morphology were applied as carriers in the adsorption and controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (e.g. paracetamol, benzocaine, ibuprofen). In the first stage, the materials were synthesized by the hard and soft template methods and then modified with organic functional groups (hydroxyl, carboxyl, amine). Mesoporous carbons were characterized with respect to morphology (scanning electron microscopy), structure (X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy), characteristic functional groups (FT-IR spectroscopy), acid-base nature of surface groups (Boehm titration), parameters of the porous structure (low-temperature nitrogen adsorption) and thermal stability (TG analysis). This was followed by a series of tests of adsorption and release of the active pharmaceutical ingredients whose pharmacological effectiveness needs the algorithm of frequent dosing. The materials characterization confirmed that all obtained carbons have mesoporous ordered structures. Pristine carbons exhibited well-developed surface area and large pore volume. Their functionalization with different organic functional groups led to a reduction of these textural parameters. All mesoporous carbons showed high adsorption capacity towards active pharmaceutical ingredients. The sorption capacity of materials was mainly affected by BET surface area and the structure/size matching between adsorbent and adsorbate. The release behaviour of API was highly dependent on the physicochemical properties and structure of mesoporous carbons. The release rate of API could be regulated by introduction of functional groups and by changing the pH of receptor medium.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (project SONATA-12 no: 2016/23/D/NZ7/01347).

Trans National Access (TNA) is free of charge access to a Research Infrastructure to selected researchers or research teams having no access to  such an infrastructure in their own country. This includes free use of the facilities as well as administrative, logistical, technical and scientific support. The TNA programme of European Union also covers travel, subsistence and local accommodation costs within available budget.

Cyclotron Centre Bronowice is a modern, technologically up-to-date research and proton therapy facility at the Institute of Nuclear Physics with 230 MeV isochronous cyclotron, three modern treatments room for proton therapy, experimental room and laboratories for preparation and handling of experiments including radiobiological experiments. At the experimental room a set of detectors and reaction chambers is installed which is used for broad range  of experiments in nuclear physics.

Since start of operation in 2014 in CCB experiments for 25 Polish and 19 international research projects were performed in which 39 European research institutions were involved. 264 scientists used the facility for their research. Since 2016 in cooperation with medical partners about 300 cancer patients were treated with proton radiotherapy. Within two running Horizon 2020 projects (INfraStructure in Proton International REsearch -INSPIRE, European Nuclear Science and Applications Research- ENSAR2) scientists from abroad have now free access to the entire facility. CCB is currently the one of the most frequently used Polish research facility in the European Research Area.

Keywords: Trans National Access (TNA), cyclotron, proton therapy, nuclear physics

This study was supported by the Horizon 2020 UE project entitled “INfraStructure in Proton International REsearch”, INSPIRE, No. 730983; and the ENSAR 2 Integrating Activity ENSAR2 (project number: 654002)