CFMOS · Controlling Chemical Reactions For Carbon-Based Functional Materials Production on Surfaces

Functional materials are the bottleneck for almost all technologies, and they underpin directly or indirectly all the enabling ones. This project aims to synthesize with atomic precision on surfaces carbon-based materials with emerging functionalities that cannot be produced otherwise by traditional wet chemistry. CFMOS will focus on carbon nanostructures with predicted antiferromagnetic and open-shell character, frustrated magnetism and high efficiency in electron transport offering convenient materials for spintronic and electronic applications. The challenge of this project stems on the control of the complexity of the “on-surface synthesis” (OSS) strategy that can lead to their growth. In fact, for reactions involving multiple competing pathways as in this case, OSS often encounters obstacles. Based on the applicant previous experience, the applicant will focus on the smart design of molecular precursors and the kinetic chemical control to precisely steer the reactions pathway under a clean ultrahigh vacuum environment. Thanks to the combination of surface sensitive state-of-the art experimental techniques and theoretical support offered by the Host, the applicant will provide a complete characterization and understanding of the synthesized complex carbon nanomaterials. The overall mission of this fellowship will be to train the researcher to become an independent scientist through the achievement of well-defined scientific objectives and the development of managerial and outreach skills, preparing him for a leading position in academia.