1.        Greek team – coordinator

Institute of Theoretical and PhysicalChemistry Institute (TPCI), National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF): www.eie.gr.

The team consists mainly of 3 researchers, Drs. M. Kompitsas, G. Mousdis, and M. Kandyla, Ph.D. students, and diploma students.

The team runs two laboratories:

(i)       The Laser-based Techniques and Applications laboratory run by Dr. M. Kompitsas (http://www.eie.gr/nhrf/institutes/tpci/cvs/cv-kompitsas-en.html) and Dr. M. Kandyla (http://www.eie.gr/nhrf/institutes/tpci/cvs/cv-kandyla-en.html).

The laboratory is equipped with a Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) apparatus and a micromachining workstation for laser scribing. Two laser systems operate in the laboratory, a Qswitched Nd:YAG laser system (10 ns pulse duration, 1064 nm, 532nm, and 355 nmwavelength) and a KrF/ArF excimer laser system (10 ns pulse duration, 248/193 nm wavelength), along with diagnostic equipment. Dr. M. Kompitsas has 14 years of experience in PLD and has developed many new specialized techniques. He has grown thin films of pure metals (M), metal oxides (MO), multilayer structures of metallic thin films, and M/MO/M structures, on different types of substrates including glass, silicon, and flexible polymers. Dr. M. Kandyla is a new researcher, holding a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University, USA. Her research is focused on the fabrication of micro and nanostructures using optical techniques, for sensing and photovoltaic applications. As a postdoctoral researcher she has worked on the fabrication of organic photovoltaics, using the Laser Induced Forward Transfer process. She has 10 years of experience with pulsed lasers and laser-matter interaction.

(ii)        The chemical synthesis laboratory supervised by Dr. G.A. Mousdis (http://www.eie.gr/nhrf/institutes/tpci/cvs/cv-mousdis-gr.html). He is a senior researcher with more than 80 publications in scientific journals and has been a coordinator or participant in more than 10 national and international research projects. He has long experience in the synthesis of metal alkoxides that are used through the sol-gel method for the preparation of thin films by spin or dip coating. The chemical synthesis experience of Dr. G.A. Mousdis and instrumentation of the laboratory allow for synthesizing non-commercial alkoxides, mixed metal alkoxides or other precursors for the sol-gel synthesis [e.g Cu(acac)2]. He has developed methods for the preparation of metal oxide films (SnO2, TiO2, ZnO, In2O3, etc.), mixtures of them (ITO, SnO2/Fe2O3, TiO2/CuO, etc.), doping withnanoparticles of noble metals (Au, Pt, Pd), and even hybrids with organic molecules. Moreover, using the sol-gel technique, pure and well characterized materials used as targets in the PLD technique were obtained.

2.        Russian team

P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow,

TEAM members: the total number of team members – 10 persons including Russian coordinator - Dr. Sergey Kudryashov (experimentalist); participants - Dr. Leonid Seleznev (experimentalist), Dr. Dmitriy Sinitsyn (experimentalist), Dr. Igor’ Protsenko (theoretician), Dr. Alexander Uskov (theoretician), Dr. Roman Khmel’nitskiy (experimentalist), Mr. Sergey Makarov (student, experimentalist), Mr. Azat Sharipov (student, experimentalist), Mr. Pavel Saltuganov (student, experimentalist); project manager - Mrs. Nina Ionina.

Background and expertise:
This LPI group combines both experimental and theoretical expertise to accomplish its tasks on laser deposition of nanoparticle arrays on active surfaces and investigation of their corresponding optical characteristics. The experimental part of the group has significant experience in the fields of laser-matter interactions (including femtosecond lasers), surface nanostructuring, and nanoparticle science. The theoretical counterpart is known by its numerical calculations considering electrodynamics of plasmons localized  on nanoparticles and their arrays, and describing associated local enhanced electromagnetic fields. According to its unique research expertise and available advanced experimental femtosecond laser nano/micromachining facilities, the LPI group will perform their designated complementary nanoparticle surface deposition and optical characterization tasks on the project.

Facilities and infrastructure:
The experimental group currently utilizes a regeneratively/multi-pass amplified Ti:Sapphire laser and a number of other pulsed (doubled Nd:YAG, KrF) lasers tobe used in this project, together with other auxiliary equipment (motorized micro-stages, focusing optics, laser beam diagnostics) for deposition of nanoparticle surface arrays. Preliminary characterization of laser-modified surface regions will be performed by means of optical microscopy and then finalized using the SEM facility available at LPI. Intermediate spectroscopic measurements of light coupling to dielectric substrates by regular nanoparticle arrays and preliminary photoelectric tests will be conducted using available white-light sources and UV-vis spectrometers.

3.        French team

TEAM members:Dr. Miheala Girtan, experimentalist, French coordinator (e-mail: mihaela.girtan@univ-angers.fr  http://sites.google.com/site/mihaelagirtan) Pr. Vladimir Skraka, theoretician, participant, Dr. Alina Manole, experimentalist, participant (post-doc) Mr. Christophe Cassagne, engineer, experimentalist participant Mr. Romain Mallet, engineer, experimentalist participant PhD. Student (fellowship start in 2012), master students.

This group has expertise on thin films for photovoltaic applications, transparent electrodes, active polymer  blend films for organic electronics, morphological, electrical, and optical characterization of thin films and devices.

The facilities of the French team are: Solar Simulator “Solar Constant575 PV” (K. H. Steuernagel Lichttechnik GmbH, KHS), with a metallic halogen lamp of 575 W, illumination standard AM1.5 (ASTM E927); Emitech K575X Peltier Cooled High Resolution Sputter Coater, spin coater, Agilent Testing Sytem for Semiconductors (measurement, acquisition and soft) to study electronic devices, Veeco Dektak 6M Stylus Profiler for thickness measurements and UVISEL Jobin-Yvon-Horiba Ellipsometer for thickness and optical constants measurements.