The purpose of this European funded project is the study, development and application of a novel concept of nanostructured materials formed by the combination of components with plasmonic and magneto-optic (MO) activity. This smart combination will produce “magneto-plasmonic” nanomaterials tailored on the nanoscale.

The project has two main goals; the first is to prepare active magneto-plasmonic materials with tailored properties in the nanoscale and understanding the interactions of the magnetic properties with the plasmonic and optical ones, linked to electric charge oscillations. The second goal is to provide proof of concept for applications that can benefit of this coupling. Since it is expected that the optical properties of these materials can be driven by using a magnetic field, this will allow designing and developing novel magneto-plasmonic devices. In particular, as a proof of the applicability of this concept, we will design, fabricate and test a new kind of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with MO elements, i.e. a surface magneto-plasmon resonance (SMPR) sensor, comparing its performance against standard sensors.

The project also includes prospective tasks for silicon-oriented uses. This part includes the identification of relevant applications of magneto-plasmonic materials for microelectronics and information technology.

Depending on the materials properties several application routes will be proposed in either opto-electronic, spin-tronic, spin-photonic domains and for each electromagnetic simulation and integration analysis will be performed. Preliminary manufacturing flows will be proposed based on 200-to-300mm silicon standards for microelectronic (CMOS) and microsystem (System On Chip SOC) uses.