Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "(Topological) superconductivity in atomically thin metals" "Milorad Milosevic" "Condensed Matter Theory" "Since the ""Graphene Revolution"", much progress has been made in fabrication and understanding of one-monolayer-thick two dimensional crystals. Until recently, it was believed superconductivity - the property exhibited by some materials where below a certain temperature, all electrical resistance is lost - could not exist in such systems. When superconductivity was experimentally observed in a monolayer of Pb deposited on a Si substrate, it triggered a debate on the exact origin of this phenomenon. In parallel, tin (Sn), apart from being an elementalsuperconductor, was found to be a topological insulator in the 2D limit (dubbed ""stanene"" in analogy to graphene), with ability to conduct electricity perfectly on the edges, while remaining insulating in the interior. This edge superconductivity is extremely robust against impurities or thermal fluctuations, making stanene one of the prime candidates for advanced technological applications.This is the setting in which the proposed research on ""topological superconductivity"" will take place. We aim to study the behaviour of several different metals in the two dimensional limit: first a single atomic layer, then increasing the number of layers one at a time, and analyze the electronic and phonon spectra using state-of-the-art numerical techniques. This will give access to the topological nature of the electrons, as well as shed light on the reasons of nucleation and pathways of evolution of superconductivity, in a close relationship with available experiments. Given the impact that both superconductivity and topological insulators have had on research so far, the fundamental and technological relevance of this research can hardly be overstated." "Superconductivity per atomic layer." "Milorad Milosevic" "Condensed Matter Theory" "In this project, we will obtain theoretical insight in the effect of confinement and the choice of the substrate on the superconducting properties of atomistically thin films – by adding one monolayer at the time. Research will be performed via ab initio studies of the structural, electronic, and vibrational properties of few‐monolayer films, and the application of Bogoliubov‐de Gennes and Eliashberg formalisms to study the superconducting properties of these films, based on the input from the ab initio calculations." "Nanoscale superconductivity, fluxonics and photonics: adressing grand chanllenges." "Victor Moshchalkov" "Quantum Solid State Physics (QSP)" "To enable the emerging technologies, the new superconducting and photonic materials with a superior performance will be developed by manipulating the appropriate elementary building blocks through nanostructuring. Such elementary blocks are Cooper pair and fluxon for superconductivity and photon and plasmon for photonics/nanoplasmonics. This brings us to the main objectives of the proposed Methusalem programme: -to investigate the effect of the nanoscale confinement of the Cooper pairs and flux on superconductivity and flux behaviour in order to enhance the superconducting critical parameters (critical current, field and temperature), through nanostructuring thus enabling novel functionalities and new applications of the superconducting materials -to investigate the optical confinement and plasmonic behaviour in individual nanocells (normal metallic, magnetic, superconducting, semiconducting and hybrid) and in metamaterials formed by the arrays of these nanocells for achieving new optical properties and for merging photonics with electronics at the nanoscale" "Nanoscale superconductivity." "Arkady Shanenko" "Condensed Matter Theory" "The proposed research is aimed at investigating quantum-size effects in highly crystalline metallic superconducting nanowires and nanofilms. The project includes study of: (i) the thickness-dependent critical magnetic field (with and without spin effects); (ii) new Andreev-type states induced by quantum confinement in superconducting nanowires and nanofilms;(iii) the critical current in nanofilms and nanowires."