Nanotechnology, as the engineering enabling the control of matter at the nanoscale, has enabled the progress of many applications ranging from electronics to renewable energy. In this talk we present how we use the behavior of materials at the nanoscale to synthesize new materials and structures. We will start by demonstrating how epitaxy at the nanoscale provides the path to fabricate shape and size tailored germanium nanowires as the base for hole-spin qubits. We will then move to elucidate how this same principle can be applied to the fabrication of a new earth abundant material for large scale photovoltaic applications, zinc phosphide. We will provide the principles enabling the highest material quality and finalize with results on the photovoltaic devices. The results of work can be generalized for the synthesis of new materials that do not exhibit a commercial epitaxial substrate.

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Bio

Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral is a Full Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and in Physics and the President of EPFL. Anna studied physics at the University of Barcelona. She then moved to Paris where she obtained a PhD in Materials Science from Ecole Polytehcnique (France). She performed a postdoc at CalTech with Prof. Harry Atwater, with whom she also co-founded the start-up company Aonex Technologies. After a brief period as CNRS researcher at Ecole Polytechnique, she moved to TU Munich as a group leader. Among the awards she has received are the Marie Curie Excellence Grant, ERC Starting Grant, the SNSF-backup schemes Consolidator Grant, the UPC prize ‘dona enginyera’ the International Prize of FEDEPE and the EPS Emy Noether prize.