This proposal describes the third core project of the Graphene Flagship. It forms the fourth phase of the FET flagship and is characterized by a continued transition towards higher technology readiness levels, without jeopardizing our strong commitment to fundamental research. Compared to the second core project, this phase includes a substantial increase in the market-motivated technological spearhead projects, which account for about 30% of the overall budget. The broader fundamental and applied research themes are pursued by 15 work packages and supported by four work packages on innovation, industrialization, dissemination and management. The consortium that is involved in this project includes over 150 academic and industrial partners in over 20 European countries.

This project is the second in the series of EC-financed parts of the Graphene Flagship. The Graphene Flagship is a 10 year research and innovation endeavour with a total project cost of 1,000,000,000 euros, funded jointly by the European Commission and member states and associated countries. The first part of the Flagship was a 30-month Collaborative Project, Coordination and Support Action (CP-CSA) under the 7th framework program (2013-2016), while this and the following parts are implemented as Core Projects under the Horizon 2020 framework. The mission of the Graphene Flagship is to take graphene and related layered materials from a state of raw potential to a point where they can revolutionise multiple industries. This will bring a new dimension to future technology – a faster, thinner, stronger, flexible, and broadband revolution. Our program will put Europe firmly at the heart of the process, with a manifold return on the EU investment, both in terms of technological innovation and economic growth. To realise this vision, we have brought together a larger European consortium with about 150 partners in 23 countries. The partners represent academia, research institutes and industries, which work closely together in 15 technical work packages and five supporting work packages covering the entire value chain from materials to components and systems. As time progresses, the centre of gravity of the Flagship moves towards applications, which is reflected in the increasing importance of the higher - system - levels of the value chain. In this first core project the main focus is on components and initial system level tasks. The first core project is divided into 4 divisions, which in turn comprise 3 to 5 work packages on related topics. A fifth, external division acts as a link to the parts of the Flagship that are funded by the member states and associated countries, or by other funding sources. This creates a collaborative framework for the entire Flagship.

This proposal describes the third stage of the EC-funded part of the Graphene Flagship. It builds upon the results achieved in the ramp-up phase (2013 - 2016) and the first core project (2016 - 2018), and covers the period April 2018 - March 2020. The progress of the flagship follows the general plans set out in the Framework Partnership Agreement, and the second core project represents an additional step towards higher technology and manufacturing readiness levels. The Flagship is built upon the concept of value chains, one of which is along the axis of materials-components-systems; the ramp-up phase placed substantial resources on the development of materials production technologies, the first core project moved to emphasise components, and the second core project will move further towards integrating components in larger systems. This evolution is manifested, e.g., in the introduction of six market-motivated spearhead projects during the Core 2 project.

The project aims at studying the feasibility of Terahertz range emitters, with two main objectives: OB.1 – to investigate novel principles for nanoantennas, based on quantum effects enabling self-amplified emission in the THz range; OB.2 – to create a network of competencies on quantum and nanoelectronics, which includes academic and non-academic players, sharing knowledge and expertise retained by the partners. Several types of nanostructured materials will be investigated, such as graphene nanoribbons and graphene/polymer sandwiches, with embedded mesoscopic structures, or atomic chains (e.g., transition metals dichalcogenides and graphene dots and their chains) with interatomic coupling. First, new promising physical mechanisms will be studied, enabling the excitation of mesoscopic structures via shot noise, Rabi and Rabi-Bloch oscillations, and direct interband THz transitions induced by optical excitation. Then, new effective methods for mesoscopic systems will be developed, based on integral formulations that overcome the limits of the methods available so far. Finally, the project will design and implement specific experiments with the aim of observing and demonstrating the proposed physical mechanisms, and of providing proof-of-concept of the proposed THz devices. The final goal is that of bringing these novel solutions from Basic principles and Technology concept (TRL1-2) to experimental critical function and characteristic proof of concept (TRL3). A strong training and dissemination activity will be carried out, aimed at sharing competencies and expertise. Special emphasis is to be given to the interactions between theoretical and experimentalist Academic partners. The partners will transfer each others competencies and know-how in fields such as nanotechnology and quantum physics, in antennas and circuits modelling and design, in material and device fabrication and in experimental characterization.