Young scientists in ITMO University say that the amount of grants can't cover the equipment cost, but it gives a possibility to pay for additional participation in the international conferences. 2,495 young candidates and 308 doctors claimed for the support of their projects this year. So now, during the next two years, those who received the grant, will work on their projects together with undergraduates or postgraduates, who, under the terms of the grant, should become the coauthors. Among the competition winners there are three young candidates and one Ph.D from ITMO University.
 
Pavel Belov, the head of the Metamaterials laboratory.
The theme: Dielectric nanostructures with magnetic response for nanophotonic components.
"In most devices, which a capable of processing, recording, storing and transmitting information, electronic components are used. But we understand that soon we won't be able to use electronics: even now it is impossible to increase the speed of the computer processor. The future belongs to the optical components in the devices.
 
It is interesting, for example, that the appearance of the fiber optic cables at times increased the internet speed. The purpose of my project is an attempt to understand how it is possible to apply photonics where electronic components are used now. Special optical nanoparticles with magnetic properties that we have learned to create artificially in the laboratory, breaking the laws of nature, will help me in my work. I hope that with their help we will understand whether it is possible to get rid of the electronic components. We do not have the goal to develop a new device with optical materials, but our research may encourage other scientists to do this in the immediate future," Pavel says.
Nikita Toropov, a research engineer in the Surface Photophysics laboratory.
The theme: Development of methods for the modification of the optical properties of thin films of organic dyes and quantum dots using the plasmon nanostructures.
"When I was an ITMO University PhD-student I started doing fundamental research of the processes which take place in the presence of metallic nanoparticles. It is known that when having some certain geometries, they can significantly increase the efficiency of solar cells and improve the characteristics of light emitting diodes.
 
In my grant project I am trying to combine all the knowledge of the metallic nanoparticles that I have received in recent years and move them into the stream of applied research. Methods of creating and studying nanostructures that are studied in the framework of this work include metal particles, organic molecules and semiconducting nanoparticles and they can form the basis of production technology of optical devices with their use. For example, I found out that if the metallic nanoparticles are added to the organic molecules under certain conditions, the gain of luminescence may appear. This effect can be realized in the material which is used in various displays. It'll shine much more while using less energy. I hope that in two years I will be able to obtain such a material," Nikita says.
Irina Blinova, the scientific employee of the international laboratory Mathematical methods of complex physical systems researches.
The theme: Low-dimensional mathematical models for nanosystems.
"We live in a three-dimensional world, but it is not easy to solve physical problems in 3D-space. For these purposes it is more convenient to go to the space of reduced dimension (2D), while maintaining the physical properties that are interesting to us. The cases in science are known when this does not happen. For example, in 3D-space, waves (for example, sound ones) have a falling edge, while in 2D they don't. What does this mean? Lets say someone said a word. Rising edge comes to the person first, he hears the word, and then comes the falling one when he no longer hears anything.
 
In two-dimensional space there is no falling wave edge and so the sound can be heard forever. Of course, he would become quieter and quieter, but would come to a complete zero. In most cases, when going to smaller dimensions, that is, from 3D to 2D, physical properties will remain the same, but a mathematical model in two-dimensional space is greatly simplified and is more efficient. Of course, if it is made correctly. These correct mathematical models of the physical phenomenon are the theme of my work," Irina says.
Ivan Iorsh, a research engineer in the Metamaterials laboratory.
The theme: The interaction of the quantum sized structures with the electromagnetic field in the hyperbolic metamaterials.
"One of the main goals of the optical metamaterials science, the things we research in our laboratory, is the optical chip creation, the analog of an electronic one, where the processed information is conveyed not by electrons by but photons. This would allow to reduce the power consumption and heat dissipation of electronic devices, as well as significantly improve the work of computing systems.
 
In our work with optical metamaterials, which have a number of advantages in optical information processing, we have gone far enough. It turned out that almost all materials consisting of metal, absorb much light, the energy of which goes into heating. But yet no one has quantitatively rated whether it is possible to realize optical logic elements in metamaterials or not. My project is aimed precisely at such an analysis.
 
As a result, we can offer the design of optical logic elements based on metamaterials. Or at least understand that at the time the losses in metamaterials are too large to create the optical logic on their basis. In this case, the direction of research will be displaced in search of new technological solutions for the implementation of metamaterials," Ivan says.