Researchers have developed a highly sensitive detector for identifying molecules via their infrared vibrational “fingerprint”. Published in Nature Communications, this innovative detector converts incident infrared light into ultra-confined "nanolight" in the form of phonon polaritons within the detector´s active area. This mechanism serves two crucial purposes: it boosts the overall detector´s sensitivity and enhances the vibrational fingerprint of nanometer-thin molecular layer placed on top of the detector, allowing this molecular fingerprint to be more easily detected and analyzed. The compact design and room-temperature operation of the device hold promise for developing ultra-compact platforms for molecular and gas sensing applications.

A Galician delegation made up of the General Secretary for Universities José Alberto Díez, the deputy-rectors for research from the three public universities of Galicia, and representatives of the ten university research centres comprising the CIGUS Network of the Xunta de Galicia (regional government) visited CIC nanoGUNE.

In the announcement of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics a paper by the researcher Pablo Piaggi, an Ikerbasque Research Fellow in CIC nanoGUNE’s Theory group, is cited as a significant breakthrough. The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for laying the foundations of artificial intelligence. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded this prize to the two of them for fundamental discoveries and inventions making machine learning with artificial neural networks possible.

This morning saw the inauguration of the ITSASAMPLE exhibition; it will allow visitors to immerse themselves in a hidden world, a marine universe invisible to the human eye that comes to life through stunning images of biological organisms captured with nanoGUNE's electron microscopes. The ITSASAMPLE exhibition gathers together beautiful, astonishing images of various marine species and organisms of the Aquarium of Donostia / San Sebastian, with the aim of showing the public what is hidden from their eyes. The exhibition, which opened today, can be visited until November 9 in the Nautilus room of the Aquarium of Donostia / San Sebastian.

CIC nanoGUNE has launched its seventh spin-off: Optec4Life. The enterprise will be developing a new technology to provide hospital obstetrics teams with a real-time, non-invasive, medical monitoring device to diagnose perinatal asphyxia during childbirth, thus preventing unnecessary cesarean sections and improving perinatal outcomes.

Through a joint effort, CIC nanoGUNE, BerriUp, Graphenea, Fomento de San Sebastián and BIC Gipuzkoa are seeking revolutionary ideas that harness the potential of graphene in industrial and technological applications. Entrepreneurs and companies wishing to take part must present their own original projects from 13 September to 13 October 2024. The organizing entities offer a unique set of resources to support the selected projects. 

The Nanodevices group at CIC nanoGUNE discovers that a “magic” twist endows certain materials with emerging spintronic properties. The work published in Nature Materials opens up new avenues for the development of new devices for future electronics.

The Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu Accreditations were awarded yesterday in Madrid.

Donostia is hosting world experts in the field of optics and nanophotonics at the International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics - OMN 2024. The event, organized by nanoGUNE, is bringing together around 110 international experts.

Niklas Friedrich, former member of the Quantum Probe Microscopy group at nanoGUNE, receives the RSEF-EPJ+ Award and the GEFES 2023 Award for his experimental PhD thesis entitled Electronic Transport through Suspended Graphene Nanoribbons Using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope.