Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101156
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,476.00
Summary
Preconcentrators for vapour detection of explosive material. This Project’s aim is to develop a preconcentrator technology for the in-field detection of explosive vapours that have low concentrations in air. Low explosive vapour concentration limits the efficacy of portable detectors. Current preconcentrator technologies sorb vapours but require heat to release the concentrated material limiting their use to non-portable detectors. This project is expected to deliver materials and a device modul ....Preconcentrators for vapour detection of explosive material. This Project’s aim is to develop a preconcentrator technology for the in-field detection of explosive vapours that have low concentrations in air. Low explosive vapour concentration limits the efficacy of portable detectors. Current preconcentrator technologies sorb vapours but require heat to release the concentrated material limiting their use to non-portable detectors. This project is expected to deliver materials and a device module for a preconcentrator technology that will sorb explosive analytes, have low power requirements and be compatible with hand held explosives detectors. Security and law enforcement agencies should directly benefit from these findings, which would advance their safety and that of the community as a whole.Read moreRead less
Heavy atoms and ions and precision tests of fundamental physics. This project aims to further the understanding of the structure of heavy atoms through development and application of state-of-the-art many-electron methods. Atomic physics is undergoing a period of rapid growth with a new generation of experiments underway across different areas in fundamental physics. This includes testing particle physics at low energies, opening a new realm of discovery with the synthesis and interrogation of s ....Heavy atoms and ions and precision tests of fundamental physics. This project aims to further the understanding of the structure of heavy atoms through development and application of state-of-the-art many-electron methods. Atomic physics is undergoing a period of rapid growth with a new generation of experiments underway across different areas in fundamental physics. This includes testing particle physics at low energies, opening a new realm of discovery with the synthesis and interrogation of superheavy elements, and the development of atomic clocks of ever-increasing precision. The expected benefit will be to increase capability in fundamental physics tests and in the development of precision atomic instruments.Read moreRead less
Nonlinear topological photonics . The rapidly growing demands of information processing have launched a race for compact optical devices transmitting signals without losses. Topological phases of light provides unique opportunities to create new photonic systems with functionalities and efficiencies well beyond current capabilities. This project aims to develop new ways to generate and guide light at the nanoscale by merging fundamental concepts of nonlinear photonics and topological physics. Th ....Nonlinear topological photonics . The rapidly growing demands of information processing have launched a race for compact optical devices transmitting signals without losses. Topological phases of light provides unique opportunities to create new photonic systems with functionalities and efficiencies well beyond current capabilities. This project aims to develop new ways to generate and guide light at the nanoscale by merging fundamental concepts of nonlinear photonics and topological physics. The outcomes of this project will result in experimental demonstration of the world-first, highly efficient, compact, and lossless nonlinear photonic devices for advanced optical technologies.Read moreRead less
Animal camouflage patterns. This project aims to understand whether animal camouflage patterns can produce the illusion of 3D form. By using the latest techniques in 3D computer imaging, vision science and animal behaviour, this work addresses the previously untested but fundamental theory on 3D camouflage patterns. The development of theory on the ecology and evolution of animal patterning will enhance our understanding of the processes that maintain biological diversity. This research is expec ....Animal camouflage patterns. This project aims to understand whether animal camouflage patterns can produce the illusion of 3D form. By using the latest techniques in 3D computer imaging, vision science and animal behaviour, this work addresses the previously untested but fundamental theory on 3D camouflage patterns. The development of theory on the ecology and evolution of animal patterning will enhance our understanding of the processes that maintain biological diversity. This research is expected to have broad impact across multiple disciplines and will inform novel military defence strategies and contribute to emerging bio-inspired technologies.Read moreRead less
Quantum Nanostructure Positioning for Breakthrough Quantum Photonics. The integration of quantum nanostructures in optical devices has been proposed to improve the efficiencies of existing optical devices and create new classes of quantum photonics. Limiting progress is that many nanostructures are made through bottom-up processes with inherently randomly distributions, making integration into devices problematic. Lithographic nanostructure fabrication is rarely an option as it leads to diminish ....Quantum Nanostructure Positioning for Breakthrough Quantum Photonics. The integration of quantum nanostructures in optical devices has been proposed to improve the efficiencies of existing optical devices and create new classes of quantum photonics. Limiting progress is that many nanostructures are made through bottom-up processes with inherently randomly distributions, making integration into devices problematic. Lithographic nanostructure fabrication is rarely an option as it leads to diminishes performance. Here, we propose a new and unique nanostructure positioning technique incorporated directly into the growth process. It interfaces bottom-up technologies with device fabrication, facilitating incorporation of nanostructures in photonic devices, and may be transferrable to a variety of other systems.Read moreRead less
The Global Fireball Observatory: Illuminating Solar System Origins. Virtually everything we know about the origin and evolution of our solar system comes from analysis of meteorites. But reading the record they contain has proven to be difficult: we have almost no constraint on where they come from. With ARC LIEF support, Australian planetary scientists are leading a consortium of 14 international teams to build a Global Fireball Observatory. The facility, with a unique global footprint, will be ....The Global Fireball Observatory: Illuminating Solar System Origins. Virtually everything we know about the origin and evolution of our solar system comes from analysis of meteorites. But reading the record they contain has proven to be difficult: we have almost no constraint on where they come from. With ARC LIEF support, Australian planetary scientists are leading a consortium of 14 international teams to build a Global Fireball Observatory. The facility, with a unique global footprint, will be complete by end-2019. It will track 100s of meteorite falls, and for each one, pinpoint its origin in the solar system. A NASA partnership will provide administrative support. Curtin University will fund its operation. The proposal here is for a researcher and student who can drive the science program.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
A Scalable and Adaptive-Resilient Blockchain. This project aims to address the security and scalability challenges that limit blockchain adoption. Existing blockchains do not scale and are vulnerable to attacks (e.g. with a total loss of over US$1 billion in 2019). This project expects to improve security by adaptively enforcing the currently broken security assumptions, and to improve scalability by designing blockchains with high concurrency via relaxed criteria on the ordering of transactions ....A Scalable and Adaptive-Resilient Blockchain. This project aims to address the security and scalability challenges that limit blockchain adoption. Existing blockchains do not scale and are vulnerable to attacks (e.g. with a total loss of over US$1 billion in 2019). This project expects to improve security by adaptively enforcing the currently broken security assumptions, and to improve scalability by designing blockchains with high concurrency via relaxed criteria on the ordering of transactions. The expected outcomes include foundations and practical solutions for self-adaptive, secure and scalable blockchains. The benefits of this would be improved confidence in and capacity for building blockchain applications, which have a predicted value of over US$3.1 trillion by 2030.Read moreRead less
Space for Australia on the periodic table: creating new superheavy elements. This project aims to apply innovative methods developed in Australia to determine the optimal nuclear fusion reactions to synthesise new superheavy elements. As part of a major international collaboration aiming to discover elements 119 and 120, the project leverages our new conceptual approach, unique detector instrumentation and Australia's Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility. Anticipated outcomes include the first direct ....Space for Australia on the periodic table: creating new superheavy elements. This project aims to apply innovative methods developed in Australia to determine the optimal nuclear fusion reactions to synthesise new superheavy elements. As part of a major international collaboration aiming to discover elements 119 and 120, the project leverages our new conceptual approach, unique detector instrumentation and Australia's Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility. Anticipated outcomes include the first direct Australian contribution to the discovery of new elements, improved understanding of nuclear fusion and fission at the limits of nuclear existence, tests of our new theoretical approach to energy dissipation in many-body quantum systems, strengthened international links, and top-level nuclear science and accelerator training.Read moreRead less
Performing cold microwave measurements with warm diamonds. Detecting weak microwave signals at room temperature is an exceptionally difficult task, due to the excessive thermal microwave noise that exists all around us. At present, the best microwave receivers must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures, restricting their widespread use. This project aims to apply diamond-based quantum technologies to achieve unprecedented microwave signal detection sensitivities with a room-temperature setup, prov ....Performing cold microwave measurements with warm diamonds. Detecting weak microwave signals at room temperature is an exceptionally difficult task, due to the excessive thermal microwave noise that exists all around us. At present, the best microwave receivers must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures, restricting their widespread use. This project aims to apply diamond-based quantum technologies to achieve unprecedented microwave signal detection sensitivities with a room-temperature setup, providing more accessible ultra-low noise detectors. The ability to measure weak microwave signals is crucial for a range of sectors and the results of this project are expected to have applications in defence (radar), space exploration (satellite communication), and fundamental research (spectroscopy).Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100144
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$415,154.00
Summary
Quantum-enabled super-resolution imaging. The aim is to design large scale, quantum-enabled imaging systems to boost the resolution of state-of-the-art instruments by three to five orders of magnitude. Using the toolbox of quantum information and quantum optics, the project expects to generate novel methods for 2D and 3D imaging, and precision measurements that can reach fundamental limits. Imaging is critical in much of today's research. The unparalleled resolution can benefit a broad range of ....Quantum-enabled super-resolution imaging. The aim is to design large scale, quantum-enabled imaging systems to boost the resolution of state-of-the-art instruments by three to five orders of magnitude. Using the toolbox of quantum information and quantum optics, the project expects to generate novel methods for 2D and 3D imaging, and precision measurements that can reach fundamental limits. Imaging is critical in much of today's research. The unparalleled resolution can benefit a broad range of scientific fields, the medical and the defence sector by resolving objects otherwise impossible. This project will strengthen Australia’s position as a world leader in quantum technologies by presenting solutions to overcome critical bottlenecks in imaging methods in the optical domain.Read moreRead less