Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NOCTURNO (Non-Conventional Wave Propagation for Future Sensing and Actuating Technologies)

Teaser

New sensing devices and technologies are the key in addressing numerous challenges that agriculture and entire agrifood ecosystem are facing today. Namely, to produce more food for the ever-growing population, agriculture must become more efficient but, аt the same time...

Summary

New sensing devices and technologies are the key in addressing numerous challenges that agriculture and entire agrifood ecosystem are facing today. Namely, to produce more food for the ever-growing population, agriculture must become more efficient but, аt the same time, sustainable and environmental-friendly. To address this challenge, a number of biophysical parameters need to be monitored and measured constantly, thus providing valuable data needed to optimize the entire process. In addition, the corresponding actuating technologies responsible for applying various measures (e.g. irrigation, fertilization) need to become more precise and allow variable rate inputs with a resolution down to an individual plant. However, the existing sensing and actuating (S&A) technologies have reached their limits and new avenues of research need to be addresses.

Recently, metamaterials and metasurfaces as two-dimensional (2-D) class of metamaterials, have emerged as a paradigm for arbitrary manipulation of EM waves, and thus as media which supports non-conventional propagation. Composed of specifically designed arrays of meta-atoms, metasurfaces can alter every aspect of light beams. These alterations are very sensitive to small changes in the surrounding media, which makes metasurfaces a very promising platform for sensing applications. On the other hand, acoustic non-conventional concepts including acoustic spoof propagation (ASP) and acoustic metasurfaces recently emerged as promising candidates to overcome the drawbacks of conventional acoustic sensors. Namely, they are very sensitive to change in the parameters of the surrounding media, and thus they represent novel paradigm promising for advanced sensing solutions.

To provide novel S&A solutions able to address the burning issues in agrifood sector, NOCTURNO brings together a consortium with specific expertise in the fields listed above and creates synergies that advances two promising research directions for sensing applications - non-conventional EM/optical and acoustic propagation and supports their transformation into innovative products.

The objectives of the project are:
1. To advance high-impact multidisciplinary scientific knowledge through international and intersectoral collaboration on four related predefined research topics:
1a. Sensors based on non-conventional propagation of acoustic waves with the aim to develop new generation of sensors needed in agriculture such as various gas sensors.
1b. Actuators based on non-conventional propagation of acoustic waves with the aim to develop novel drip irrigation systems capable of delivering water to arbitrarily selected individual plant;
1c. EM/optical sensors based on metasurfaces with the aim to develop novel biosensors,
1d. Advanced manufacturing technologies including 3D printing, laser-micromachining technology, focused ion beam and e-beam lithography with the aim to provide practical solutions for the fabrication of novel acoustic and metasurface-based sensors and actuators.
2. To foster the creation of innovations and concrete products needed to address burning challenges in the agrifood sector today
3. To enable researchers to acquire new soft skills, support their career development and empower them to actively take part in shaping Europe’s future
4. To disseminate NOCTURNO achievements to the widest audiences thus ensuring its maximal impact

Work performed

During the first period of the project, 18 secondments and 43 person months have been realized. Several new concepts have been investigated with the aim to apply them in sensing:
• Willis medium
• Acoustic surface spoof waves
• Embedded eigenstates
• Weyl metamaterials
• Topological corner states
• Time-modulated PT metamaterials

Three novel metasurface spectrometer-less devices for sensing have been developed. Also, prototypes for acoustic devices have been developed, and novel biofunctionalization methods have been investigated which are of crucial importance for metasurface-based biosensors. All proposed concepts represent novel findings in the fields of interest for NOCTURNO, and they have been published in 12 journal papers and 10 conference papers. Investigated concepts are very promising for sensing and actuating applications and in that sense, they will be further exploited and brought to the practical level.

During the period M01-M24, two project workshops were organized - The First NOCTURNO workshop on July 6, 2018 at EPFL, Switzerland, and the Second NOCTURNO workshop on September 19, 2019 during the Metamaterials Conference 2019 in Rome, Italy. The events brought together distinguished speakers to present the major results of the NOCTURNO project, and they were unique opportunities to get acquainted with the latest achievements in the fields of electromagnetic and acoustic metamaterials and their application in sensing and actuating technologies.

NOCTURNO researchers were exposed to various trainings and events during the period M01-M24 of the project, which enabled them to develop primarily technical skills, but also soft skills. A number of dissemination activities have been performed to ensure a high visibility of the project. The project website and social media accounts were launched in M1 of the project, where the website has had more than 19000 visits so far. Also, there were four electronic media appearances and two press releases. The project brochure was realized in M6 of the project with the aim to further increase the visibility of the project. Also, NOCTURNO personnel participated in Researchers’ Night 2018, and 17 relevant scientific conferences. The project was also disseminated in several face-to-face meetings as well as in several presentation organized in Serbia, Australia, and Italy. Moreover, the promotional package was realized in M18 of the project, which includes mugs, notebooks, pencils, and bags with NOCTURNO logo.

Final results

The project has investigated several novel concepts and made significant breakthroughs in the fields of metamaterials, acoustics, photonics, plasmonics, and biosensing, namely:
• Willis medium
• Acoustic surface spoof waves
• Embedded eigenstates
• Weyl metamaterials
• Topological corner states
• Time-modulated PT metamaterials

In addition, three novel metasurface spectrometer-less devices for sensing have been developed. By the end of the project, the above-mentioned concepts will be further investigated and brought to the practical level. It is expected that NOCTURNO will result in prototypes of novel gas sensors and actuators for drip irrigation based on non-conventional acoustic propagation, as well as in metasurface-based biosensors for pathogen detection.

The potential impact of the project is manifold. The full understanding of non-conventional propagation of EM/optical and acoustic waves will present a new fundamental knowledge readily applicable in S&A applications, but also in a number of other fields such as communications, wireless power transmission or cloaking, thus bringing benefits to many disciplines. Moreover, the project will educate a new generation of researchers capable of combining different disciplines and turning research results into prototypes and products. In addition, the novel fundamental knowledge will be used to develop new generations of S&A devices, thus offering advanced technological solutions for agriculture but also to various other areas where sensing and actuation are needed.

Website & more info

More info: https://nocturno-h2020rise.com/.