Kick-off of the UNICORN European project, with the participation of BCMaterials

At the end of June, the kick-off of the UNICORN project took place in Milan (Italy). This project is funded by the European Union, through its HORIZON-EIC PATHFINDER OPEN program, which supports highly disruptive scientific proposals. BCMaterials participates in this project as a partner. UNICORN's main goal is to develop innovative radiation and neutrino detectors based on nanocrystalline materials.

The UNICORN project focuses on the development of an advanced detector to measure the mass of neutrinos by studying Double Beta Decay (0νDBD), an extremely rare nuclear process. This research has the potential to determine the nature of neutrinos as Majorana particles and provide insight into the asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe. The project aims to create a scalable, flexible, high resolution, low radioactivity, reliable and cost-effective detector, using nanocrystalline materials.

The development of these new detectors will lead to transformative advances in strategic areas related to radiation detection, from applications in homeland security, medicine, and industry, to environmental monitoring, astronomy, and high-energy/particle physics.

In this project, BCMaterials will play a fundamental role by carrying out simulations through its researchers specialized in Computational Materials Science led by Ivan Infante, an Ikerbasque Research Professor, to optimize the surface of the nanocrystalline materials used in the development of the detectors.

Our center collaborates in this innovative project together with the Universitá degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Nexdot, Glass to Power, Organization Europeenne pour la Recherche Nucleaire and Fyzikální ústav AV ČR.

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