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Angelo di Bernardo, Professor of Physics at the University of Konstanz, has been awarded the Nicholas Kurti Science Prize for Europe. He received the award for his "achievements in the spectroscopy of spin-polarized (spin-triplet) states in superconductor/ferromagnet hybrids and for the discovery of new coupling effects and quantum phases existing at the surfaces and interfaces of strongly-correlated electron materials and materials with low dimensionality", Oxford Instruments writes in its announcement. Angelo di Bernardo receives the prize jointly with physicist Alexander Grimm from the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland).

"I am honoured to receive the Nicholas Kurti Science Prize. The prize highlights the importance of characterizing novel states and phases emerging from the coupling of superconductors to other materials for the development of low-dissipation superconducting electronics", says Angelo di Bernardo.

Angelo di Bernardo is also known for his research on the development of new superconducting technologies that can be interfaced with conventional metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, for instance in the SuperGate research project. The physicist is breaking new scientific ground here: the coupling of superconductor and semiconductor technologies was considered physically impossible until a few years ago.

About the Nicholas Kurti Science Prize
The Nicholas Kurti Science Prize honours outstanding research by young scientists from Europe working either in the field of low-temperature physics or on strong magnetic fields. The prize, worth 8,000 euros, is awarded by a committee of European scientists and funded by Oxford Instruments.