Linking plasma formation in grapes to microwave

resonances of aqueous dimers

Hamza K. Khattaka , Pablo Bianuccib , and Aaron D. Slepkova,1
a
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada K9L 0G2; and b Department of Physics, Concordia University, Montreal,
QC, Canada H4B 1R6

Edited by Catherine J. Murphy, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, and approved January 9, 2019 (received for review October 25, 2018)

The sparking of cut grape hemispheres in a household microwave In this article, we present methods for studying Mie reso-
oven has been a poorly explained Internet parlor trick for over nances in absorbing dielectrics in the microwave regime. With
two decades. By expanding this phenomenon to whole spheri- thermographic studies, we offer a low-tech method for exper-
cal dimers of various grape-sized fruit and hydrogel water beads, imentally measuring internal and evanescent near-field elec-
we demonstrate that the formation of plasma is due to elec- tromagnetic concentrations with subwavelength resolution. We
tromagnetic hotspots arising from the cooperative interaction combine these methods with finite-element simulations to show
of Mie resonances in the individual spheres. The large dielec- progressions from isolated resonances to coupled-resonator
tric constant of water at the relevant gigahertz frequencies supermodes in aqueous dimers. The hotspots formed represent
can be used to form systems that mimic surface plasmon reso- superfocusing on the order of λ0 /100. With these tools, we pro-
nances that are typically reserved for nanoscale metallic objects. vide a detailed description and explanation of plasma formation
The absorptive properties of water furthermore act to homoge- from fruit dimers in a microwave oven, as well as opening a
nize higher-mode profiles and to preferentially select evanescent sandbox for the study of nanocluster photonics using absorbing
field concentrations such as the axial hotspot. Thus, beyond dielectrics.
providing an explanation for a popular-science phenomenon,
we outline a method to experimentally model subwavelength The Formation of Plasma from Aqueous Dimers
field patterns using thermal imaging in macroscopic dielectric The “grape plasma” phenomenon is currently restricted in the
systems. lay media to grape hemispheres, usually connected by a strip of
skin. Naturally, previous explanations for the phenomenon have
microwave photonics | dielectric resonators | plasma ionization | invariably involved the roles of the skin and of the open wet sur-
hydrogels | morphology-dependent resonances face in forming the plasma. However, we find that neither of
these components are essential to the formation of the plasma.
The phenomenon is exemplified in Fig. 1A and Movie S1. A close

I t is a truth universally acknowledged that a pair of grape hemi-

spheres exposed to intense microwave radiation will spark,
igniting a plasma. This parlor trick has become a mainstay of
viewing of Movie S1 shows that the plasma is initially formed
“under” the skin-bridge, toward the hemisphere volume, rather
than being formed at the open end and ejecting away from the
science-fair projects and popular-science blogs (1), as well as dimer. Second, as shown in Fig. 1B and Movie S2, whole (uncut)
online videos for over two decades (a YouTube search for “grape
plasma microwave” will show numerous results for the phe-
Significance
nomenon). The phenomenon is invariably demonstrated with a
grape, cut in half with a thin line of skin left to bridge the two
hemispheres and irradiated in a household microwave oven for In a popular parlor trick, plasma is created by irradiating
a few seconds, sparking a plasma from the skin bridge (Fig. 1A). grape hemispheres in a household microwave oven. This
Numerous online videos that demonstrate this effect in an iden- work ties the source of the plasma to microwave photonic
tical arrangement have garnered millions of views. While no hotspots at the junction of aqueous dielectric spherical
formal literature exists to offer a physical explanation for this dimers. We use a combination of thermal-imaging tech-
phenomenon, several popular-science sources online presume niques and computer simulations to show that grape-sized
that the pair of hemispheres act as a short dipole antenna of fruit and hydrogel beads form resonant cavities that con-
sorts (2), with the conductivity of the wet and ion-rich skin bridge centrate electromagnetic fields to extreme subwavelength
being a key component. regions. This is enabled by the large dielectric susceptibility
While an explanation based on surface conductivity is a pri- of water at microwave frequencies. Furthermore, the absorp-
ori plausible, we present evidence that the effect has a bulk tive properties of water are key to washing out complex
optical origin. Specifically, that the effect is a result of aque- internal modes and for allowing the evanescent hotspot
ous dielectric objects displaying morphology-dependent reso- build-up. Our approach to microwave resonances in high-
nances (MDRs) at microwave frequencies. MDRs are syn- dielectric materials opens a sandbox for nanocluster photonics
onymous with Mie resonances, which describe the near-field research.
effects of resonant interactions of light with wavelength-scale Author contributions: A.D.S. conceived research; H.K.K., P.B., and A.D.S. designed
objects (3, 4). The objects can be conductive or dielectric and research; H.K.K., P.B., and A.D.S. performed research; H.K.K., P.B., and A.D.S. contributed
absorptive or transparent, depending on the complex dielec- new reagents/analytic tools; H.K.K., P.B., and A.D.S. analyzed data; and H.K.K. and A.D.S.
tric permittivity of the material. Research into pairs of con- wrote the paper.y
ducting particles at nanoscales and microscales has shown a The authors declare no conflict of interest.y
ubiquity of hotspots at the point of contact (5). Such surface This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.y
plasmon resonances (SPRs) are localized to the surface (6, This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
7) and have been used to probe or excite molecular species NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).y
that are too small to resolve by traditional optical methods 1
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]
(8, 9). The fact that nonabsorbing, nonconductive dielectrics This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.
can form MDR hotspots has garnered considerable recent 1073/pnas.1818350116/-/DCSupplemental.y
attention (10–14). Published online February 19, 2019.

4000–4005 | PNAS | March 5, 2019 | vol. 116 | no. 10 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818350116

 surement of such fields is extremely challenging, mainly because
the hotspots are subwavelength. Fortunately, the fact that aque-
ous objects absorb at microwave frequencies can be exploited
to allow thermal imaging to act as an indirect measurement
tool for time-integrated field intensities. It is important to note
that thermal maps largely represent surface temperatures and
not internal temperature distributions (16). Thus, to image cen-
tral temperature cross-sectional maps in whole-sphere-dimer
experiments, the objects must be cut in half (either preir-
radiation or postirradiation) before imaging, as illustrated in
Figs. 2A and 3.
In addition to thermal imaging, we use the finite element
method (FEM) (COMSOL Multiphysics) to model the interac-
tion of polarized 2.5-GHz microwave light with uniform absorb-
ing spherical dimers of water and broadly confirm that the
thermal-imaging maps reflect the anticipated field distributions
from the plasma formation. The simulations yield an electro-
magnetic hotspot with the same behavior as the experimental
Fig. 1. (A) Plasma between grape hemispheres bound with a skin bridge hotspot present in the grape dimer system (Fig. 3 H and I).
in the traditional arrangement (Movie S1). (B) Whole grapes, weakly bound FEM simulations can also be coupled to heat-transfer calcula-
by their weight in a watch glass, also form plasma (Movie S2). (C) Skinless tions to obtain simulated thermal maps in such systems. These
hydrogel beads are >99% water and also form plasma after a brief immer- maps show good qualitative agreement with the experimental
sion in NaCl solution (Movie S3). (D) Normalized emission spectra collected results (SI Appendix, Fig. S2). Detailed information on the sim-

APPLIED PHYSICAL
through the microwave-oven door, demonstrating that the plasma is initi- ulation parameters, including thermal coupling, can be found in
ated by K and Na species in the grapes and by Na in the NaCl-soaked water

SCIENCES
SI Appendix.
beads. The distinct spectrum of plasma from aluminum foil is shown for
comparison.

grape dimers also form a plasma despite having no bridge of skin.

We deduce that the ubiquitous requirement for a skin bridge in
most demonstrations serves as a means for keeping the hemi-
spheres contacted as a dimer. As seen in Fig. 1 A–C, we achieve
this in whole-sphere dimers by placing the objects on a small con-
cave watch glass, where the objects are gently kept together by
their weight.
To further demonstrate that this effect has a bulk optical
origin—rather than a biophotonic origin that depends on the
specific geometry, composition, and vasculature of grapes—we
demonstrate plasma formation in NaCl-soaked sodium polyacry-
late hydrogel beads, which are composed of nearly pure water
(Fig. 1C). Interestingly, these beads tend to oscillate as they are
irradiated (see frames at 1:50 in Movie S4). We are currently
exploring these as driven oscillations arising from an elastic
Leidenfrost effect (15).
Observing a piece of fruit burst into flames in a microwave
oven is exciting and memorable. Consequently, much atten-
tion has previously focused on the plasma itself rather than the
source of the sparking. As shown in Fig. 1D, emission spectra
from grape plasma suggest that potassium and sodium species,
abundant in the grape skin, are field-ionized by a strong con-
centration of electric field near the point of contact. The ions
themselves are resonant with the driving microwave radiation
and can evolve a cascade of ionization in the air, forming a Fig. 2. Thermal maps of large 5.5-cm-diameter water beads. (A) The tem-
microwave-heated plasma that grows and becomes independent perature distribution after 4-s irradiation of a hydrogel dimer showing the
from the dimer, as can be seen in high-speed Movie S4. How- importance of acquiring an image from the flat section of interest. Object i
is a whole sphere, showing only the hotspot on the surface near the point
ever, the plasma itself is of secondary interest, as it ultimately
of contact; regions ii and iii are the postirradiation halved sister spheres to
only provides a thresholded indication of field concentrations. i, showing a more complex thermal distribution at the equatorial planes.
Since the sparking is often stochastic in nature, we turn to other (B) The temperature distribution of a postirradiation-halved large bead
characterization methods to elucidate the field concentration in monomer, showing a well-confined radial mode that is hottest in the cen-
aqueous spheres and dimers to confirm an explanation based ter. Thermal features outside of the marked regions of interest in A and B
on MDRs. are reflections, spurious heating, or imaging artifacts from other surfaces
in a plane below the spheres. The minimum and maximum temperatures
Internal Field Characterization that represent ambient and hot in the linear color scale are listed in square
brackets. C and D are FEM simulations of geometries A and B , respectively,
The best means of establishing that Mie resonances are involved with 55-mm bead diameters and 1-mm bead separation. The arrows indi-
in the creation of a dimer hotspot would involve the measure- cate the electric field polarization. Note the hotspot between the dimers in
ment of electric-field distributions both inside of the dielectric C. The “high” value in C is 0.35 nJ/m3 and 0.29 nJ/m3 in D for a 1-V/m input
spheres and in the near field of the surface. The direct mea- field.

Khattak et al. PNAS | March 5, 2019 | vol. 116 | no. 10 | 4001

Fig. 3. Mode evolution in grape hemisphere dimers. A, D, and G show an optical image of the hemisphere arrangement. B, E, and H show the corresponding
thermal images of the hemispheres/dimer obtained within 10 s after a 3-s irradiation. Maximum temperatures which define high in the color bar are reported
to aid in qualitative comparisons among each column. The hotspot in H is of significantly higher temperature than those in B and E. C, F, and I show FEM
simulations of the time-averaged energy density. The values in the top corner correspond to the high value on the color bar and are given in 0.1 nJ/m3 for
an input field of 1 V/m. The low values are several orders of magnitude smaller in all cases and therefore effectively 0. The bead diameters are 16 mm and
have separations of 20 mm (C), 4 mm (F), and 0.5 mm (I).

With thermal imaging, sparking is no longer desired, as it may coefficient∗ (17). When simulating a reduced absorption coef-
add spurious heating effects. Consequently, thermal-mapping ficient, the Q factor of the dimers is boosted, and a menagerie
experiments use lower irradiation times, and hydrogel beads are of complicated electromagnetic field modes are found inside
hydrated with deionized water and not soaked in a saline solu- the simulated beads, consistent with other reports for dielec-
tion. This allows us to measure the effect of bead size and sepa- tric spheres (12). However, when the full absorptive behavior of
ration on field-intensity maps in the system (Figs. 2 and 3). Live water dimers is included, the wide array of modes found at lower
in situ thermal imaging shows qualitatively very similar struc- absorption washes out, leaving relatively weak radially symmet-
ture to postirradiation imaging, as shown in Movie S5. Studying ric internal modes and an emergent hotspot localized to the
larger water beads, we note a well-defined central mode present proximal point of contact.
in isolated spheres (Fig. 2B). This in itself is clear evidence of This behavior can be seen in Fig. 4, in which simulated field
constructive interference, and therefore of a low-Q resonant patterns in grape-sized and larger dimers are shown, both for
cavity: With a penetration depth of ≈1.5 cm—smaller than the the full dielectric behavior of water and for reduced-absorption
radius of the large beads—a simple model of absorption would objects of equivalent index of refraction. With lower absorption,
be expected to yield a thermal pattern that is hotter near the sur- hotspot resonances are sharp, and there is a large difference
face, becoming less hot toward the center of the object as the in mode strength between beads with small size differences.
microwave radiation is attenuated. The fact that water spheres of For example, simulated 9.5-mm-radius beads display an intense
various sizes routinely yield the inverted pattern of a hot middle hotspot that is absent in 10-mm beads (Fig. 4 A and B). In
is thus evidence of optical resonance in isolated aqueous spheres. the absorptive case, the mode strength remains more con-
Moreover, when we control the orb separation within a dimer, stant across a large size range. This indicates that formation of
we see a clear progression of mode structure from isolated res- hotspots with absorption is a consequence of the broadening
onators to a bonding mode with a concentrated hotspot, as shown of the mode structure. The broadening results in more acces-
in Fig. 3. We also observe that larger beads can simultaneously sible intense hotspot-like modes, as well as homogenizing and
accommodate a supermode hotspot near the point of contact and suppressing higher-order internal modes. In a broad range of
a well-defined mode in their center (Fig. 2A). This is consistent simulated sizes and separations, we find that absorptive dimers
with simulations (Fig. 2C), and in both cases, the internal modes support a bright hotspot at the point of contact, even when no
become less marked as the central hotspot becomes stronger. hotspot is found in simulations of negligibly absorbing equivalent
As can be seen in Fig. 2C, central modes with little evanescent dimers.
character also interact, moving slightly toward each other along There are also trends with bead geometries. Generally, smaller
the dimer axis. beads at close dimer proximity favor a single hotspot between
the two spheres. As beads are separated or increased in size,
The Effects of Absorption internal central modes better coexist with the dimer hotspot and
A key finding arising from our experiments and simulations become more apparent (Fig. 4C). The washing out of modes with
is that similar field patterns persist across a wide range of increased absorption is exemplified by a broadening of resonance
dimer sizes. This is explained by the attendant absorption arising
from the high imaginary component of the complex dielec-
* Explicitly,
the√complex
tric constant of water. At 2.45 GHz and 20 ◦ C, ˜ = 1 + i2 ≈ p index of refraction is related to the complex susceptibility via
ñ = n + ik =  ˜ = 1 + i2 , where n is typically referred to as the index of refraction
79 + i10, with 1 most directly contributing to the index of and k, which is responsible for absorption, is referred to as the extinction coefficient.
refraction, and 2 most directly contributing to the absorption At 20 ◦ C, we have n = 8.9 and k = 0.56.

4002 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818350116 Khattak et al.

Fig. 4. Effect of absorption on electric field mode appearance. In all cases, a 2.45-GHz plane wave is propagating in the z direction; polarization is along x.
The plots are cut planes according to the axes indicated in A and C. In A–C, beads are weakly absorbing with 2 = 0.2, while D–F includes the full absorptive
dielectric properties of water (2 = 10). We include grape-sized beads that are on resonance, r = 9.5 mm (A and D) and slightly off-resonance r = 10 mm (B
and E), as well as much larger beads r = 24 mm (C and F). These results show a washing out of the modes found in A–C and the enhancement of the axial
hotspot over a range of wavelengths.

APPLIED PHYSICAL
peaks, as can be seen in Fig. 5, which presents total integrated in Fig. 6 A and E, the hotspot appears to be most intense midgap

SCIENCES
EM energy as a function of dimer bead size. As expected from between the beads, rather than at their surface. This behavior
a lower-Q resonator, an increase in absorption broadens the res- contrasts with simulations that show stronger evanescent fields
onances and decreases their intensity in the bulk. This behavior near the surface when a significant gap is present (Fig. 3F). Thus,
thus supports the experimental observations that a microwave- it is possible that thermal contact between the paper and the sur-
induced hotspot is observed across a wide range of grape and face of the objects prevents a hotspot from being recorded on
hydrogel dimer sizes. the shims closest to each surface. Nonetheless, simulations show
The functional dependence of the complex dielectric constant significant field focusing spanning even significant gaps, which is
on temperature, frequency, and salinity provides an important confirmed with the thermal-paper experiments. We us two sim-
avenue for future research. For example, at 2.5 GHz, the absorp- ilar geometries to demonstrate this: First, as shown in Fig. 6
tive properties of water change more rapidly than does the index A and B, we can keep the dimer in contact by wrapping both
of refraction between the temperatures of 0 ◦ C and 60 ◦ C (17).
Thus, details of resonant mode structure, including localized
hotspots, may result in dynamic runaway or self-tuning processes
arising from local absorptive heating. Such complex behavior
may be observable with in situ live thermal videography (such
as Movie S5). It is entirely possible that the dimer hotspot
leads to localized heating that dramatically reduces absorption
near the gap, but not in the bulk, yielding a positive feedback
for hotspot intensification. The universality of the resonance
behavior means that detailed thermographic observations of field
dynamics in centimeter-scale aqueous structures can uniquely
inform nanophotonic scattering processes that cannot at present
be resolved at optical wavelengths.

Evanescent Hotspot Imaging with Thermal Paper

FEM simulations reveal a high-intensity field hotspot in the air
gap within the dimer as the likely initiator of plasma in irradiated
grapes. Because thermal-camera imaging relies on the effects of
absorption in the object, the technique is insensitive to field dis-
tributions outside of the dimer. In an attempt to confirm both the
hotspot in the air gap and the absence of evanescent field concen-
trations elsewhere around the objects, we use thermally activated
paper that sharply darkens at a temperature of ≈85 ◦ C (18). We
use strips of thermal paper to monitor the outside temperature of
individual spheres and dimers and to simultaneously create and
monitor a gap within a dimer, as shown in Fig. 6. While the ther-
mal paper can only indicate when a threshold of field intensity
Fig. 5. Effect of absorption on integrated EM intensity spectra for dielectric
has been exceeded, and thus does not provide a continuous heat
dimers. The field-enhancement parameter is defined as the total time-
map like that from a thermal camera, these experiments provide averaged energy density integrated over the simulation box relative to the
key information about the near-field behavior of the aqueous same wave through an empty box and is plotted against bead diameter
dielectric objects. for the lower absorption, 2 = 0.2 (A), and for realistic absorption, 2 = 10
When dimers are irradiated, they show a well-defined hotspot (B). The size parameter, S0 = 2πrn/λ0 , parameterizes bead sizes in terms of
at the point of contact within an exposure time of 1–3 s. As seen wavelengths that fit along the perimeter inside the beads.

Khattak et al. PNAS | March 5, 2019 | vol. 116 | no. 10 | 4003

Fig. 6. Near-field hotspot sectioning with 7.5-m-thick thermally activated paper. (A and B) The field intensity between two grapes is monitored with a
folded 15-layered thermal paper shim, and the perimeter of the dimer is monitored with a band of thermal paper. (C–E) Alternatively, a band of thermal
paper can be wrapped around each grape in a dimer to monitor the peripheral and gap field intensity. (A) A 3-s irradiation of the system shown in B yields
a clearly defined hotspot in the 1.1-mm gap (shim), but no significant heating is observed on the periphery (exterior band). The gap sections closest to each
object show a lower field intensity than at midgap, and the 15-section sequence implies a 3D thresholded field intensity map. (C) A grape dimer spaced by
eight layers of thermal paper is irradiated for 2 s (D); the individual grapes have been rotated from the position in C to show an axial hotspot. (E) Unwrapped
band from the left object in D showing a sectioning of the field intensity consistent with A. The yellow circle highlights the same physical position in C–E.
The optical marks in E are smaller than 1.5 mm and represent extreme subwavelength (λ0 /80) thermal writing.

spheres together in a thermal paper band and then using a num- Surface Geometry and Hollow Quail Eggs
ber of thermal-paper shims between the two spheres to form a Because the hotspot is observed for such a wide range of sizes
fixed-length gap. We see a clear progression of intensity, with and shapes, concerns may remain that the effect has an ori-
the highest intensity in the midgap shim. We can also individu- gin in the surface geometry and conductivity. While preexisting
ally wrap each bead in thermal paper (Fig. 6 C and D) and record notions that the dimer is acting as a conducting short antenna
the same progression, confirming high field strength through the are difficult to overturn definitively, we conduct an experiment
entire gap (Fig. 6E). that appears to preclude a “surface-only”-based explanation: We
Much of the interest in nanoplasmonics lies in the ability repeat the thermal-paper experiments with dimers of small quail
to create highly confined or intricately structured electromag- eggs (minor axis diameter ≈ 24 mm). The eggs are individually
netic concentrations in subwavelength regions. Whether such wrapped in single-layer bands of thermal paper and placed in
hotspots are used for direct optical processing or surface pat- contact along their minor axis. After confirming that unmodi-
terning or are used to probe/excite volumes that are too small fied eggs display a hotspot at the point of contact, the eggs are
to access with typical diffractive approaches, the ability to con- evacuated through a hole at their apex and rebanded. Empty
fine light to particular subwavelength regions in exclusion of egg dimers do not reproduce the hotspot and, with longer irra-
other nearby regions is of high technological interest. The opti- diation, eventually display stochastic surface heating. When the
cal writing demonstrated by the grape dimer on the thermal eggs are refilled with water and rebanded, the dimer hotspot
paper in the air gap represents a demonstration of resolution is reproduced (SI Appendix, Fig. S3). Visually, of course, it is
better than λ0 /80. With controlled excitation—in terms of flu- impossible to discern whether the eggs are empty or filled with
ence, time, and polarization—considerably smaller features will water, but a clear identification can be made from how they inter-
be achievable. While millimeter-sized thermal writing is not in act with microwave radiation. Thus, we eliminate surface effects
itself a scientific advance, the demonstration of such control such as conductivity as significant contributors to the formation
with microwave radiation in an absorbing dielectric is unex- of plasma from grapes in the microwave oven.
pected. The identified usefulness of absorbing dielectrics in
this work broadens the range of potentially useful materials. Summary
More important, however, are the implications to nanophotonic Through a combination of videography, FEM simulations, IR
technologies at the visible and UV wavelength scales, were semi- thermal imaging, and thermal-paper sectioning, we have shown
transparent high-index natural dielectrics or metamaterials to be that the popular-science phenomenon of forming plasma with
discovered. grapes in a household microwave oven is explained by MDR

4004 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818350116 Khattak et al.

behavior. Grapes act as spheres of water, which, due to their cations may include the design of passive omnidirectional wire-
large index of refraction and small absorptivity, form leaky less antennas, superresolution microwave excitation and imag-
resonators at 2.4 GHz. Mie resonances in isolated spheres coher- ing, and the invention of microwave-pumped dielectric spaser
ently add when brought together such that the aqueous dimer analogues (19).
displays an intense hotspot at the point of contact that is suffi-
cient to field-ionize available sodium and potassium ions, igniting ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Trent University students Emily Rose
a plasma. This hotspot is shown to be spatially confined on Korfanty, Rodion Gordzevich, Alan Godfrey, and Aaron Curtis (University
of Toronto) for technical support and significant research contributions;
subwavelength scales that approach λ0 /100. Alessandro P. Bambic (Concordia University) for preliminary finite-difference
Because water has a larger index of refraction, at 2.4 GHz, time-domain simulation contributions; CMC Microsystems for an extended
than any known dielectric at visible frequencies, it is possi- loan of Keysight thermal-imaging equipment; Hoskins Scientific for the
ble to explore unique resonance geometries in the microwave loan of FLIR thermal-imaging equipment; and the University of Ontario
regime that are currently inaccessible at visible wavelengths. Institute of Technology Faculty of Science for the loan of Mega Speed high-
speed imaging equipment. This work was supported by Natural Sciences
Thus, this work is likely to open experimental opportunities for and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants 418388-2012
modeling nanophotonic resonance phenomena with scaled-up (to A.D.S.) and 435875-2013 (to P.B.); and Canada Research Chairs program
objects illuminated at microwave frequencies. More direct appli- Grant CRC-NSERC-231086.

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