Research activities

Main research topics/research fields @ Nanotec are:
1. Materials growth and synthesis: III-­V's compounds by MBE; III-­Nitrides (GaN,InN,AlGaN,InGaAlN) and Oxides (ZnO, high-­K Er2O3, HfO2, CeO2,..) epilayers and nanostructures by MOCVD; Si based materials (a-­Si, ¼c-­Si, a-­SiCx, a-­SiGex, a-­SiNx, SiO2, nc-­Si,
nw-­Si) by PECVD; HT Metals, Nitrides, Magnetic and Superconducting Materials by DC/RF sputtering; Carbon Nanomaterials (graphene, C
nanotubes) by CVD; hybrid Perovskites (MAPbI3,MAPbI3-­xClx,MAPbI3-­xBrx);hybrid semiconducting and metal nanocrystals by colloidal
synthesis and pulsed laser ablation in liquid; conjugated small molecules by green chemistry; poly-­and nano-­crystalline diamond
films by microwave plasma discharges; diamond-­like thin films by plasma assisted laser ablation in water.

2. Advanced Devices, devoted to the study and development of:
1) next generation energy-­saving light sources based on organic and hybrid materials, such as organo-­ metal halide perovskites
and conjugated small molecules (H-­OLED);
2) low power and high speed electronics devices based on semiconducting epitaxial materials;
3) new generation inorganic, organic and hybrid photovoltaic devices;
4) spintronic devices based on single magnetic molecules/nanoparticles and on charge/spintransport;
5) Organic vertical cavity and 2D photonic Crystal lasers;
6) Organic Light emitting transistors.

3. Advanced Photonics,involving:
1) the investigation of the interactions and coupling of light with matter both from a macroscopic point of view and at the single particle level, exploring phenomena like quasiparticles generated by the strong coupling between light and excited states of matter or dynamics of vortex states;
2) the investigation of new class of plasmonic nanomaterials and metamaterials and new applicative concepts, like all-­optical transistors, switches and logical gates;
3) investigation of soft and active matter dynamics by exploiting two-­photon litography, optical trapping and holographic microscopy,
4) Statistical physics applied to disordered magnetic, glassy and photonic systems.

4. (Nano)biotechnology including:
1) development of nanocarriers for cancer therapy, sensing and tissue engineering;
2) "Lab on Chip" for pharmaceuticals synthesis and innovative biochips for medical diagnostics;
3) Quantitative and computational biology for the investigation of cellular metabolism, neurodegerative deseases, bio-­network algorithms;
4) X-­ray tomography and diffraction applied to biomedical research and tissue engineering (International collaborations with
ELETTRA (Trieste), and ESRF (Grenoble, France); biofactories for functional materials productions.

5. Plasma Physics and Technologies including:
1) Modelling of dynamics and kinetics of excited species in gases and plasmas with semi-­classical and quantum mechanical approaches,
and dynamics of surface processes at the gas-­solids interface.
2) Spectroscopic investigation (LIF, CARS, LIBS, Emission and Absorption) to investigate fundamental processes in atoms, molecules, radicals interacting with surfaces.