I am studying the momentum transfer from fast electrons, like those typically used in electron microscopy, to metallic nanoparticles of few nanometers in size, looking for an explanation for the unexpected theoretical result, and later demonstrated experimentally, of repulsion effect between the probe and the target, opening the possibility of using electron beams as a powerful nano-manipulation tool and as a trapping technique for particles or small molecules. Continue Reading >
I am also working on the development of a high-sensitivity nanoplasmonic sensor, consisting of nanoparticles either metallic or dielectric supported onto a flat substrate (glass), forming a single monolayer of nanoparticles randomly ordered. The whole system is sited over a prism (semi-cylindrical or pyramidal) with a matching index liquid in between, in order to disappear the glass-glass interface. The incident radiation is coming from inside the prism in a total-reflection configuration, thus the nanoparticles are illuminated by an evanescent wave. Continue Reading >
I have been working on the topic of polaritonic metamaterials mainly in the TeraHertz regime, where there is a wide scope of possible applications, ranging from tissue imaging, telecommunications, security and sensing, and even astronomy.
A polaritonic material is a polar crystal where an incident electromagnetic wave can excite lattice vibrations (phononic modes) supported in the crystal. Continue Reading >
Recently I starting a collaboration destined to design a suitable substrate for SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy) with the help of metallic nanoparticles supported onto a substrate, and we try to control the distance between contiguous nanoparticles, promoting the formation of hot-spots where we expect to find high enhancement of the electric field.
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