PhD in Physics Area of research: Optical Sciences, Photonics

Department

Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia (DISAT), Politecnico of Turin

Main research activities/topics/projects

Two activities are proposed:

(1) Light-responsive polymers for molecular biology applications. An experimental work involving the synthesis and micro-structuration of polymeric compounds embedding light-active units such as azopolymers, aimed at building smart active substrates for cell growth. Both 2D and 3D environments are explored, wherein cancer cells are seeded and manipulated by means of laser beams. In addition to the material preparation activity, operation on dedicated optical setup is also expected.

(2) Nanophotonic structures for chiral light diffraction. Experimental work on the creation of light sources oin hBN monolayers to be deposited on dielectric metasurfaces, aimed at free-space extraction of structured light (e.g. OAM).

References

[1] A. Puliafito, S. Ricciardi, F. Pirani, V. Čermochová, L. Boarino, N. de Leo, L. Primo, E. Descrovi, «Driving cells with light-controlled topographies», Adv. Science 6, 1801826 (2019)

[2] D. Urban, N. Marcucci, C. H. Wölfle, J. Torgersen, D. R. Hjelme and E. Descrovi, «Polarization-driven reversible actuation in a photo-responsive polymer composite», Nat. Commun. 14, 6843 (2023).

[3] N. Marcucci, M. C. Giordano, G. Zambito, A. Troia, F. Buatier de Mongeot, E. Descrovi, «Spectral tuning of Bloch Surface Wave resonances by light-controlled optical anisotropy», Nanophotonics 12, 1091-1104 (2023).

Working language

 English

Special entry requirements

Chemical Lab experience, Optical lab experience (e.g. imaging, spectroscopy), Clean room fabrication experience (desired)

Duration in months (min-max)

PhD sandwich: 6-12

Post Doc: 6-12