Facilities & Labs

The scientific activities are focused on the physics and the chemistry of soft matter and on its applications in structured systems for advanced micro/nano-optics/photonics/fluidics.
New composite nanostructured materials are realized through bottom-up and hybrid bottom-up/top-down processes. Plasmonic materials, metamaterials and micro/nano structured materials, engineered by different methods, are fabricate and used in many fields, as energy harvesting, new sensing platforms and bio-medicine.
Our mission is to design, fabricate and characterize soft materials, including composites and hybrids, organic and biological. The manufacturing approach is twofold: firstly, nonlinear optics nano-microlithography is implemented in combination with micro-optical manipulation for realization of 2D / 3D structures made of polymer / nano-particles and integrable nano-structured micro-fluidic devices. Secondly, by a bottom-up approach, molecular self-assembling is exploited in order to get mesoscopic structures, from nanometer to micrometer scale, useful for optical and opto-fluidic applications.
Optical, structural and morphological properties are studied with the support of the thematic labs of our facility, where the most advanced investigation techniques are available: Ultrafast time-resolved IR-VIS multimodal non-linear optical spectroscopies, Ellipsometry, 2P Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy integrated with an AFM system, Integrated Confocal Fluorescence Microscope / SNOM for simultaneous far and near field analyses, electronic microscopies (SEM, TEM), x-ray reflectometry (GID), optical micro-manipulation, SFA allowing for accurate measurements of inter-surfaces forces as small as 100 nN, with a Å-accuracy in the separation gap control, 250 sqm ISO 5 clean room supplied with thin film preparation and surface treatments equipment.
A large part of the research laboratories contributes to the CNR National User Facility Beyond-Nano – Polo di Cosenza and is accessible to external scientists by offering advanced research and technological services.

Materials

  1. Organic materials for devices. Synthesis of organic material and organometallic materials for optoelectronic. Complete setup for sample preparation and characterization of the following properties: Photoconductivity, Charge mobility, Photorefractivity
    Preparation and test of Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFET).
  2. Soft Matter Nanofabrication. Bottom-Up approach. Molecular self assembly by Langmuir techniques Functional nanoparticle – liquid crystal composite materials. Periodic defect patterns in complex and anisotropic fluids. Nanoparticles patterning in anisotropic fluids. 3D anisotropic polymer structuring by TPP. Optical photoreduction of salts

Micro/nano fabrication

  1. 250 sqm ISO 5 clean room. Glass cells realization (>0.5 µm gap). Plasma cleaner, spin coater, hot plates, rubbing machine for surface treatments. Multiple source thermal PVD in glove box. Langmuir-Blodgett trough. Wet benches for chemical etching. DC Magnetron PVD.
  2. Laser nanolithography 3D 2P direct polymerization system Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT. In-house developed photo-resists for 3D hybrid polymeric/metallic structures.
  3. Microfluidics and PDMS/SU-8 processing. UV mask lithography lab with Spin Coater, UV led insulator for photolithography, hot plate for hard/soft baking.
  4. Holographic Multibeam Optical Tweezing for microparticles manipulation/positioning

Structural and morphological characterizations lab

Scanning electron microscope SEM/ESEM high/low vacuum for conductive, dielectric, biological samples. Transmission electron microscope LEO 922 OMEGA EFTEM for materials science and biological research. BRUKER D8 Discover X-RAY reflectometer/diffractometer equipped with stationary anode source Cu, Euler cradle, Gobel Mirror, V-groove. WITec Scanning Near-field Optical Microscope alpha300 S including full AFM and confocal capabilities. V-VASE (Variable Angle Spectroscopic Ellipsometer) by Woollam for measurement of complex reflectance ratio in the spectral range 190 – 3300 nm

Non-Linear Optical Spectroscopies lab

Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy SFG-S with both vibrational resonance -VR and electronic-vibrational double resonance – DR for noninvasive investigations at molecular scale of optically accessible interfaces. The technique is able to investigate both the conformation and the average orientation of the molecules at the surface.
Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy (< 1 ps). This ultrafast laser source is coupled with a time-resolved spectrofluorimeter composed by a Spectrograph (Czerny-Turner), a streak camera system (range 200-850nm) and a time-correlated photon counting in the NIR

Bio lab

Axio Observer Z1+SLM 710, inverted 2P laser scanning confocal microscope + IR pulsed Laser for organic and biological observation integrating a Bruker Catalyst AFM, for combined high-res AFM/Fluorescence analyses in air or fluid in several modes. Enables PicoForce-quality force measurements, epi-fluorescence, TIRF, FRET, FRAP.
Bruker MULTIMODE 8 SPM SYSTEM for contact and non-contact atomic force, lateral force and tapping mode magnetic force and electric force microscopies.
Surface Force Apparatus for probing nanomechanics and nanotribology of materials, complex fluids and surface coatings, allowing direct measurements of normal, adhesive and friction forces between solid surfaces

LiCryL @ Rende (CS)

Latest News

  • Scholar-in-Training Award dell’AACR a Marta Cavo

    Lecce, 15/01/2020
    Marta Cavo, ERC-postdoctoral research fellow at the CNR Institute of Nanotechnology in Lecce (ERC-StG INTERCELLMED No., 759959, PI: Dr. Loretta L. del Mercato), have been selected to receive a Scholar-in-Training Award (USD $625). The Scholarship will support her attendance at the Conference on The Evolving Landscape of Cancer Modeling, organized by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), to be held on 2-5 March 2020 in San Diego (California), where she will present the work “Quantifying stroma-tumor cell interactions in three-dimensional cell culture systems”. (more…)

  • I° meeting TecnoMed Puglia

    Lecce, 05 dicembre 2019 – Aula Rita Levi Montalcini – CNR NANOTEC Lecce

    Si terrà domani, giovedì 05 dicembre, con inizio alle ore 14.00 presso l’aula Rita Levi Montalcini del Cnr Nanotec, il “I° meeting TecnoMed Puglia: Tecnopolo per la medicina di precisione“. Il meeting mira a fare il punto sulle attività programmate, sullo stato di avanzamento e sugli highlights.

    Puoi scaricare la locandina da qui

  • Jam session Nanotec… note di scienza su scala nanometrica

    Lecce, 27 settembre 2019 – ex monastero degli Olivetani “CAR-T: l’alba di una nuova era”  con: Attilio Guarini (IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II” di Bari)  introduce e modera: Marco Ferrazzoli (Ufficio Stampa CNR Roma) a cura di: Gabriella Zammillo 

    Le CAR-T (Chimeric Antigens Receptor Cells-T) sono cellule modificate in laboratorio a partire dai linfociti T. Rappresentano una nuova strategia di cura che sfrutta il sistema immunitario per combattere alcuni tipi di tumore come linfomi aggressivi a grandi cellule e leucemie linfoblastiche acute a cellule B. Il prof Attilio Guarini, ematologo all’Istituto tumori Giovanni Paolo II di Bari, le definisce la “vis sanatrix naturae della antica medicina salernitana”, trattandosi del potenziamento dell’attività citotossica dei linfociti del paziente opportunamente ingegnerizzati per riconoscere e contrastare alcuni tipi di cellule tumorali.

    (more…)

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