• Talks will be 15 minutes long, plus few minutes for questions.
  • The presentation must be in English.

Note that It is not mandatory to present your research results, you can just give e general presentation of your research topic. During the talk, remember to briefly present the research activity of your group, so that we can all have a better understanding of the research activities of our Department.

In addition to the oral presentation everyone is also invited to present a POSTER and to attend to the poster session.


Piazza Francesco

Superfluidity, Interferometry and Entanglement with Bose-Einstein Condensates

Ultracold gases of bosonic atoms are optimal systems where to observe purely quantum phenomena. In particular, due to macroscopic coherence, brought in by Bose-Einsten condensation, combined with interparticle interaction, these Bose gases become superfluids. Moreover, thanks to the high degree of experimental control developed in recent years, many fundamental aspects of this state of matter have been observed. On the other hand, the same two ingredients providing superfluidity also render ultracold atomic Bose gases very promising systems where to implement a quantum interferometer: a device made for precision measurements (e. g. weak forces on micrometer length scales) with the best possible sensitivity allowed by Quantum Mechanics.


Aysina Julia

Microscopic mechanisms for the growth and destruction of complex aromatic hydrocarbons: a mass spectrometric study.

Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, I-38050 Povo-Trento, Italy

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed either during the incomplete combustion of organic materials or in energized environments such as ionized gases and gaseous discharges. Thus, a detailed understanding of the physical and chemical processes leading to formation and destruction of aromatic compounds is essential for the control of PAHs, which pose a serious health and environmental issue due to their carcinogenic and toxic effects. For instance, plasma processing of benzene using air as processing gas leads to the production of phenol and several heavier oxygen containing species. If the amount of oxygen is reduced, plasma processing leads to polymerization and formation of heavier aromatics. Ionic mechanisms operative in non-thermal plasmas can be investigated under controlled conditions using the technique of guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry.


Autieri Emmanuel

Towards a Coarse-Grained Description of HYADD Hydrogels

HYADD, a biocompatible hydrogel of a polysaccharidic backbone functionalized with hydrophobic side chains, is a promising substitute of pure hyaluronic acid for several medical application. Computer simulations can be a very usefull tool that can overcome the lack of some experimental data. However, the typical size and relaxation timescales of the system do not allow to use atomistic molecular dynamics as an effective simulation tool to investigate HYADD properties. A coarse-graining strategy will be presented, with an emphasis on the problems related to the parametrization of the coarse-grained interaction parameters, and on the limitations of actual atomistic forcefields for sugars. The results from a preliminary simulation of the coarse-grained system will be also shown.


Zanatta Marco


Dholam Rupali

Hydrogen generation by Photo-electrochemical water splitting using TiO2 photocatalyst and development of efficient solar receiver for solar concentrator.

The search for clean renewable energy is important to try solving problems related to emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels which contribute to dangerous climatic changes. Hydrogen, with its high gravimetric energy density, is a promising route to store renewable energy. Moreover, there is almost zero emission of environment pollutants when hydrogen is used as a fuel in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Presently, about 95 % of the total hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels by procedures that lead to increase in greenhouse gases. Thus, to make the life cycle of hydrogen fuel to be clean and renewable it is very important to produce hydrogen gas from clean and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Photocatalytic water splitting by using solar energy could contribute to the solution of environmental and energy issues related to the hydrogen production .In present work, multilayer-based TiO2 to be used as photo-electrode in hydrogen production by photo-electrochemical water-splitting. The photocatalytic efficiency of the multilayer-based TiO2 photo-electrode was tested by measuring hydrogen production through water spitting in photo-electrochemical cell. Solar-concentrator concentrates all solar radiation falling on it towards a solar receiver. This solar receiver collects all the concentrated solar radiation and then transfer heat to the surrounding water. In present work, we developed receiver of copper oxide with long time thermal stability and high corrosion resistance having a capability of absorbing most part of solar radiation


Fernandes Rohan

Efficient catalysts for Hydrogen production by hydrolysis of chemical hydrides

In the next few decades, global energy resources will be facing a major breakdown due to increasing requirement for energy. Hydrogen is very important as future energy vector whose application areas range from the vehicular transport to energy batteries. Moreover, there is almost zero emission of environment pollutants when hydrogen is used as a fuel in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). For a clean hydrogen-based technology it is essential to develop a safe and convenient hydrogen storage and production systems. On-board hydrogen production is becoming increasingly important as a potential route to supply hydrogen to PEMFC. Chemical hydrides with high hydrogen storage gravimetric and volumetric efficiencies are the most potential candidates to supply pure hydrogen for portable application at room temperature. Among them, aqueous sodium borohydride (NaBH4) seems to be an ideal hydrogen source because of its distinct advantages of hydrogen generation by its hydrolysis, making it promising for on-board hydrogen generation for portable PEM fuel cells. The hydrogen generation rate can be significantly enhanced by using catalyst during the hydrolysis reaction. Cobalt boride (Co–B) is considered a good candidate owing to its relevant catalytic activity and low cost. Co–B-based powder catalysts (CoCrB, CoNiB, and CoBP) and Co-B thin films catalyst (prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique) are studied and discussed for Hydrogen generation by catalytic hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4).


Guglielmino Michela

Seriously playing with Science: a new education and communication tool.

Using games in science communication and teaching is a new and still developing methodology, but this different approach promises to be effective: science could be scary, hard, abstruse, but, if it is embedded in an entertaining game, it can turn easier to digest, it could be also fun! One of the tasks of our research group is to increase science knowledge and awarness among all people. We are now working along this new line of research, building from scratch a game which reproduces the complexity and intellectual challenge of planning a manned mission to Mars.


Congedo Giuseppe

Data analysis for LISA and LISA-Pathfinder

The forthcoming generation of space-based gravitational wave observatories will open up a new and never-discovered window onto the Universe. Laser Interferometer Space Antenna is a gravitational wave detector aiming to reveal signals coming from a large number of sources and hence to start up a real gravitational wave astronomy. LISA will be a triangular constellation of 3 spacecrafts, each containing 2 test masses: a laser beam within each branch will track the movement of each test mass at a very low displacement/force noise level. Therefore, it is necessary to demonstrate the feasability of the free-fall, by reducing the disturbance sources. As such, the precursor mission, LISA-Pathfinder, is currently in the final integration phase. The Trento team plays a leading role, designing and testing the critical hardware, and defining the details of the experiments to be performed during the flight, with the associated data analysis tools and algorithms.


Nicolodi Daniele

Femto-Newton level testing of free-fall on-ground

The realization of free-fall is central for the experimental detection of gravitational waves and for all experiments aimed at probing the limits of general relativity and the possibility of alternative theories of gravitation. Tidal effects from gravitational waves and deviations from general relativity are expected to be extremely tiny and require very low levels of non gravitational acceleration acting on the test masses. This implies the reduction and control of the disturbances produced by a wide range of physical phenomena, requiring ground-breaking achievements within their relevant fields of science.

Among other general relativity experiments, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna - LISA - is a joint effort of ESA and NASA to realize the first high sensitivity gravitational wave observatory in space. It aims to observe gravitational waves emitted from galactic and cosmological sources in the frequency range from 0.1 mHz to 0.1 Hz. Testing the possibility of achieving the quality of free-fall required by LISA has been the motivation of the development and realization of a torsion pendulum facility for small force measurements. The realization of this test bench has the aim to conduct an experimental campaign focused on characterization of the disturbances exerted in the mHz and sub mHz frequency region on the test masses.

In this talk I will describe the recent developments of the torsion pendulum facility and recent results of the characterization of single force noise sources.


Marin Diego

Loop Quantum Gravity, a non-perturbative approach to the quantum gravity

The Loop Quantum Gravity is a non-perturbative, background independent, approach to the quantum description of gravity. It assumes as correct the QM formulated in a suitable manner and the Einstein's equations. It is not a grand unified theory as the only objective is to make compatible the MQ and the GR. It is made in 4 dimensions and takes no additional physical assumptions as the supersimmetry. Some predictions are the removal of the big-bang singularity, an inflationary period for the universe at "small" value of scale factor, a finite entropy equal to area /4 for black holes and the removal of the singularity at r = 0.

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Chiari Luca

Constraints of fossil fuels depletion on the projections of global warming

A new projection of the future climate change is shown here, accounting for the depletion of the fossil sources of energy. We developed an emissions scenario up to 2100 for the most important greenhouse gases and the SO2 aerosols. This scenario was used by the coupled gas-cycle/climate model MAGICC to draw a projection for the atmospheric CO2 concentration and the related global temperature change of the 21st century. The outcomes show that the CO2 concentration will increase up to about 525 ppm by the end of the century and the temperature rise will be about 2.1 °C above the pre-industrial level. Both temperature and CO2 concentration will reach a peak after the date of 2100. The present result shows lower values relative to the projections based on the IPCC SRES scenarios. However, we find that a level of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system might be already experienced well before the end of the 21st century, despite the exhaustion of fossil fuels. Since any future improvement of fossil fuels recovery and new discoveries will lead to higher emissions, the present results should be considered as a lower bound to the projections of future CO2 concentration and temperature.


Tonezzer Matteo

Oligothiophenes thin films grown by SuMBD: the influence of kinetic energy on sub-monolayer formation

M. Tonezzer1,2,3, T. Toccoli2, E. Rigo4, P. Bettotti4, L. Pavesi4, and S. Iannotta2,5

1 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento, Via Sommarive 14, I-38100 Povo Trento, Italy

2 IFN-CNR, Via alla Cascata 56/C, 38100 Povo di Trento, Italy

3 TASC INFM-CNR National Laboratory, S.S. 14 km163,5, I-34012 Basovizza Trieste, Italy

4 Laboratorio Nanoscienze, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento, Via Sommarive 14, I-38100 Povo Trento, Italy

5 IMEM-CNR, Parco Area delle Scienze, 37/a 43100 Parma, Italy

A critical question in realizing organic devices with good performance, is nowadays the limited ability to control their growth, a factor that strongly affects in particular structure, morphology and physical/chemical properties in the solid state and at the interfaces. Deposition methods based on vacuum sublimation give the best results in terms of film quality, but it is still far from the desirable performance. Typical growth approaches typically control thermodynamic parameters at equilibrium, so they can hardly drive towards single phase structures organized at the needed length scale and in particular produce the layer-by-layer growth. Supersonic Molecular Beam Deposition (SuMBD) has shown to be uniquely suitable to approach such question, achieving unprecedented control on morphology and structure. This technique, based on the realization of supersonic beams made of organics seeded in lighter carrier gasses, permits to overcome some thermodynamic limitations and opens to new perspectives in realizing structures controlled at different length scales. In this work we investigate the sub-monolayer growth of sexi-tiophene by SuMBD as a function of substrate temperature, surface hydrofobicity and kinetic energy of the supersonic seeded beam. We show the key role played by the kinetic energy of the impinging molecules in controlling and determining the morphology right from the early stages. The possibility to control the energetic properties of the precursor by SuMBD permits indeed to realize highly ordered thin films. We report the morphological (AFM) characterizations showing the high quality of the films deposited by SuMBD (large grain dimensions, terraced structures) as a function of the growth conditions. Furthermore we report the electrical characterization of field effect transistors realized with these organic films, showing state-of-art electrical properties with optimal carrier mobility that can be useful for different kinds of applications.


Torrengo Simona

UV surface functionalisation of nanocrystalline diamond films for bio-sensing applications

S. Torrengo1,2, A. Miotello1, G. Speranza2 , L. Minati2, M. Ferrari3, A. Chiasera3, M. Dipalo4, E. Kohn4

1 Physics Dep. University of Trento, Povo, 38100 Trento, Italy.
2 FBK-IRST Sommarive str. 18, Povo, 38100 Trento, Italy.
3 CNR-IFN, CSMFO Lab., Via alla Cascata, 56/C, Povo, 38100 Trento, Italy.
4 Institute of Electron Devices & Circuits, Ulm University Ulm, Germany.

The recent advancement in coupling the semiconductor technology with biological molecules has opened new perspectives for the creation of innovative sensors for specific purposes. In this respect, the hydrogenated diamond surface is one of the best platform to develop a biosensor since it possesses rather unique properties. Among the others, diamond has a high chemical inertness and then it is highly biocompatible. Biomolecules grafted on the diamond surface show a higher stability in air and in aqueous environments. Finally the hydrogenated diamond surface is conductive while oxidized diamond is resistive. All these properties are the required ingredients to fabricate a surface gate field effect transistor (SGFET) for an organic label free molecular recognition. To perform the patterned functionalization of the diamond surface needed to realize the SGFET, UV photons are a very convenient tool. In this work we report an XPS and UPS study of a nano-crystalline diamond direct ammination/oxidation using an UV radiation in pure ammonia/oxygen atmosphere.

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Luciu Ioana

Preparation and characterization of TiO2 and TiO2: Nb films for photovoltaics applications

FBK-Ricerca Scientfica e Tecnologica, Via Sommarive 18, 38050 Povo (Trento), Italy

The new technologies for the production of solar cells based on thin films (second generation) require a better and more complete exploitation of the solar spectrum and the use of transparent electrodes (TCO). The need for low-cost and non-toxic and chemically stable transparent conducting oxides to replace indium-based oxides led to a considerable interest in Ti-based materials and in new doping routes beyond the conventional method of introducing oxygen deficiency. In our lab, the on-going work in this field concerns pure and doped TiO2 films deposition at low temperature, by RF sputtering in argon, argon-oxygen and argon-hydrogen plasmas. The films were studied from both a structural (for their chemical and electronic properties) and optical point of view.


Prtljaga Nikola

Electrical injection in slot waveguides

Nikola Prtljaga1

1Laboratorio di Nanoscienze, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento, Via Sommarive 14, I-38050 Povo (Trento), Italy

In recent years, silicon photonics has managed to prove itself both as a mature technology and as well as a suitable platform for optoelectronic circuitry development. Despite of this recent “maturing” of the technology, silicon photonics remains to be one of the “hot topics” in research principally due to large investments by industries and governments. One of the still-ongoing unresolved issues remains the monolithical integration of an all silicon light source. Regardless of the number of different schemes proposed (III-V integration on Si, Ge on Si, Si-nc etc.) the final solution has not been found yet. One of the very promising and attractive paths to achieve the light amplification in silicon was based on Er3+ ions coupled to silicon nanoclusters. Originally, the use of silicon nanoclusters as broad band sensitizers for erbium sensitisation was proposed for the use in waveguide amplifiers configuration that targeted the replacement of EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers) which dominate the telecommunication market. Nonetheless, one of the main drawbacks of the proposed approach was the use of silicon dioxide as a host matrix that prevent any kind of electrical pumping scheme that could have been employed. However, lately with the invention of the slot waveguides a new way has been opened towards the electrical injection in this kind of materials.


Marconi Alessandro

High efficiency light-emitting devices based on energy band gap engineering of Si nanocrystals

Laboratorio di Nanoscienze, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento, Via Sommarive 14, I-38050 Povo (Trento), Italy

Multilayer approach to nanocrystalline silicon composite material allows us to control independently nanocrystals size and density. After a high-temperature annealing silicon-rich silicon oxide layer thickness in the multilayer structure determines the nanocrystals size, while an excess silicon content of the silicon-rich silicon oxide determines the nanocrystal density. In addition, a tight control over the silicon oxide layer quality and thickness that separates silicon nanocrystals in the multilayer structure is possible. This is a must for nanocrystalline Si-based light emitting devices, since it controls the tunneling or injecting electrical current. The nanocrystalline silicon light-emitting device (LED) having a multilayer structure show high power efficiency and low operating voltage. The high efficiency and low voltages are provided by direct tunneling of both electrons and holes among the nanocrystals in the multilayer. Indeed the power or wall-plug efficiency of our multilayer LED is 0.2% which is comparable with the best Si-based LEDs reported so far. More important, in contrast to these reports, our LEDs are grown by a standard plasma-enhanced CVD, a CMOS compatible technique, which makes possible their monolithic integration with CMOS photonic circuits.

In addition, the multilayer approach provides a versatile tool for energy band-gap engineering of silicon nanocrystals for high-efficiency LED and solar cell applications. We proposed a new scheme of high-efficiency nanocrystalline Si-based LED which is based on a graded energy gap structure where the sizes of the nanocrystals increase from the active region towards the electrodes. In this way the conductivity of the layer is increased due to the average large silicon nanocrystal sizes, while the luminescence is high due to the thin small nanocrystal region. Also the contact potential is decreased by the tuning of the effective barrier height which progressively increases to the active layer region.