Universitą degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Nanomaterials can be fabricated using two different approaches, i.e. top-down and bottom-up. Top-down nanofabrication makes nano-structures by repeated use of additive (film deposition) and subtractive steps that take parts of them away, while the bottom-up approach exploits the self-assembling properties of matter to obtain precisely defined nanosystems.

At FIM, the top-down approach is used to fabricate devices and systems for nanomagnetism, nanophotonics, diffractive optics and electron optics, tribology and more. Example in the field are:

• Nanofabrication and characterization of hybrid nanodevices for (spin/opto) electronics.
• Nanofabrication of electron-optical devices for electron beam shaping and detection.
• Surface patterning for tribological studies.

Moreover, examples of bottom-up nanofabrication at FIM are:

• Physical deposition of metal and oxide nanoparticles (2-10 nm diameter) with applications in photocatalysts, solid state fuel cells and photovoltaic devices.
• on surface synthesis of atomically-precise, ultranarrow graphene nanoribbons.