Universitą degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Novel nanostructured and low-dimensional systems are of keys interes for ICT applications, as well as for promising cost-effective and sustainable energy solutions. Examples of such systems comprise:

• oxide films, nanostructures and nanoparticles, with application in photocatalysts, fuel cells, and third-generation photovoltaic devices;
• atomically-precise graphene nanostructures and 2D metal-dichalcogenides systems, which display novel and intriguing electronic and optical properties; -
• hybrid molecular magnets/inorganic substrate interfaces.

At FIM, advanced spectroscopies and scanning microscopies (STM, AFM) are exploited - both on campus and at synchrotron radiation and free-electron laser facilities – for a thorough characterization of the nanoscale properties of such materials. Among the available on-campus techniques, high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy represents a powerful tool to investigate both localized vibrational modes and collective excitation (phonon, plasmon, excitons) dispersions. Moreover, pump-probe spectroscopies - performed with shared table top ultrafast laser facilities (SPRINT Trieste and EFSL Roma) and with the free electron laser FERMI at the ELETTRA laboratories in Trieste - allow us to investigate the transient mechanisms at the base of photocatalysis and photovoltaic effects, down to femtosecond time scales.