A pEek on the lab

Federico Ferrarese Lupi graduated in Physics of Advanced Technologies at the department of physics of the University of Turin in 2008. In 2012 he received his PhD in Physics “Cum Laude” at the University of Barcelona, discussing a thesis entitled “Optically active substoichiometric Si3N4 micro-cavities for sensoristic applications”. Between 2012 and 2015 he worked as postdoctoral fellow at the MDM laboratory of the IMM–CNR institute in Agrate Brianza. During that period he focused on the fabrication of self-assembled nano-structures using block copolymers and its integration with the next generation of electronic devices. Currently Federico Ferrarese Lupi is researcher in the Nanoscience and Material division of INRiM, the Italian National Metrology Institute located in Turin. He is in charge of the nano-fabrication processes in the group of Luca Boarino. He is involved in several European metrology projects covering different aspects of the fabrication and characterization of materials and objects at the nanoscale. His main research activity is focused on the optical characterization (luminescence, lifetimes, propagation loss, optical gain, etc.) and nano-patterning (through the self-assembling systems) of polymeric and silicon-based materials with potential application in nanometrology. The main goal such investigation is to develop nanostructured model systems useful in several metrological fields such as the length metrology, the 3D chemical analysis and bacteria detection. Federico Ferrarese Lupi is member of the Italian macromolecules association (AIM) author or co-author of more than 60 scientific papers and 2 patents

Luca Boarino was born in Torino, Italy, in 1961. He achieved the Physics Laurea in 1987 at University of Torino with a work of thesis on "Semiconductor power device analysis and simulation with the Finite Difference code "Gemini", in the research group of Prof. C. Manfredotti. After a period of work as a free-lance in the field of computer graphics and multimedia (IBM Italy, Apple Italy) he joined the Department of Acoustics at Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale "Galileo Ferraris" (IENGF), with a grant on the development of modulated phothermal reflectance for the study of transport phenomena in semiconductors. In 1994 he obtained the permanent position of researcher in the same Department. From 1995 his research activity has been focused on the study, production and characterisation of porous silicon layers for sensors and microsystems application, in the new technological facility of the Quantum Resource Laboratory. From 1997 to 2000 he has been the responsible of projects with Italian firms like Olivetti Balteadisk and ST-Microlectronics, respectively on PS micromachining for bubble ink-jet technology and SOI substrates obtained by PS.

In the basic research activity, from 1999 he started the first studies on interaction between Nitrogen Dioxide and Porous Silicon. From 2001 he coordinated the European Space Agency project "CHECS" (Closed Habitat Environmental Control Sensor) in the framework of the Microgravity Application Promotion program of ESA, co-funded by ASI. In the same year he achieved the position of "Senior Technologist" in the Department "Nanotechnology and Microsystems". In 2009 he founded "Nanofacility Piemonte INRiM" a laboratory devoted to the structures and devices nanofabrication by ion and electron beams. His current interests are related to mesoscopic transport and nanodevices fabrication and characterization. He is author and co-author of more than 150 international publications.

Natascia De Leo achieved her degree in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Torino and a PhD in Electronics Devices at Politecnico of Torino. She worked as a researcher in CSELT, Centro Studi E Laboratori Telecomunicazioni (now TILab - Telecom Italia Lab), and as R&D Engineer in Agilent Technologies Italia SpA. She joined the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, INRIM (formerly Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale "Galileo Ferraris", IEN) in 2005. In 2010 she obtained a permanent position as a researcher in the Nanotechnology and Quantum Devices department. She has experience in developing Josephson junction-based devices for metrological application and for sensing, in micro and nanofabrication processes of thin film technology, as well as optical, electron and ion beam lithography and deposition techniques. Her scientific interests are also related to the study of nanolithographic techniques of supramolecular self-assembly of nanospheres and di-block copolymers, as promising tools for thin film and surface nanostructuration on large area for different applications in the framework of several European projects and for the realisation of length standard at the nanoscale. Since 2006 she is the manager of the clean room and of Superconducting thin film lab and of the Superconducting Thin Films deposition lab in INRIM. She is Deputy Chairman of Fluxonics, a European network on superconductive electronics since 2013. Presently, she is responsible for the Nanoscale Science and Technology area in INRIM. She is the author of more than 90 papers in international journals and conference papers.

Angelo Angelini has completed his PhD at the age of 28 years from Polytechnic of Turin. During his studies, he spent 6 months at Columbia University, Biomedical Engineering department. He is currently a researcher at INRiM . He has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals.

Gianluca Milano is a post-doc researcher at Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM). He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from University of Torino in 2013 and 2015, respectively, working on the growth and characterization of graphene. Then, he obtained a PhD in physics in 2019 from Politecnico di Torino working in collaboration with Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM) on memristive devices based on nanostructured materials. During PhD, he spent a visiting period at RWTH Aachen University (Germany).

His current research interests focus on the realization of electronic and memristive devices based on nanostructures, from material synthesis to device characterization and neuromorphic computing.

Dr Matteo Fretto achieved the degree in “Materials Engineering” in 2004 and the Ph.D in “Metrology: measuring science and techniques” in 2009 at the Politecnico di Torino. He is working in INRIM since 2005 and his main activity was focused on design, fabrication and testing of different superconducting quantum devices at the micro and nanoscale. He has contributed to the realization of a Programmable Josephson Voltage standards and to the implementation of a new fabrication technique based on Focus Ion Beam etching for 3D nanostructure and nano-Supercondutcing Quantum Interference Devices (nanoSQUIDs) realizaztion. He is autor and co-author of more than 40 international publications.

Irdi Murataj graduated in Chemistry “Cum Laude” at the department of chemistry of the University of Turin in 2018. He conducted his Master Thesis internship, entitled “Enhanced later ordering in lamellar BCP/homopolymer blends”, at the Italian National Metrological Research Institute (INRiM) in Turin, under the supervision of Dr. Ferrarese Lupi and Prof. Bracco. In 2018 and 2019, he carried out a research scholarship in a framework of collaboration between the Applied Science Department (DISAT) of Polytechnic of Turin (PoliTo) and INRiM in a project work regarding the study and development of surface nanofabrication by means of block copolymer self-assembly under the supervision of Prof. Pirri. He is currently conducting a joint PhD in Metrology at INRiM and PoliTo in nanofabrication of in-plane arranged hyperbolic metamaterials by directed self-assembly of block copolymers for metrology and life science.

Nicoletta Baglieri received her M. Sc. in Physics cum laude and honourable mention in 2020 from University of Turin working on the study of the synthesis of MgB2 (produced via the Reactive Liquid Infiltration technique) for antimicrobial applications. Her research interests have always been focused on solid state physics, specialized in the processes of material synthesis, characterization and applications. Through a scholarship for research activities at Polytechnic of Turin (Department of Applied Science and Technology) in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Metrological Research (INRiM), she focused her interest on the fabrication of nanostructured materials and devices. In this framework she is now carrying on her activity with a Ph.D. course in Electric, Electronic and Communications Engineering working on the realisation and characterisation of electronic devices, based on metal/metal-oxide nanostructures with critical dimensions below 30 nm, by combining Directed Self-Assembly (DSA) of Block Copolymers (BCPs), conventional lithographic techniques (optical lithography, electron beam lithography), and Sequential Infiltration Synthesis (SIS)..