Description:

Members of the Academic Discipline (Italian SSD) “Electromagnetic Fields” are present within the Engineering Department of the University of Palermo and have a long tradition of doing research and teaching activities concerning guided optics technologies, thin films, optoelectronics, lasers and microwaves. More precisely, in accordance with characteristic topics of the specific Academic Discipline and due to the close collaboration with colleagues of the “Electronics” SSD, scientific contents include aspects of integrated optics on glasses and ferroelectric crystals, covering from the fabrication technologies of devices (solid state lasers, frequency converters, electro-optic modulators, electromagnetic field sensors), to the analytical/numerical modelling of propagation and nonlinear optical interactions, and to the experimental characterization of the fabricated devices using laser sources. At the same time, research activities on thin film deposition and characterization technologies, together with their applications on surface plasmon resonance based sensors, have been developed. In more recent years, additional topics have been the electromagnetic compatibility of prototypal electromedical equipment, the generation/detection of terahertz electromagnetic radiation by means of nonlinear optical interactions, and, finally, the development -in collaboration with the Canadian Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)- of photonic integrated circuits aimed at the generation of quantum coupled (“entangled”) photons. Currently, active research topics are -in collaboration with the University of Brescia, Italy- the numerical modeling and optical characterization of metasurfaces linear and nonlinear properties, at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, for applications such as frequency conversion, harmonic generation, optical rectification, metalenses, and opto-thermal control of naoresonators.

Current research topics:

• High sensitivity interferometry based on entangled photon states with fiber optic systems
• Electromagnetic compatibility of prototypal electromedical equipment based on infrared sources
• Characterization of SiC power modules in terms of electromagnetic interferences (EMI)
• Numerical modeling and optical characterization of metasurfaces and nanoresonators at visible and near-infrared wavelengths
• Electric and opto-thermal control of metasurfaces and nanoresonators.

List of main research projects:

• Collaboration between the "Laboratory of Optics and OptoelectroniX (LOOX)" of the Engineering Department, University of Palermo, and prof. Roberto Morandotti’s "Nonlinear Photonics Group" at the Institut National de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Canada, on topics pertaining electromagnetic models of THz frequency interactions and quantum entanglement in integrated optics configurations
• "First and european SiC eigth inches pilot line (REACTION)", funded within the EU Research and Innovation program Horizon 2020 and the Joint Undertaking ECSEL (Electronics Components and Systems for European Leadership). https://www.ecsel.eu/projects/reaction
• 4FRAILTY – “Smart sensors and infrastructure for the safety of vulnerable individuals", financed by Italian MIUR with PON Research and Innovation 2014-2020 funds. This project is coordinated by the consortium Distretto Tecnologico Sicilia Micro e Nano Sistemi scarl
• Ecosystem of Innovation Program “Sicilian MicronanoTech Research And Innovation Center – SAMOTHRACE”, Spoke 3: “S2-COMMs Micro and Nanotechnologies for Smart & Sustainable Communities”, funded by the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)

Keywords: ING-INF/02, ING-INF/01, Quantum Integrated Optics, Terahertz, Microwaves, EMI in SiC devices.