Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems - Unit of Naples

02/07/2020

Sensors (MDPI) Special Issue "Recent Advances in Photonic Crystal Sensors: Innovative Materials, Designs, and Analysis Methods" is now open for submission! https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors/special_issues/RAPCS

02/07/2020

Uno studio in collaborazione tra il Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche, l’Università del Sannio, l’Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” e il Centro regionale Information communication technology (Cerict) ha dimostrato la possibilità di sviluppare sensori innovativi a luce infrarossa in grado di dosare in maniera affidabile concentrazioni estremamente basse di 25-OH-D3. Lo studio, pubblicato nella rivista Nanophotonics, è stato guidato da Emanuela Esposito dell’Istituto di scienze applicate e sistemi intelligenti "Eduardo Caianiello" (Isasi) del Cnr; il team di ricerca comprende anche Valentina Di Meo e Alessio Crescitelli dello stesso istituto, Massimo Moccia e Vincenzo Galdi del dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Università del Sannio, Annamaria Sandomenico dell’Istituto di biostrutture e bioimmagini (Ibb) del Cnr, Angela M. Cusano del Cerict, Marianna Portaccio e Maria Lepore del dipartimento di Medicina sperimentale dell’Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”.

30/06/2020 Illustrazione della piattaforma: rappresentazione schematica (A) e foto (B) della metasuperficie. I quadrati colorati rappresentano sotto-regioni accordate per 'sentire' degli specifici modi vibrazionali. In basso: immagini al SEM Si stima che circa un miliardo di persone nel mondo, speci...

24/11/2019

24/11/2019

22/11/2019

15/11/2019

Vi aspettiamo, dal 21 al 24 novembre, a Città della Scienza per l'edizione 2019 di Futuro Remoto! L'IMM c'è!

L'Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi di Napoli vi attende, dal 21 al 24 novembre, a Città della Scienza per l'edizione 2019 di Futuro Remoto!

06/10/2019

Congratulations to Gianluigi Zito, Silvia Romano, Stefano Cabrini, Giuseppe Calafiore, Anna Chiara De Luca, Erika Penzo, and Vito Mocella for their last paper on Optica, "Observation of spin-polarized directive coupling of light at bound states in the continuum"!

Spin-polarized directive coupling of light associated with the photonic quantum spin-Hall effect (QSHE) is a nanoscale phenomenon based on strong spin–orbit interaction that has recently attracted significant attention. Herein, we discuss the experimental manifestation of QSHE intrinsic in the Bloch waves associated with a bound state in the continuum (BIC) of a dielectric photonic crystal metasurface (PhCM). We show numerically that BICs in nanoscale PhCMs have photonic spin angular momentum density transverse to the orbital momentum not only at the interfaces but also inside the confining dielectric medium. Then, we experimentally demonstrate that the fundamental Bloch waves of the BIC mode, macroscopically amplified on resonance, propagate along the symmetry axes o f the PhCM obeying spin-momentum locking also at normal incidence, i.e., with no symmetry breaking. This BIC-enhanced spin-directive coupling of light may enable versatile implementations of spin-optical structures, paving the way for novel photonic spin multiplatform devices.

05/10/2019

"Amplificare e rendere macroscopico un fenomeno fondamentale della luce, il momento angolare intrinseco dei fotoni trasversale rispetto al flusso che ne determina il verso specifico. Questo l’obiettivo raggiunto da una ricerca in collaborazione tra l’Istituto per la microelettronica e i microsistemi e l’Istituto di biochimica e biologia cellulare del Cnr e Molecular Foundry di Berkeley, grazie a un innovativo dispositivo. Lo studio, pubblicato sulla rivista Optica, apre prospettive dalla medicina all’elettronica, dove le tecnologie che sfruttano i fotoni, grazie alla loro maggiore capacità ed efficienza, potrebbero sostituire i dispositivi elettronici".

Amplificare e rendere macroscopico un fenomeno fondamentale della luce, il momento angolare intrinseco dei fotoni trasversale rispetto al flusso che ne determina il verso specifico. Questo l’obiettivo raggiunto da una ricerca in collaborazione tra l’Istituto per la microelettronica e i microsist...

10/07/2019

Congratulations to Paola Cicatiello, Ilaria Stanzione, Principia Dardano, Luca De Stefano, Leila Birolo, Addolorata De Chiaro, Daria Maria Monti, Ganna Petruk, Gerardino D’Errico, and Paola Giardina for their last paper on International Journal of Molecular Sciences, "Characterization of a Surface-Active Protein Extracted from a Marine Strain of Penicillium chrysogenum"!

Marine microorganisms represent a reservoir of new promising secondary metabolites. Surface-active proteins with good emulsification activity can be isolated from fungal species that inhabit the marine environment and can be promising candidates for different biotechnological applications. In this study a novel surface-active protein, named Sap-Pc, was purified from a marine strain of Penicillium chrysogenum. The effect of salt concentration and temperature on protein production was analyzed, and a purification method was set up. The purified protein, identified as Pc13g06930, was annotated as a hypothetical protein. It was able to form emulsions, which were stable for at least one month, with an emulsification index comparable to that of other known surface-active proteins. The surface tension reduction was analyzed as function of protein concentration and a critical micellar concentration of 2 μM was determined. At neutral or alkaline pH, secondary structure changes were monitored over time, concurrently with the appearance of protein precipitation. Formation of amyloid-like fibrils of SAP-Pc was demonstrated by spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. Moreover, the effect of protein concentration, a parameter affecting kinetics of fibril formation, was investigated and an on-pathway involvement of micellar aggregates during the fibril formation process was suggested.

Marine microorganisms represent a reservoir of new promising secondary metabolites. Surface-active proteins with good emulsification activity can be isolated from fungal species that inhabit the marine environment and can be promising candidates for different biotechnological applications. In this s...

10/07/2019

Congratulations to Principia Dardano, Mario Battisti, Ilaria Rea, Luigia Serpico, Monica Terracciano, Aniello Cammarano, Luigi Nicolais, and Luca De Stefano for their last paper in Advanced Therapeutics, "Polymeric Microneedle Arrays: Versatile Tools for an Innovative Approach to Drug Administration"!

Mainly designed and realized as a painless alternative to the hypodermic syringe, microneedle‐based devices are currently approaching commercial market placement. The considerable academic and industrial investment in this technology is reflected by a multitude of papers published and patents registered every year, which is also a sign of a field in full fermentation. New materials and innovative methodologies are continuously exploited in search of the best performance at the lowest cost. For these reasons, an updated review, focused predominantly on the last year of scientific production, is a useful guideline in this rapidly changing panorama. This report provides a critical review of microneedle technologies presented in the very recent literature with a particular focus on those closest to the needs of the healthcare field. Although a few devices are already commercial, further effort is still needed to achieve complete clinical translation and therapeutic efficacy competitive with or superior to those of the devices used as standards and adopted by national health systems.

Advanced TherapeuticsEarly View Progress Report Free Access Polymeric Microneedle Arrays: Versatile Tools for an Innovative Approach to Drug Administration Principia Dardano Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, Via P. Castellino 111, 80131 Napoli, ItalySearch for more papers by this auth...

10/07/2019

Congratulations to Silvia Romano, Gianluigi Zito, Sofía N. Lara Yépez, Stefano Cabrini, Erika Penzo, Giuseppe Coppola, Ivo Rendina, and Vito Mocella for their last paper on Optics Express, "Tuning the exponential sensitivity of a bound-state-in-continuum optical sensor"!

In this work, we investigate the evanescent field sensing mechanism provided by an all-dielectric metasurface supporting bound states in the continuum (BICs). The metasurface is based on a transparent photonic crystal with subwavelength thickness. The BIC electromagnetic field is localized along the direction normal to the photonic crystal nanoscale-thin slab (PhCS) because of a topology-induced confinement, exponentially decaying in the material to detect. On the other hand, it is totally delocalized in the PhCS plane, which favors versatile and multiplexing sensing schemes. Liquids with different refractive indices, ranging from 1.33 to 1.45, are infiltrated in a microfluidic chamber bonded to the sensing dielectric metasurface. We observe an experimental exponential sensitivity leading to differential values as large as 226 nm/RIU with excellent FOM. This behavior is explained in terms of the physical superposition of the field with the material under investigation and supported by a thorough numerical analysis. The mechanism is then translated to the case of molecular adsorption where a suitable theoretical engineering of the optical structure points out potential sensitivities as large as 4000 nm/RIU.

In this work, we investigate the evanescent field sensing mechanism provided by an all-dielectric metasurface supporting bound states in the continuum (BICs). The metasurface is based on a transparent photonic crystal with subwavelength thickness. The BIC electromagnetic field is localized along the...