STI

Among the main research facilities, we have a highly sensitive analytical method based on on line detection by thermal lens spectrometry, which is coupled to an electrophoresis technique for biotechnology and nanotechnology applications. During separation each component can be detected on line by a thermal lens microscope.

In the field of material characterization the laboratory is equipped with a beam deflection spectroscopy technique for determination of thermo-optical properties of opaque samples. The research is focused on determination of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of 2D materials and photonic crystals.

There are two distinct threads in the area of high power, mid-IR low bandwidth signals. The first involves a quantum cascade laser (QCL) to perform spectroscopy of trace gases. A second fork is a project to measure fundamental properties of the proton using similarly high power, mid-IR, low bandwidth signals derived from difference frequency generation. This experimental apparatus is situated at the Elettra Synchrotron Facility.

The QCL project is located on the ICTP campus together with the thermal lens spectroscopy apparatus. Currently, the principal user of this experimental equipment is Komlan GADEDJISSO-TOSSOU from Togo. Komlan has utilized the ICTP TRIL program to make frequent visits to Trieste and leads the experimental efforts in QCL trace gas detection. The system was demonstrated to be a high-resolution spectrometer able to analyze experimentally the absorption line of the ν4 fundamental vibrational band of ammonia centered at 1468.898 cm−1 (6.807 µm).

This work is being carried out locally at Elettra (Sincrotrone Trieste) for the laser development and with collaborators at Rutherford Laboratories in Oxford, UK to provide pulsed muon beams.

Specifically, within the Fisica degli Atomi MUonici (FAMU) project, which involves 13 institutions from across Europe, we are developing a spectroscopic mid-infrared laser source with difference frequency generation, for high precision measurements of muonic atom spectroscopic transitions. This research line has the following key objectives:

1. Determination of the Zemach radius of the proton, the first moment of the convolution of its electric charge, and magnetic moment distributions, with an accuracy better than 1%.
2. Disentangle the present ambiguities about the proton charge radius contributing, with new independent precision measurements, to study the electromagnetic structure of proton and muon nucleon interactions.
3. Give the needed completion to a cycle of high-precision exotic atom counterparts of the historical measurements of the Lamb shift and the hyperfine splitting in ordinary hydrogen, a step of great importance as fundamental tests of QED.
4. Open a new frontier in the context of testing fundamental interactions by exploring the limits of a very precise theoretical prediction, and therefore sensitive to new phenomena that potentially could probe physics beyond the Standard Model.

We are currently working to develop two projects focused on optical cryptography and photothermal spectroscopy coupled to gel electrophoresis.