Contacts:

• Dr. Gualtiero Nunzi Conti, g.nunziconti@ifac.cnr.it
• Dr. Silvia Soria Huguet, s.soria@ifac.cnr.it
• Dr. Stefano Pelli, s.pelli@ifac.cnr.it
• Dr. Daniele Farnesi, d.farnesi@ifac.cnr.it
• Dr. Gabriele Frigenti, g.frigenti@ifac.cnr.it

Confinement of light into small volumes has become an essential requirement for photonic devices; examples of this trend are provided by optical fibers, integrated optical circuits, semiconductor lasers, and photonic crystals. Optical dielectric resonators supporting Whispering Gallery Modes (WGMs) represent another class of cavity devices with exceptional properties, like extremely small mode volume, very high power density, and very narrow spectral linewidth. WGMs are now known since more than 100 years, after the papers published by John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh), but their importance as unique tools to study nonlinear optical phenomena or quantum electrodynamics, and for application to very lowthreshold microlasers as well as very sensitive microsensors, has been recognized only in recent years.

• G. Nunzi Conti, S. Berneschi, A. Barucci, F. Cosi, S. Soria, C. Trono, Fiber ring laser for intracavity sensing using a Whispering Gallery Mode resonator, Opt. Lett. 37, 2697-2699 (2012). Featured at SPIE Newsroom 
• L. Pasquardini, S. Berneschi, A. Barucci, F. Cosi, R. Dallpiccola, L. Lunelli, G. Nunzi Conti, C. Pederzolli, and S. Soria, “Whispering Gallery Modes Aptasensors for detection of blood proteins”, J. Biophotonics 1–10 (2012) / DOI 10.1002/jbio.201200013
• S. Berneschi, D. Farnesi, F. Cosi, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, S. Soria, “High Q silica microbubble resonators fabricated by arc discharge”, Opt. Lett., vol. 36, pp. 3521-3523 (2011).
• S. Soria, S. Berneschi, M. Brenci, F. Cosi, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, “Optical Microspherical Resonators for Biomedical Sensing”, Sensors, vol. 11, pp. 785‑805 (2011).
• G.C. Righini, Y. Duimenge, P. Feron, M. Ferrari, G. Nunzi Conti, D. Ristic and S. Soria, “Whispering Gallery mode microresonators: fundamentals and applications”, Rivista del Nuovo Cimento, 34 (7) 435-488 (2011).
• A. Chiasera, Y. Dumeige, P. Féron, M. Ferrari, Y. Jestin, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, S. Soria, G.C. Righini, “Spherical whispering-gallery-mode microresonators”, Laser & Photonics Reviews, vol. 4, pp. 457‑482 (2010).
• Optical Microcavities for antibiotics and steroids detection, in collaboration with Prof. Pilar Marco (Applied Molecular Receptors group (AMRg), IQAC-CSIC, Jordi Girona, 18-26, 08034-Barcelona, Spain), Bilateral Project CNR-CSIC.

• P.-H. Merrer, K. Saleh, O. Llopis, S. Berneschi, F. Cosi, and G. Nunzi Conti, “Characterization technique of optical whispering gallery mode resonators in the microwave frequency domain for optoelectronic oscillators”, to be published in Applied Optics (2012).
• G. Nunzi Conti, S. Berneschi, F. Cosi, S. Pelli, S. Soria, G.C. Righini, M. Dispenza, A. Secchi, “Planar coupling to high-Q lithium niobate disk resonators”, Opt.Exp., vol. 19, pp. 3651‑3656 (2011).

• A. Rasoloniaina, S. Trebaol, V. Huet, E. Le Cren, G. Nunzi Conti, H. Serier-Brault, M. Mortier, Y. Dumeige,and P. Féron, “High-gain wavelength-selective amplification and cavity ring down spectroscopy in a fluoride glass erbium-doped microsphere”, Optics Letters 37, 4735-4737 (2012)
• G.C. Righini, F. Cosi, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, S. Soria, E. Moser, Y. Jestin, M. Ferrari, P. Féron, A. Chiasera, A. Chiappini, C. Armellini, “Photonic properties and applications of glass micro- and nanospheres”, physica status solidi (a) 206, 898‑903 (2009)
• G.C. Righini, S. Berneschi, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, E. Moser, R. Retoux, P. Féron, R.R. Gonçalves, G. Speranza, Y. Jestin, M. Ferrari, A. Chiasera, A. Chiappini, C. Armellini, “Er3+-doped silica-hafnia films for optical waveguides and spherical resonators" Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 355, 1853‑1860 (2009)

Contacts:

• Dr. S. Soria, s.soria@ifac.cnr.it

We develop white light sources based on the supercontinuum generation from commercial photonic crystal fibres for Biophotonics applications through several collaborations, national and international. The coherent white light can be tuned by varying the wavelength and intensity of the pump, a Ti:Sapphire laser. There are several advantages in the use of SC sources:spatially coherent white radiation, tuning ranges of approximately 400 nm, high brightness, a robust compact system (potentially all-fibre) and relatively low cost. Being pulsed, SC source are suitable for FLIM and can be used for FRET measurement.

Higher Order Mode Supercontinuum Generation

In collaboration with Prof. Stefano Taccheo, University of Swansea, United Kingdom

Special Lattices: Kagome Fiber

In collaboration with Dr. Julia Skibina, Saratov University, Russian Federation.

We propose to develop an innovative photonic switching device exploiting the characteristics of resonant cavities constituted by surface modified dielectric spherical or cylindrical resonators where light propagation occurs through high quality factor (Q) whispering gallery modes (WGM). These devices are based on a system composed of a modified surface resonator and a coupler which couples light into the WGM resonator (WGMR) itself. Research challenges in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed switcher will include the selection of the device materials and geometries, fabrication and replication technologies, light coupling architectures, surface modification strategies, chip integration levels, etc. Different approaches on all theses issues will indeed be investigated in the course of the project aiming to implement a compact, robust, and reduced cost all-optical switching device. 

I. Razdolskiy, S. Berneschi, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, T.V. Murzina, G. Righini, and S. Soria, Hybrid microspheres for nonlinear Kerr switching devices, Optics Express, Vol. 19, Issue 10, pp. 9523-9528 (2011)  

T. V. Murzina, S. Berneschi, A. Barucci, F. Cosi, G. Nunzi Conti, I, Razdolskiy and S. Soria, Kerr versus thermal non-linear effects studied by hybrid whispering gallery mode resonators [Invited], Opt. Mat. Express 2, 1088-1094 (2012). # 7 Most downloaded paper in Nonlinear Optics and Nonlinear Optics Materials over 2012 from Opt. Mat. Express

Projects

– Short term mobility program for Prof. Tatyana Murzina (Department of Physics, Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia)

– Composite microcavities for nonlinear-optical switching and amplifying, in collaboration with Prof. Tatyana Murzina (Department of Physics, Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia), consortium EINSTEIN and RFBR.

Contacts:

• Dr. Stefano Pelli, s.pelli@ifac.cnr.it
• Dr. Gualtiero Nunzi Conti, gnc@ifac.cnr.it

Glass and Glass ceramics slab waveguides

• S. Berneschi, A. Chiappini, M. Ferrari, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, “Erbium doped silica-hafnia glass ceramic waveguides”, Phys. Status Solidi, Vol. 8, pp. 2875‑2879 (2011).
• A. Chiasera, G. Alombert-Goget, M. Ferrari, S. Berneschi, S. Pelli, B. Boulard, C. Duverger Arfuso, “Rare earth–activated glass-ceramic in planar format”, Opt. Eng., vol. 50, p. 071105(2011).
• S. Berneschi, S. Soria, G.C. Righini, G. Alombert-Goget, A. Chiappini, A. Chiasera, Y. Jestin, M. Ferrari, S. Guddala, E. Moser, S.N.B. Bhaktha, B. Boulard, C. Duverger Arfuso, S. Turrell, “Rare-earth-activated glass–ceramic waveguides”, Opt. Mat., vol. 32. pp. 1644‑1647 (2010).
• A.Chiasera, C.Armellini, S.N.B. Bhaktha, A. Chiappini, Y. Jestin, M. Ferrari, E. Moser, A. Coppa, V. Foglietti, P.T. Huy, K. Tran Ngoc, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, G. Speranza “Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ – activated silica­hafnia planar waveguides for photonics fabricated by rf-sputtering" Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 355, 1176‑1179 (2009)
• F. Rey-García, M.T. Flores-Arias ,C. Gómez-Reino, G.F. De La Fuente, W. Assenmacher, W. Mader, S. Berneschi, S. Pelli, G. Nunzi-Conti, G.C. Righini, “Structural and optical characterisation of ZrO₂:CeO₂ slab waveguides obtained via Sol-Gel”, Opt. Mat. 35, 97-101 (2012)

Ion beam irradiation on active glasses and crystals

• I. Bányász, S. Berneschi, N.Q. Khánh, T. Lohner, K. Lengyel, M. Fried, Á. Péter, P. Petrik, Z. Zolnai, A. Watterich, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, “Formation of slab waveguides in eulytine type BGO and CaF₂ crystals by implantation of MeV nitrogen ions”, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 286, 80-84 (2012).
• I. Bányász, S. Berneschi, M. Bettinelli, M. Brenci, M. Fried, N. Q. Khanh, T. Lohner, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, P. Petrik, G. C. Righini, A. Speghini, A. Watterich, and Z. Zolnai, “MeV Energy N⁺-Implanted Planar Optical Waveguides in Er-Doped Tungsten-Tellurite Glass Operating at 1.55 mm”. IEEE Photonics Journal 4, 721-727 (2012)
• S. Berneschi, M. Brenci, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, M. Bettinelli, A. Speghini, I. Banyasz, M. Fried, N.Q. Khanh, T. Lohner, P. Petrik, A. Watterich, Z. Zolnai, “Slab optical waveguides in Er³⁺-doped tellurite glass by N⁺ ion implantation at 1.5 MeV”, Opt.Eng., vol. 50, p. 071110 (2011).
• N.Q. Khánh, S. Berneschi, I. Bányász, M. Brenci, M. Fried, G. Nunzi Conti, F. Pászti, S. Pelli, G.C. Righini, A. Watterich, “Fabrication of channel waveguides in Er³⁺-doped tellurite glass via N⁺ ion implantation.”, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, vol. 267, pp. 2327‑2330 (2009).

Rare earth doped glasses for white light generation

• U. Caldiño, A. Speghini, E. Álvarez, S. Berneschi, M. Bettinelli, M. Brenci, G.C. Righini, “Spectroscopic characterization and optical waveguide fabrication in Ce³⁺, Tb³⁺ and Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺ doped zinc–sodium–aluminosilicate glasses”, Opt. Mat., vol. 33, pp. 1892-1897 (2011).

Contacts:

Dr. Silvia Soria, s.soria@ifac.cnr.it

A large part of our biophotonics research concerns imaging of cells and biological tissue in collaboration with Dr. Franco Quercioli (National Insitute of Optics, CNR-INO, Florence, Italy), Prof. Lucia Formigli (Dept. of Anatomy and Forensic Medicine Department, University of Florence, Florence, Italy), and Prof. Annarosa Arcangeli (Dept. of Experimental Pathology and Oncology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy).

By finely selecting the excitation wavelength with the on-axis monochromator we performed one-photon confocal images of cells stained with a combination of fluorescent dyes (MitoTracker® Red CMXRos for mitochondria, BODIPY® FL phallacidin for F-actin).One-photon FLIM images were also acquired.

We routinely apply our technology to Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) of protein-protein interactions to analyse cell signalling networks for drug discovery and fundamental studies of molecular disease mechanisms.

R. Mercatelli, S. Soria, G. Molesini, F. Bianco, G.C. Righini, and F. Quercioli, “Supercontinuum source tuned by an on-axis monochromator for fluorescence lifetime imaging”, Opt. Express, 18 (1), 20505-20511 (2010). Selected for publication in Virtual Journal of Biomedical Optics, volume 5, issue 13 (2010).

Monica Bucciantini, Daniele Nosi, Mario Forzan, Edda Russo, Martino Calamai, Laura Pieri, Lucia Formigli, Franco Quercioli, Silvia Soria, Francesco Pavone, Jimmy Savistchenko, Ronald Melki, and Massimo Stefani, “Toxic effects of amyloid fibrils on cell membranes: the importance of ganglioside GM1”, FASEB J 26:818-831,doi:10.1096/fj.11-189381IF:6.51 (2012)

S. Taccheo; C. D'Andrea; A. Bassi; R. Cubeddu; K. Schuster; J. Kobelke; K. Morl; S. Soria-Huguet; G. Nunzi Conti; G. C. Righini, Generation of UV and blue light by using off-axis pumping for fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy, Proc. of SPIE 7925 (2011)

S. Taccheo; S. Soria; C. D'Andrea; K. Schuster; A. Bassi; R. Cubeddu; J. Kobelke; K. Morl; G. Nunzi Conti; G. C. Righini; F. Quercioli, Neuronal rat cell imaging using a new UV-extended supercontinuum source, Proc. of SPIE (2012) 8247,art. no.82470D

Monica Bucciantini, Daniele Nosi, Mario Forzan, Edda Russo, Martino Calamai, Laura Pieri, Lucia Formigli, Franco Quercioli, Silvia Soria, Francesco Pavone, Jimmy Savistchenko, Ronald Melki, and Massimo Stefani, “Toxic effects of amyloid fibrils on cell membranes: the importance of ganglioside GM1”, FASEB J 26:818-831, doi:10.1096/fj.11-189381IF:6.51 (2012)

D. Nosi, R. Mercatelli, F. Chellini, S. Soria, L. Formigli and F. Quercioli, A molecular imaging analysis of Cx43 association with Cdo during skeletal myoblast differentiation, J. Biophotonics (2012) DOI: 10.1002/jbio.201200063

Contacts:

• Dr. Stefano Pelli, s.pelli@ifac.cnr.it

Optical sensors have a large impact in the fields of life science research, drug discovery and medical diagnostics. The recent advances in nanotechnology and photonics have led to a new generation of nanotools, capable of probing even the single cell: it has already been demonstrated that nanobiosensors can detect biochemical targets and proteins inside living single cells.

We are able to fabricate nanoprobes consisting of tapered, metal-coated optical fibers having nanosize tips, such as those which were originally developed for use in near-field optical microscopy.

Publications:

A. Barucci, S. Berneschi, F. Cosi, G. Nunzi Conti, S. Pelli, F. Quercioli, S. Soria and G.C. Righini, “Fiber optic nanoprobes for biological sensing", invited paper, Proc. SPIE 8011, 80118X (2011), http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.902801

A. Giannetti, A. Barucci, S. Tombelli, C. Trono, F. Cosi, G. Righini, S. Pelli, F. Baldini, “Survivin mRNA detection by means of Optical Fiber Nanotips coated wuth Molecular Beacons”, SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing 2013, 15 – 18 April, Prague, Czech Republic

A. Giannetti, A. Barucci, S. Tombelli, C. Trono, F. Cosi, G. Righini, S. Pelli, F. Baldini, “Optical fiber nanotips coated with molecular beacons for mRNA detection in cells”, SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing 2013, 29 April – 3 May, Baltimore, USA

A. Giannetti, A. Barucci, S. Tombelli, F. Cosi, G. Righini, S. Pelli, F. Baldini, “Oligonucleotides Switches Coupled to Optical Fiber Nanotips for mRNA Detection in Cells", MAf 13, 13th Conference on Methods and Applications of Fluorescence, 8-11 September 2013, Genova (Italy)

A. Giannetti, A. Barucci, S. Tombelli, F. Cosi, G. Righini, S. Pelli, F. Baldini, “Optical Fiber Nanotips coated with Molecular Beacons for mRNA Detection in Cells", Secondo Workshop del Gruppo Biosensori Ottici e Biofotonica della Società Italiana di Ottica e Fotonica, Sestri Levante (Genova), 19-20 September 2013