CURRICULUM

Dr. Michele Ortolani, PhD

Born in Rome, Italy, November 5th 1977

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY:

Since 2011: Assistant Professor (Ricercatore) – Physics Department, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy.

2008 to 2011: Researcher and Project Coordinator at Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnology of the National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy.

2006 to 2008: Post-doctoral researcher at the BESSY–II Synchrotron Radiation Facility (now Helmoltz Zentrum Berlin), Berlin, Germany.

2005: Post-doctoral fellowship a the ELETTRA Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Trieste, Italy.

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY:

My experimental research activity is focused on terahertz, far-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging with advanced experimental tools:

- Infrared synchrotron radiation and infrared free-electron lasers;

- Quantum cascade lasers and quantum-well sources and detectors;

- Spectroscopy of solids at low temperatures and low electromagnetic frequencies;

- Scanning near-field infrared microscopy and related nanofabrication activites.

I have coordinated a ‘FIRB – Futuro in Ricerca’ (Young Investigator research grant) project for 4 years at IFN-CNR on the integration of terahertz antennas into microelectronic devices for the study of two-dimensional plasmons. I have been the Principal Investigator of a 1-year User Proposal at the Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories in California (USA) for the development of novel plasmonic devices.

At present, I am the head of a research unit of a FET-OPEN FP7 project on semiconductor nanoantennas for mid-infrared plasmonics and sensing. In the frame of my research activity, I have been the supervisor for 10 bachelor students, 4 master students, 2 PhD students and 3 post-doc researchers.

PUBLICATIONS and BIBLIOMETRY:

- for an always up-to-date publication list see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=z5AmoLkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao or https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michele_Ortolani

- I am the author of more than 100 publications on international peer-reviewed journals (among which 25 as the first author and 5 as the last author; more than half without my PhD supervisor; 1 in Nature Nanotechnology, 1 in Nano Letters, 6 in Physical Review Letters);

- I am co-author of 47 conference proceedings;

- 1 book chapter www.crcpress.com/Handbook-of-Enhanced-Spectroscopy/Chapelle-Gucciardi-LidgiGuigui/9789814613323;

- about 60 contributions to international conferences and workshops (among which 10 invited presentations and 22 contributed oral presentations have been delivered personally).

INVITED PRESENTATIONS to international conferences:

‘Tip-enhanced infrared nanospectroscopy of single and double biomolecular layer’

New synchrotron Radiation and Optical Techniques: from Single Molecules to Cells ICTP, Trieste, Italy, 2015

‘Intrinsic hydrodynamic nonlinearity of a two-dimensional electron gas’

4th Russia–Japan–USA Symposium on Fundamental and Applied Problems of Terahertz Devices & Technologies, Chernogolovka, Russia, 2015.

‘Sub-Terahertz Mixer based on Heterostructure Field Effect Transistor with Integrated Antennas’

IEEE European conf. on Antennas and Propagation, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2013

‘Dark and Bright Surface Plasmon Resonances for Mid-Infrared Sensing’

IEEE Conf. on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz) Australia, 2012

‘Quasi-optical terahertz detectors based on compound semiconductor heterostructures’

6es Journées Térahertz, La Grande-Motte, France, 2011

‘Monolithic Focal Plane Arrays for Terahertz Active Imaging’

SPIE Photonics West, Quantum sensing and nanophotonic devices, San Francisco, USA, 2011

‘Perspectives in the Design of Focal Plane Arrays for Terahertz Active Spectroscopic Imaging’

IEEE Conf. on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves, Rome, Italy 2010

‘Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopic Ellipsometry for Material Identification’

International Conference on Frontiers in Diagnostic Technologies (ICFDT) Frascati, Italy, 2009

‘The Restricted Optical Sum Rule in selected metals and in other strongly correlated systems’

International Workshop OpticSumRule07, Rome, Italy, 2007

‘Infrared Investigation of the Superconducting State of p-doped Diamond and Related Materials’

Gordon Conference on Superconductivity, Les Diablerets, Switzerland, 2007

GRANTED APPLICATIONS:

'Germanium mid-infrared plasmonics for sensing (GEMINI)'

(FP7-ICT-2013-X FET X-Track)

Research Unit coordinator

The project aims at investigating the application of heavily-doped Ge as a plasmonic material for mid-infrared plasmon-enhanced sensing. The consortium comprises the University of Glasgow, the University of Konstanz, and Politecnico di Milano.

Years: 2014 to 2017

Total amount granted to the project: € 1 737 205

'Near-field spectroscopic imaging probes for the mid-infrared based on epitaxial semiconductor plasmonics'

(Molecular Foundry User Proposal at Lawrence Berkeley National labs, Berkeley (CA), United States)

Principal Investigator

The project aimed at exploiting heavily-doped epitaxial Ge on Si for the fabrication of mid-infrared plasmonic near-field probes by means of focused ion beam milling.

Years: 2014 to 2015

'Electrodynamics of Two-dimensional electron gases for the detection of terahertz radiation'

Principal Investigator

(Italian Ministry of Reserach - FIRB Futuro in Ricerca, 2008)

The project aimed at designing and fabricating nanoscale terahertz devices based on two-dimensional electron systems in semiconductor heterostructures. Detectors and mixers were produced in the clean-room and studied with home-built terahertz spectrometers.

Years: 2010 to 2014

Total amount granted to the project: € 366 000

More than 10 beam time proposal approved as Principal Investigator at Helmoltz Zentrum Berlin and Helmoltz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (many still ongoing)