About me

I am a PhD Student in ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences (Barcelona, Spain), where I am a member of the plasmon nano-optics research group. My supervisor is Dr. Romain Quidant.

My research is focused primarily on optimizing light-matter interaction with very small quantities of matter down to the single molecule level. In particular, I am exploring novel ways to control the optical response of nanoantennas in a dynamical and deterministic way by using higher order beams, such as Hermite-Gaussians and Laguerre-Gaussians.

In general, I am interested in: light-matter interaction at the nanoscale, optical nanoantennas, nanofabrication, optical nanoscopy, statistical physics, Brownian motion, and optical tweezers.

Selected publications in peer reviewed journals

1. Controlling the optical near field of nanoantennas with spatial phase-shaped beams
   Giorgio Volpe, Sudhir Cherukulappurath, Roser Juanola Parramon, Gabriel Molina-Terriza, Romain Quidant
   Nano Letters, [Online publication] (2009), doi: 10.1021/nl901821s
   We report on a novel approach, based on sub-wavelength spatial phase variations at the focus of high-order beams, to reconfigure the optical near field distribution near plasmonic nanostructures. We first show how the introduction of phase jumps in the incident field driving a gap nanoantenna strongly affects its near field response. Beyond, we demonstrate the feasibility of exploiting this approach to selectively switch on and off hot-spots sites within a complex antenna architecture. highlighted in Nature Photonics
2. Brownian motion in a non-homogeneous force field and photonic force microscope
   Giorgio Volpe, Giovanni Volpe, and Dmitri Petrov
   Physical Review E, 76, 061118, 2007
   The photonic force microscope (PFM) is an opto-mechanical technique that uses an optically trapped probe to measure forces in the range of pico to femto Newton. For a correct use of the PFM, the force field has to be homogeneous on the scale of the Brownian motion of the trapped probe. This condition implicates that the force field must be conservative, excluding the possibility of a rotational component. However, there are cases where these assumptions are not fulfilled. Here, we show how to expand the PFM technique in order to deal with these cases. We introduce the theory of this enhanced PFM and we propose a concrete analysis workflow to reconstruct the force field from the experimental time series of the probe position. Furthermore, we experimentally verify some particularly important cases, namely, the case of a conservative and of a rotational force field.

Divulgative publications

1. Magical Metamaterials
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 6, 6 Magic lies in the beauty of a powerful illusion. This is what the latest achievements in optics seem to suggest; metamaterials are now able to optically turn one object into another.
2. Refractive Index: To the Limit and Beyond
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 6, 2 Beyond what is naturally possible... metamaterials offer new unexplored opportunities to manipulate light. Researchers show the possibility to enhance the index of refraction of a material beyond natural limits.
3. Another Brick in the Nanowall
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 5, 4 Scientists, just as nano-architects would, are exploring different ways to design nanostructures with fine control over shape and position. A brand-new approach now allows one to build 2D nanowalls up by laying them down brick by brick.
4. Images Worth a Thousand... Birefringent Molecules
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 4, 6 An image is worth a thousand words when describing complex physical phenomena such as temperature distributions, air flows and brain waves; a recently developed technique can now help us actually picture birefringent fluids at the nanoscale.
5. Twisting the Knob of Light
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 4, 3 Tuning nano-antennas may soon become as simple as tuning a radio to our favorite station — this is the new promise of nano-photonics.
6. Honey, I Shrunk the Microscope
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 3, 4 Many of the everyday objects that we use are small enough to fit in our pockets. Take cell phones, with all their different accessories, for instance: are they also likely to come equipped with microscopes the size of a US quarter one day?
7. An Ultraviolet Laser Diode
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 3, 2 Laser diodes are the cheapest and most reliable lasers; nevertheless, they have hardly been able to emit in UV until now. This last barrier has now been broken, thus enabling potential and important applications, ranging from medicine to security issues.
8. The Polymer and the Hummingbird's Wing
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 2, 5 Hummingbirds are unique and amazing birds: they can hover mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings. Even more amazing is the fact that an artificial polymer, which oscillates when exposed to laser light, can flutter like a hummingbird’s wing.
9. Will Excitonic Circuits Change Our Lives?
   Optics & Photonics Focus, 2, 3 Transistors that process signals by emitting flashes of light: is this the milestone of a technological revolution in computation? Whether this scenario is science or fiction, only the future will tell.
10. Nanoscopy: Shedding Light on Life
    Optics & Photonics Focus, 1, 4 Where traditional optical microscopy fails, a new tool, the nanoscope, overcomes the last barrier: the diffraction limit. It can explore the interior of cells in 3D, non-invasively, and with nanometric resolution.
11. Rewinding Plasmons Back in Time
    Optics & Photonics Focus, 1, 2 Day-to-day life common sense often does not apply in science. But sometimes it works better than any other approach. Scouts know that retracing back clear markers on the way can avoid getting lost, the same principle has been recently proved to work in nanoplasmonics.