Multidimensional Microscope Developed at Università Cattolica
Researchers at Università Cattolica’s Brescia campus have developed a wide-field coherent multidimensional microscope that records the behavior of high-tech materials across time frames lasting a few millionths of a billionth of a second. Coordinated by Professor Claudio Giannetti, dean of the faculty and director of the Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Materials Physics (ILAMP), the research was published in the journal Optica. The instrument illuminates a sample with a sequence of ultrashort laser light pulses to observe how electrons interact step by step in different regions of a microelectronic device.
Testing Tungsten Diselenide in Brescia Laboratories
The multidimensional microscope was built at the ILAMP laboratories through a collaboration involving Politecnico di Milano, KU Leuven, the University of British Columbia, and the CNR. The delicate process of creating identical light pulses was developed with NIREOS S.r.l., a spin-off of Politecnico di Milano specializing in photonics. Scientists tested the device on a sheet of tungsten diselenide just a few atomic layers thick. This graphene-like optoelectronic material revealed how properties change across different positions in a microdevice, highlighting mechanisms that restrict free electron movement.
Potential Applications in Solar Cells and Quantum Computing
The technique detects imperfections affecting electrical transport and energy exchange, data that can assist in designing more efficient solar cells, faster LEDs, sensors, and electronic devices. ILAMP is also exploring synergy with the Q-META project to study biological systems and cancer cell metabolism. These findings initiate a new research field aimed at observing and controlling quantum properties to build qubits for quantum computers capable of operating at much higher temperatures and speeds than current technology permits.
How Does the New Multidimensional Microscope Operate?
How fast does the new multidimensional microscope operate?
The instrument tracks phenomena occurring over extremely short time frames on the order of a few millionths of a billionth of a second using ultrashort laser pulses.
Which institutions collaborated to build the microscope?
The research was coordinated by Università Cattolica’s Brescia campus in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano, KU Leuven, the University of British Columbia, the CNR, and photonics spin-off NIREOS S.r.l.
What material was used to test the microscope?
Scientists tested the instrument on a small sheet of tungsten diselenide, a graphene-like material only a few atomic layers thick that is valuable for optoelectronics.
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