Home - Applied nanoPhysics Group

Center for Bionanoscience Research (CIBION), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET)
Physics Department, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires (UBA)

Using optical methods, we explore the properties and technological applications of nanoparticles, single molecules, nanostructured materials, supramolecular assemblies, biological and hybrid nanosystems.

The Applied nanoPhysics Group was launched in October 2009 at the Physics Department, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA)

In 2012 we moved our labs to the Center for Bionanoscience Research (CIBION) of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), while Prof. Stefani still holds his position at the Physics Department of the University of Buenos Aires.

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Fluorescence nanoscopy.

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, also known as fluorescence nanoscopy, has revolutionized biological imaging because they provide deep sub-wavelenght spatial resolution while keeping the low-invasiveness of far-field optical interrogation. We apply and optimize well-established methods like STED and STORM, and develop new ones, such as MINFLUX, and open-source software for fluorescence nanoscopy. With them, we address questions of cellular and neuronal biology.

Optical printing colloidal nanoparticles.

Colloidal chemistry enables the fabrication of nanoparticles of different shapes, sizes and material compositions, that exhibit unique physical and chemical properties, inexistent in bulk materials. In order to make use of those properties in devices and circuits, it is necessary to develope methods to bring the colloidal nanoparticles from the liquid phase to specific locations of solid substrates. We address this challenge using optical forces.

Self-assembled Nanophotonic Devices.

Semiconductor-based devices are approaching intrinsic limits of speed and heat dissipation.
Optical devices are faster and practically loss-less, but their size miniaturization is limited by the wavelength of light. Nanophotonics and Plasmonics deals with the manipulation of light at the nanoscale. We investigate light-matter interaction between single-photon emitters and metallic nanoparticles organized in nanodevices by self-assembly.

LATESTS NEWS

1st Meeting of Young Researchers in Bionanosciences

nano_x7n4r02021-03-20T21:14:27+00:00May 7th, 2019|

Students and young researchers from various disciplines working in the field of Bionanosciences gathered at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) to share and discuss their projects, ideas, and perspectives. The meeting was organized by graduate and undergraduate students doing research at CIBION, the National University of San Martín [...]

Research stay of Dr. Florian Steiner from LMU

nano_x7n4r02021-03-20T21:26:20+00:00April 4th, 2019|

Dr. Florian Steiner, postdoc in Prof. Tinnefeld's group at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, visited our lab during the last month to learn about our new pulsed-interleaved MINFLUX set-up. During his stay, Florian (on the right; are those sunglasses??) worked closely with Ph.D. candidate Luciano Masullo (on the left, with proper laser safety [...]

Congratulations Dr. Ponzio!

nano_x7n4r02021-03-20T21:28:04+00:00March 20th, 2019|

Today, Rodrigo Andrés Ponzio defended his doctoral thesis “Energy transfer in nanostructured organic materials” at the Physics Department of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, obtaining the highest honors. His thesis was carried out under the supervision of Dr. Fernando Stefani at CIBION and Dr. Rodrigo Palacios at the [...]

Size-Selective Optical Printing of Silicon Nanoparticles

nano_x7n4r02021-03-20T21:36:13+00:00March 18th, 2019|

Recently, silicon nanoparticles have raised interest in the plasmonics community they present size-dependent electric and magnetic resonances in the visible range. However, their widespread application has been limited (in comparison to metallic nanoparticles, for example) because their preparation on monodisperse colloids remains challenging. In our recent paper in ACS Photonics, [...]

Asymmetric bifunctional protein nanoparticles through redesign of self-assembly

nano_x7n4r02021-03-21T12:09:24+00:00February 28th, 2019|

We have been using DNA self-assembly for a while now. DNA-origami is a wonderful technique to build nanoscopic optical breadboards for our experiments. While DNA is highly versatile, it has the disadvantage of being fluffy... In fact, life uses proteins to build stuff, not DNA. So why not trying to [...]

Visiting Professor Marcelo Nollmann

nano_x7n4r02021-03-21T12:58:03+00:00October 30th, 2018|

We are glad to welcome Dr. Marcelo Nollmann from the Center for Structural Biochemistry in Montpellier (CNRS/INSERM) as visiting Professor at the Physics Department of the University of Buenos Aires During his stay, Dr. Nollmann will give a course for graduate and undergraduate students of the Faculty of Exacts [...]

Dr. Mariano Barella visits Imperial College London

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T01:20:56+00:00October 20th, 2018|

As part of our collaboration with the group of Prof. Stefan Maier, Dr. Mariano Barella travelled to London for a research stay at Imperial College. During his stay, Mariano will discuss and perform kick-off experiments for a new project with Dr. Julian Gargiulo, an ex-member of our lab currently working [...]

Julián Gargiulo: best doctoral thesis on Experimental Physics of Argentina 2016-2017

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T01:31:50+00:00September 22nd, 2018|

The Argentine Physics Association (AFA) has elected the thesis of Julián Gargiulo as the best doctoral thesis on Experimental Physics of Argentina for the period 2016-2017. Every year, the AFA awards the Juan José Giambiagi Prize to the best doctoral thesis on Physics carried out in Argentina. Alternately, one year [...]