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

New open-source software for the quantification of protein periodic structures

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T11:47:31+00:00November 23rd, 2017|

Fluorescence nanoscopy is enabling the visualization and discovery of periodic protein structures in their natural environment. Remarkable examples are the nuclear pore complex or the membrane-associated periodic cytoskeleton of neurons (MPS). The MPS of neurons can be visualized by fluorescence nanoscopy (e.g. STED) but is invisible using conventional microscopy (e.g. [...]

Se reduce nuevamente el presupuesto para Ciencia y Tecnología

nano_x7n4r02020-06-02T21:54:17+00:00November 21st, 2017|

Es importante que los miembros de la comunidad científica y sus socios industriales conozcan la evolución de la inversión pública en el sistema científico-tecnológico. El proyecto de ley de presupuesto enviado por el Poder Ejecutivo Nacional (PEN) plantea una nueva reducción de la inversión pública en ciencia y técnica. Para [...]

Happy 60th birthday Niek van Hulst!

nano_x7n4r02020-05-20T23:27:30+00:00October 21st, 2017|

On friday 20th of October, friends and colleagues of Prof. Dr. Niek van Hulst came together from around the globe, to celebrate his 60th birthday discussing some of Niek´s favorite topics in Nanophotonics: Manipulation and control of molecular beams Precision spectroscopy of molecular hydrogen and the search for new physics [...]

Dr. Guillermo Acuna visiting professor

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T11:51:55+00:00October 10th, 2017|

Our close collaborator Dr. Guillermo Acuna from the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany) was in Buenos Aires, from September 5th to October 7th, as visiting professor of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. Dr. Guillermo Acuna giving a lecture at the Physics Department [...]

Innovar Award for the automated optical printing of colloidal nanoparticles

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T11:54:19+00:00October 8th, 2017|

The optical manipulation team of our lab was recognized with the Innovar Award 2017 for the method of automated optical printing of colloidal nanoparticles. Congratulations to Santiago Cerrotta, Germán Chiarelli, Cecilia Zaza, Ianina Violi! Of course, also to Julián Gargiulo, who is not in the photo because he is at [...]

Manipulation of nanoscale heat dissipation to improve optical printing

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T14:55:23+00:00September 17th, 2017|

Optical printing is a wonderful tool to fabricate arrays of colloidal nanoparticles on solid substrates. However, when a nanoparticle absorbs light, it heats up and generates very large temperature gradients. In turn, those temperature gradients produce thermo-phoretic and thermo-osmotic forces that are strong enough to disturb the optical manipulation of [...]

Precision and mechanistic details of optical

nano_x7n4r02021-03-22T15:18:24+00:00September 1st, 2017|

Optical printing is a wonderful tool to capture colloidal nanoparticles from suspension and place them on specific positions of a substrate. Still, the mechanistic details of the processes involved are complex and not fully understood. In our recent publication in ACS Nano, we provide new insight into the mechanism of [...]

Summer festival meeting with Prof. Hell

nano_x7n4r02020-06-02T22:30:59+00:00August 3rd, 2017|

During the summer festival of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, we had the chance to discuss with Stefan about the impact and future development of MINFLUX. Thank you Stefan for the constant support!