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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

Dr. Alan Szalai visiting Prof. Acuna in Fribourg

May 25th, 2025|

Dr. Alan Szalai traveled to Switzerland for a research stay at the group of our collaborator Prof. Guillermo Acuna at the University of Fribourg. Alan will work on finalizing experiments on DNA-PAINT based nanothermometry together with our former member Dr. Mariano Barella, and performing multi-lab SIMPLER measurements. [...]

Taller de Óptica y Fotónica (TOPFOT) – Encuentro de Estudiantes de Óptica y Fotónica (EEOF)

May 15th, 2025|

We participated in the Taller de Óptica y Fotónica (TOPFOT), an annual workshop organized by Argentina's Territorial Optics Committee (CTO), serves as a crucial forum for discussing the link between Optics and Photonics and other fields of knowledge, featuring national and international speakers who present open problems. Held concurrently [...]

Second round of hands-on training for FOMISUR participants

May 13th, 2025|

Last December, we organized the first edition of our training workshop on super-resolution microscopy (FOMISUR). We were pleased to receive many more applicants than we could accommodate for the lab practices. As a result, we assigned the available slots by prioritizing participants from more distant regions and scheduled a [...]

Group asado and farewell to Giovanni

April 8th, 2025|

It was a great plasure to have Giovanni Ferrari working with us for the last 4 months. We have advanced our projects and had a lot of fun in the way. Now it is time to go back to Munich, but there is still a lot to [...]

New group members: Florian Haberkorn Waigel and Facundo Rouquaud

April 1st, 2025|

Florian (right on the picture) has joined the group to pursue a Ph.D. working on single-particle tracking inside human neurons using p-MINFLUX. He has obtained a CONICET fellowship under the direction of Prof. Stefani and co-direction of Dr. Tomás Falzone of IBIOBA. Facundo Rouquaud (left on the picture) has [...]

New group members: Matías Laborero and Lautaro Mancini

March 10th, 2025|

Matías Laborero (right) and Lautaro Mancini (left) have joined our group as undergraduate students of the Physics Department of Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires, to make a lab internship. They will implement and train a neural network to clasify astigmatic single moecule [...]

Guidelines for 3D MINFLUX excitation pattern design

March 10th, 2025|

MINFLUX nanoscopy pushes the boundaries of optical resolution by localizing single fluorophores with minimal excitation, providing valuable new insight about the structures and functions of biological systems at the nanoscale. MINFLUX is based on registering the number of photons emitted by the target fluorophore when it is excited with [...]

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THE GROUP

PROF. DR. FERNANDO D. STEFANI
PROF. DR. FERNANDO D. STEFANIPrincipal Investigator
DR. LUCÍA LÓPEZ
DR. LUCÍA LÓPEZStaff Researcher and Lab Manager
Dr. ALAN SZALAI
Dr. ALAN SZALAIAssistant Researcher
Super-resolution fluorescence microscpy, Single-molecule biophysics
DR. JULIÁN GARGIULO
DR. JULIÁN GARGIULOAssistant Researcher (INS-UNSAM, CIBION)
Optical printing colloidal nanoparticles. Plasmon-assisted chemistry.
FLORIAN HABERKORN WAIGEL
FLORIAN HABERKORN WAIGELPh.D. candidate in Physics (University of Buenos Aires)
Single-particle tracking with p-MINFLUX
FACUNDO ROUQUAUD
FACUNDO ROUQUAUDUndergraduate student in Physics (University of Buenos Aires)
pulsed-interleavead STED-FRET
GONZALO ESCALANTE
GONZALO ESCALANTEPh.D. candidate in Physics (University of Buenos Aires)
Super-resolution imaging of protein organization
FLORENCIA CHOQUE
FLORENCIA CHOQUEPh.D. candidate in Physics (University of Buenos Aires)
pulsed interleaved MINFLUX
FLORENCIA EDORNA
FLORENCIA EDORNAPh.D. candidate in Physics (University of Buenos Aires)
Single-molecule localization through sequential structured illumination
LOURDES SIMÓ
LOURDES SIMÓUndergraduate student in Physics (University of Buenos Aires)
3D super-resolution imaging
GROUP PICTURES

COLLABORATORS

STEFAN HELL
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen, Germany)

THOMAS JOVIN
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen, Germany)

ALFREDO CÁCERES
Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Biomédidas de Córdoba (Córdoba, Argentina)

PHILIP TINNEFELD
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (Germany)

GUILLERMO ACUNA
University of Fribourg (Switzerland)

ANDRÉS ZELCER
Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

ANDREA BRAGAS
University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)

DARÍO KRAPF
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR – Santa Fe, Argentina)

SABRINA SIMONCELLI
University College London (UK)

DAMIAN REFOJO
Biomedicine Research Institute of Buenos Aires (Argentina)

RODRIGO PALACIOS
Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (Córdoba, Argentina)

OSCAR CAMPETELLA
Universidad Nacional de General San Martín (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

SPONSORS

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