NNL is an interdisciplinary Center for research and technology development at the nanoscale. Its primary aim is the design and investigation of nanosystems resulting from either bottom-up (self-assembly and molecular engineering) or top-down (nanofabrication) approaches, for applications in electronics, photonics, energy harvesting, the life sciences, nanomedicine, security. The main research areas are:
Materials: Solid-state hetero/nanostructures; Colloidal nanoparticles and nanocapsules; Organic polymers; Nanofibers; Nanocomposites.
Devices: Nanoresonators, filters, waveguides, single-photon emitters for photonics and quantum cryptography; MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems); OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), and OLEFETs (Organic Light Emitting Field Effect Transitors); Solar cells; LabOnChip; Nanobiosensors; Nanodevices based on spintronics and molecular electronics.
Theoretical modelling and computation: Development of Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods.
Fundamental studies in quantum science.
At present NNL consists of approx. 100 staff (including CNR scientists, University associates, post-doctoral research assistants and students) from a wide range of disciplines (physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, biotechnology and medicine).