ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences

 

ICFO is a young research institution that aims to advance the very limits of knowledge in Photonics, namely the science and technology of harnessing Light. Light, especially laser light, is one of the major enabling technologies currently available to humankind. Our research thrusts target the global forefront of photonics, and aim to tackle important challenges faced by society at large. We focus on current and future problems in Health, Energy, Information, Safety, Security and caring for the Environment.

Recent Submissions

  • Neuronal stretch reception – making sense of the mechanosense 

    Das, Ravi; Wieser, Stefan; Krieg, Michael (Elsevier, 2019-05-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    The sensation of mechanical force underlies many of our daily activities. As the sense of touch determines the quality of life, the subconscious sense of proprioception and visceral mechanosensation is indispensible for ...

  • Ag2ZnSnS4 Nanocrystals Expand the Availability of RoHS Compliant Colloidal Quantum Dots 

    Saha, Avijit; Figueroba, Alberto; Konstantatos, Gerasimos (ACS, 2020)
    Article
    Open Access
    The demonstration of the quantum confinement effect in colloidal quantum dots (QDs) has been extensively studied and exploited mainly in Pb and Cd chalcogenide systems. There has been an urgent need recently for the ...

  • Mid-infrared Gas Sensing Using Graphene Plasmons Tuned by Reversible Chemical Doping 

    Bareza, Nestor Jr.; Gopalan, Kavitha K.; Alani, Rose; Paulillo, Bruno; Pruneri, Valerio (ACS, 2020-03-18)
    Article
    Open Access
    Highly confined plasmon modes in nanostructured graphene can be used to detect tiny quantities of biological and gas molecules. In biosensing, a specific biomarker can be concentrated close to graphene, where the optical ...

  • Room Temperature Excitation-Emission Spectra of Single LH2 Complexes Show Remarkably Little Variation 

    Gellings, Esther; Cogdell, Richard J; Hulst, Niek F. van (ACS, 2020-03-06)
    Article
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    Excitation spectroscopy gives direct insight in excited state manifold, energy transfer, transient intermediates, vibrations, etc. Unfortunately, excitation spectroscopy of single molecules at ambient conditions has ...

  • Nanoscale Imaging and Control of hexagonal BoronNitride Single Photon Emitters by a Resonant Nano-antenna 

    Palombo Blascetta, Nicola; Liebel, Matz; Lu, Xiaobo; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Efetov, Dmitri K.; Hulst, Niek F. van (American Chemical Society, 2020-02-13)
    Article
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    Defect centers in two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are drawing attention as single photon emitters with high photo-stability at room temperature. With their ultra-high photon-stability, hBN single photon ...

  • Isolating strong nanoantenna-molecule interactions by ensemble-level single-molecule detection 

    Saemisch, Lisa; Liebel, Matz; Hulst, Niek F. van (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2020-01-20)
    Article
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    Traditionally, the nanoscale interaction between single photon emitters and plasmonic nanostructures is studied by relying on deterministic, near-perfect, nanoscale-control, either top-down or bottom-up. However, these ...

  • Rationally designed azobenzene photoswitches for efficient two-photon neuronal excitation 

    Cabré, Gisela; Garrido-Charle, Aida; Moreno, Miquel; Bosch, Miquel; Porta-de-la-Riva, Montserrat; Krieg, Michael; Gascón-Moya, Marta; Camarero, Núria; Gelabert, Ricard; Lluch, José M.; Busqué, Félix; Hernando, Jordi; Gorostiza, Pau; Alibés, Ramon (Nature, 2019-02-22)
    Article
    Open Access
    Manipulation of neuronal activity using two-photon excitation of azobenzene photoswitches with near-infrared light has been recently demonstrated, but their practical use in neuronal tissue to photostimulate individual ...

  • Direction Selectivity in Drosophila Proprioceptors Requires the Mechanosensory Channel Tmc 

    He, Liping; Gulyanon, Sarun; Skanata, Mirna Mihovilovic; Karagyozov, Doycho; Heckscher, Ellie S.; Krieg, Michae; Tsechpenakis, Gavriil; Gershow, Marc; W. Daniel, Tracey, Jr (Sciencedirect, 2019-03-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    Drosophila Transmembrane channel-like (Tmc) is a protein that functions in larval proprioception. The closely related TMC1 protein is required for mammalian hearing and is a pore-forming subunit of the hair cell ...

  • Atomic force microscopy-based mechanobiology 

    Krieg, Michael; Fläschner, Gotthold; Alsteens, David; Gaub, Benjamin M.; Roos, Wouter H.; Wuite, Gijs J. L.; Gaub, Hermann E.; Gerber, Christoph; Dufrêne, Yves F; Mülle, Daniel J. (Nature, 2018-11-01)
    Article
    Open Access
    Mechanobiology emerges at the crossroads of medicine, biology, biophysics and engineering and describes how the responses of proteins, cells, tissues and organs to mechanical cues contribute to development, differentiation, ...

  • Mass sensing for the advanced fabrication of nanomechanical resonators 

    Gruber, G.; Urgell, C.; Tavernarakis, A.; Stavrinadis, A.; Tepsic, S.; Magén, C.; Sangiao, S.; Teresa, J. M. de; Verlot, P.; Bachtold, A. (ACS, 2019-09-03)
    Article
    Open Access
    We report on a nanomechanical engineering method to monitor matter growth in real time via e-beam electromechanical coupling. This method relies on the exceptional mass sensing capabilities of nanomechanical resonators. ...

  • Optomechanical Measurement of Thermal Transport in Two-Dimensional MoSe2 Lattices 

    Morell, Nicolas; Tepsic, Slaven; Reserbat-Plantey, Antoine; Cepellotti, Andrea; Manca, Marco; Epstein, Itai; Isacsson, Andreas; Marie, Xavier; Mauri, Francesco; Bachtold, Adrian (ACS, 2019-04-02)
    Article
    Open Access
    Nanomechanical resonators have emerged as sensors with exceptional sensitivities. These sensing capabilities open new possibilities in the studies of the thermodynamic properties in condensed matter. Here, we use mechanical ...

  • Symphony on strong field approximation 

    Amini, Kasra; Biegert, Jens; Calegari, Francesca; Chacón, Alexis; Ciappina, Marcelo F.; Dauphin, Alexandre; Efimov, Dmitry K.; Faria, Carla Figueira de Morisson; Giergiel, Krzysztof; Gniewek, Piotr; Landsman, Alexandra S.; Lesiuk, Michał; Mandrysz, Michał; Maxwell, Andrew S.; Moszynski, Robert; Ortmann, Lisa; Pérez-Hernández, Jose Antonio; Picón, Antonio; Pisanty, Emilio; Prauzner-Bechcicki, Jakub; Sacha, Krzysztof; Suárez, Noslen; Zaïr, Amelle; Zakrzewski, Jakub; Lewenstein, Maciej (IOP, 2019-10-14)
    Article
    Restricted access - publisher's policy
    This paper has been prepared by the Symphony collaboration (University of Warsaw, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, DESY/CNR and ICFO) on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the ‘simple man’s models’ which underlie most of ...

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