Research interests
My research interests focus on the control of nanomechanical objects through their interaction with electromagnetic fields. In particular I am working on three main research lines:
Polarization Optomechanics: Combining mechanical elements with chiral metasurfaces we investigate the dynamical control of light polarization in the near-infrared range. The main results are relevant in the field of (quantum) telecommunication and fast polarimetry of light.
Strain engineering of 2D materials: By using micromechanical elements as actuators, we aim at realizing deterministic strain profiles in graphene or 2D-TMDs in order to tune their electronic and optical properties as well as to investigate the emergence of more exotic phenomena such as pseudo-magnetic fields.
THz Optomechanics: By including external or internal mechanical elements to THz Quantum Cascade Lasers we aim at introducing novel laser functionalities such as dynamical far-field control, mode-lockiing, etc.
Biographical sketch
I graduated from University in Pisa in 2006, defending a thesis on the theoretical optical properties of Si/Ge multi-quantum-wells analyzed with the tight-binding technique. Moving to University of Trento for my PhD, under the supervision of prof. Lorenzo Pavesi, I started to focus on experimental Si photonics, in particular on silicon nanocrystals as active material in different cavity systems. In my first post-doc at NEST – Scuola Normale Superiore and CNR-Nano, in Alessandro Tredicucci's group, I moved from the Near-Infrared to the THz spectral range, where I developed efficient, room-temperature detectors based on semiconductor nanowires and smart photonic structure from light extraction and control in Quantum Cascade Lasers. Joining my new and past expertises on photonics and charge transport, I won a Marie Curie fellowship with the aim of devising opto-electro-mechanical systems under the supervision of prof. Oskar Painter at the California Institute of Technology. After going back to NEST in 2014 and obtaining a permanent position in 2017, I am currently consolidating new research lines in near-infrared and THz optomechanics, as well as in strain engineering in 2D materials
Selected publications
F. Colangelo, A. Pitanti, V. Mišeikis, C. Coletti, P. Pingue, D. Pisignano, F. Beltram, A. Tredicucci and S. Roddaro, Controlling local deformation in graphene using micrometric polymeric actuators, 2D Mat. 5, 045032 (2018)
L. Masini, A. Pitanti, L. Baldacci, M. S. Vitiello, R. Degl'Innocenti, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie and A. Tredicucci, Continuous-wave laser operation of a dipole antenna terahertz microresonator, Light Sci. Appl. 6, e17054 (2017)
J. M. Fink, M. Kalaee, A. Pitanti, R. Norte, L. Heinzle, M. Davanço, K. Srinivasan and O. Painter, Quantum electromechanics on silicon nitride nanomembranes, Nat. Comm. 7, 12396 (2016)
A. Pitanti, J. M. Fink, A. H. Safavi-Naeini, C.U Lei, J. T. Hill, A.Tredicucci and O. Painter, Strong opto-electro-mechanical coupling in a silicon photonic crystal cavity, Opt. Expr., 23, 228907 (2015).
A. Pitanti, D. Ercolani, L. Sorba, S. Roddaro, F. Beltram, L. Nasi, G. Salviati and A. Tredicucci, InAs/InP/InSb Nanowires as Low Capacitance n-n Heterojunction Diodes, Phys. Rev. X 1, 011006 (2011).
A. Pitanti, M. Ghulinyan, D. Navarro-Urrios, G. Pucker and L. Pavesi, Probing the spontaneous emission dynamics in Si-nc based microdisk resonators, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 103901 (2010).