HOTMETA

HOTMETA

HOT-carrier METasurfaces for Advanced photonics


Hot carriers, i.e. highly energetic electrons and holes in out-of-equilibrium metals and semiconductors, have recently attracted a huge interest in photonics and optoelectronics. However, despite of the vast literature published in the field, an effective exploitation of hot carriers in nanophotonics remains a challenge. The main reason stems from the complexity inherent to hot-carrier phenomena at the nanoscale, involving short lived (picosecond) out-of-equilibrium electronic states with extremely broad (some electron volts) range of energies, in interaction with thermal electronic and phononic baths. Moreover, the nanostructuring entails high sensitivity of the photogeneration rate to the geometrical configuration at the nanoscale. These issues have prevented a thorough design of nanophotonic devices based on hot carriers, demanding for a highly multidisciplinary approach that is still missing.


The HOTMETA project precisely aims at bridging this gap by exploring a frontier at the intersection between nanoscale electromagnetism, hot carrier physics and metamaterials manufacturing.

Publications

[1] G. Crotti, et al., Giant ultrafast dichroism and birefringence with active nonlocal metasurfaces

Light: Science & Applications, 13, 204 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-024-01545-8

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1279798


[2] M. Maiuri, et al., Ultrafast All-Optical Metasurfaces: Challenges and New Frontiers

ACS Photonics 11, 2888 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.4c00776

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1279797


[3] A. Molinelli, et al., Last Advances on Hydrogel Nanoparticles Composites in Medicine: An Overview with Focus on Gold Nanoparticles

ChemNanoMat 10, e202300584 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cnma.202300584

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1264902


[4] S. Rotta Loria, et al., Numerical Modeling of the Ultrafast Plasmonic Response of Titanium Nitride Nanostructures

J. Phys. Chem. C 128, 19701 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c04932

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1279800


[5] A. Schirato, et al., Quantifying Ultrafast Energy Transfer from Plasmonic Hot Carriers for Pulsed Photocatalysis on Nanostructures

ACS Nano 18, 18933 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c01802

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1279794


[6] A. Schirato, et al., Pump-Selective Spectral Shaping of the Ultrafast Response in Plasmonic Nanostars

J. Phys. Chem. C 128, 2551 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c07267

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1261962


[7] A. Stefancu, et al., Impact of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in Catalysis

ACS Nano 18, 29337 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c06192

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11379/614767


[8] N. Enea, et al., Room temperature amplified spontaneous emission in CsPbBr3 polycrystalline thin films in transmission configuration

AIP Advances 15, 025219 (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0246259

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1414520


[9] G. Crotti, et al., Ultrafast switching of a metasurface quasi-bound state in the continuum via transient optical symmetry breaking

Light: Science & App. 14, 240 (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01885-z

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1294712


[10] F. Habibighahfarokhi, et al. Nonlinear Dielectric Metasurfaces for Terahertz Applications

Photonics 12, 370 (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics12040370

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1291006


[11] Y. Luo, et al., Visualizing hot carrier dynamics by nonlinear optical spectroscopy at the atomic length scale

Nature Communications 16, 4999 (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60384-2

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1291393


[12] O. Pashina, et al., Excitation of surface plasmon-polaritons through optically induced ultrafast transient gratings

Physical Review Applied 25, 014002 (2026). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8gm3-w8n5

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1309265


[13] A. Schirato, et al., Ultrabroadband Excitation of Hot Carriers in Plasmonic Nanorods Revealed by Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy

Adv. Optical Materials 14(7), e03283 (2026). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202503283

OA institutional repository link: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1309221

Research labs