Bottegoni Federico

Federico Bottegoni is an Associate Professor of the Physics Department at Politecnico di Milano. His experimental research activity focuses on semiconductor spintronics and spin-orbitronics. The main objective of his work is to achieve active control of the spin degree of freedom in systems compatible with microelectronic technologies. To this end, optical generation of spin-polarized carriers is combined with electrical detection techniques based on spin–charge interconversion phenomena, such as the spin Hall effect and the Rashba–Edelstein effect. These studies are carried out in silicon- and germanium-based heterostructures, as well as at interfaces with metals and topological insulators.

For these investigations, dedicated optical and magnetotransport experimental setups are designed and employed, including Kerr microscopy, operating also at cryogenic temperatures. The experimental measurements are complemented by numerical modeling and computational simulations to extract key parameters such as spin lifetimes and spin diffusion lengths, as well as the efficiencies of spin and orbital angular momentum injection in semiconductor nanostructures.

His research particularly focuses on the generation, dynamics, and transport of spin currents in group-IV semiconductors, such as silicon and germanium, and in their heterostructures. Another line of research concerns spin–charge conversion processes in materials with strong spin–orbit coupling, including heavy metals, topological insulators, and two-dimensional materials such as graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides. Metal–semiconductor junctions for the transport of spin-polarized currents are also investigated, together with heterostructures composed of thin films of metals with strong spin–orbit interaction deposited on semiconductor substrates.