Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture - International School of Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy

Director: Prof. Baldassare Di Bartolo

The purpose of the International School of Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy is two-fold:

1. To bring the workers in spectroscopy and related disciplines up to date on the new experimental and theoretical developments in this field of research, and
2. To create an opportunity for the researchers in the various sub-fields of spectroscopy to discuss their problems in an interdisciplinary framework.

Spectroscopic investigations are concerned with phenomena observed when the radiation from a source, separated into its various wavelengths, is made to interact with the constituents of a physical system. Through the examination of particular spectra, the identification of known molecular species can be carried out; by means of spectroscopy it has been possible, for example, to identify the presence of chemical elements in distant stars.

More basic applications of the science of spectroscopy have produced a better understanding of atomic and molecular structures and of such phenomena as luminescence. Rotational, vibrational and electronic states of molecules continue to be subjects of investigation; also the important field of energy transfer between the different degrees of freedom in molecules is an object of study.

In solids, spectroscopic investigations are directed to uncover the interrelation of absorption and emission properties with the location of the constituents and the crystalline symmetry. Studies of impurity spectra have shown the usefulness of spectral data in providing information about the spectra of such collective excitations of solids as phonons and magnons. Also, on the basis of purely spectroscopic data it is possible to predict the feasibility and efficiency of solid state systems as possible laser materials.

The technique of flash photolysis has extended the usage of spectroscopy to the excited states of gases, liquids and solids with the measurement of transitions not allowed from the ground state. When used to check the evolution of a reaction, this technique has uncovered the presence of transient species, often not seen before, and existing only under particular experimental conditions.

QUANTUM NANO-PHOTONICS: An Advanced Study Institute

Erice, Sicily, Italy: July 20—August 4, 2017

Almost all fundamental experiments in quantum optics have relied on macroscopic light sources, detectors, beam splitters, and mirrors on optical tables, where photons are propagating through air or vacuum. In analogy to developments in integrated electronics, miniaturization and scalability in photonics will require an integrated approach to someday achieve quantum-optical chips and fully-optical quantum computing. Key features of photons that make them a more a viable alternative to electrons are absence of photon-photon interaction in linear regime as well as dissipation of heat along the transmission line, logical operation at much higher speed than in electronics, low de-coherence properties, relief of interference effects in the sub-wavelength regime, enhanced emission rate and modified electron-phonon coupling in wavelength-size confined systems. Recently, integrated photonics is greatly advancing as compared to electronics thanks to i) nano-/micro processing approaches that enable integration technologies with a high level of functionality and a broad range of applications and ii) the combination of hybrid materials (graphene, organics and polymers) in optics. Recently achieved in the context of quantum optics are the miniaturization of quantum-optical settings using integrated passive dielectric waveguides on chips, nano-plasmonics, sub-wavelength- regime waveguides, nanostructured optical metamaterial components and their coupling to light emitters.

The general aim of this Institute will be to bring together more closely researchers working in the two fields of quantum optics and nano-optics to provide a general overview of the main topics of interest in applied and fundamental research.

The Institute will, for example, cover single-photon emitters and emitters of entangled photon pairs based on epitaxially grown semiconductor quantum dots, nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond as single-photon emitters, coupled quantum bits based on trapped ions, integrated waveguide superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, quantum nano-plasmonics, nanosensing, quantum aspects of biophotonics and quantum metamaterials. The lectures shall span the bridge from pedagogical introductions into the fundamental principles to the current state-of- the-art given by pioneers and leaders in the field. Numerical simulations will be also presented as a powerful tool to gain insight into the physical behavior of nanophotonic systems and provide a critical complement to experimental investigations and design of devices.

Based on the consideration of the importance of the fundamental principles to reach knowledge foundations and the frontiers of research, the Institute will introduce the students in a systematic and didactic fashion to the field. In the best tradition of our past Institutes, the school will bring together physicists, chemists, and engineers and will provide a comprehensive overview on experiments and theory, basic physics and applications as well as on nanofabrication and optical characterization tools.

The participants will have the opportunity to interact with each other in a stimulating atmosphere and to present their research work in the form of short seminars or posters.