Antonio Ambrosio was born in Ottaviano (Napoli - Italy) in 1979. He was awarded a Master degree in Condensed Matter Physics (emphasis on Laser Trapping and Light Angular Momentum) at the University of Naples Federico II in 2002. In 2006, he received his PhD degree in Applied Physics from the University of Pisa with a thesis on the development and applications of polarization contrast in near-field microscopy. This research work was under the supervision of Prof. Maria Allegrini and in part developed at the University College London, in collaboration with the group of Prof. Franco Cacialli. From December 2007 to June 2016, Antonio was researcher at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, with his lab located in the Department of Physics of the University of Naples Federico II. There, he studied the connections between the illuminating light polarization and the structuring of azobenzene-containing polymers. In 2012, Antonio discovered the formation of spiral-shaped relief patterns on the surface of an azo-polymer that was illuminated with a holographically-produced vortex laser beam, adding new degrees of freedom in structuring azo-polymers with light. In April 2013, Antonio became Visiting Research Scholar of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences of the Harvard University, collaborating with the group of Prof. Federico Capasso in building a nano-imaging spectroscopic facility that allowed imaging of the steered surface plasmon polaritons in one- and two-dimensional metamaterials.
Since July 2016, Antonio has been Principal Scientist at the Center for Nanoscale Systems at Harvard where he has continued his research activities in nano-photonics.
From September 2019, Antonio is PI of the research line named Vectorial Nano-imaging at the Center for Nano Science and Technology (CNST) of IIT in Milan, dedicated to the development of metasurface-based optical nano-devices and new optical near-field imaging and spectroscopy techniques for 2D materials, polymers and nanostructured surfaces.
Antonio is member of the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports and Optics Express. He is member of the Materials Research Society and SPIE, and Senior Member of The Optical Society of America.
ERC Consolidator Grant (CoG), ERC-2018-COG, METAmorphoses, 2020 - 2024
Fondazione Cariplo, 2020 - 2023
H. Sroor, Y.-W. Huang, B. Sephton, D. Naidoo, A. Vallés, V. Ginis, C.-W. Qiu, A. Ambrosio, F. Capasso, A. Forbes. High-purity orbital angular momentum states from a visible metasurface laser, Nature Photonics, doi.org/10.1038/s41566-020-0623-z (2020).
K. Chaudhary, M. Tamagnone, X. Yin, C. M. Spägele, S. L. Oscurato, J. Li, C. Persch, R. Li, N. A. Rubin, L. A. Jauregui, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, P. Kim, M. Wuttig, J. H. Edgar, A. Ambrosio, F. Capasso. Polarization Nanophotonics using phase-change materials, Nature Communications, 10:4487 (2019).
Z. Zheng, N. Xu, S. L. Oscurato, M. Tamagnone, F. Sun, Y. Jiang, Y. Ke, J. Chen, W. Huang, W. L. Wilson, A. Ambrosio, S. Deng, H. Chen. A mid-infrared biaxial hyperbolic van der Waals crystal, Science Advances, 5:eav8690 (2019).
E. Toninelli, B. Ndagano, A. Vallés, B. Sephton, I. Nape, A. Ambrosio, F. Capapsso, M. J. Padgett, A. Forbes. Concepts in quantumtate tomography and classical implementation with intense light: a tutorial, Advances in Optics and Photonics, 11, 67 (2019).
M. Tamagnone, A. Ambrosio et al. Ultra-confined mid-infrared resonant phono polaritons in van der Waals nanostructures, Science Advances, 4:eaa7189 (2018).
R.C. Devlin, A. Ambrosio, N. A. Rubin, J.P.B. Mueller, F. Capasso. Arbitrary spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion of light, Science, 358, 896 (2017).
A. Ambrosio et al. Observation of Nanoscale Refractive index contrast via photoinduced force microscopy, ACS Photonics, 4, 846 (2017).
M. Khorasaninejad, A. Ambrosio, P. Kanhaiya, F. Capasso. Broadband and chiral binary dielectric meta-holograms, Science Advances, 2:e1501258 (2016).
P. Genevet, D. Wintz, A. Ambrosio, A. She, R. Blanchard, F. Capasso, Controlled steering of Cherenkov surface plasmon wakes with a one-dimensional metamaterial, Nature Nanotechnology, 10, 804 (2015).
Ambrosio et al. Light-induced spiral mass transport in azo-polymer films under vortex-beam illumination, Nature Communications 3:989 (2012).
L’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) è una fondazione di diritto privato - cfr. determinazione Corte dei Conti 23/2015 “IIT è una fondazione da inquadrare fra gli organismi di diritto pubblico con la scelta di un modello di organizzazione di diritto privato per rispondere all’esigenza di assicurare procedure più snelle nella selezione non solo nell’ambito nazionale dei collaboratori, scienziati e ricercatori ”.
IIT è sotto la vigilanza del Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca e del Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze ed è stato istituito con la Legge 326/2003. La Fondazione ha l'obiettivo di promuovere l'eccellenza nella ricerca di base e in quella applicata e di favorire lo sviluppo del sistema economico nazionale. La costruzione dei laboratori iniziata nel 2006 si è conclusa nel 2009.
Lo staff complessivo di IIT conta circa 1440 persone. L’area scientifica è rappresentata da circa l’85% del personale. Il 45% dei ricercatori proviene dall’estero: di questi, il 29% è costituito da stranieri provenienti da oltre 50 Paesi e il 16% da italiani rientrati. Oggi il personale scientifico è composto da circa 60 principal investigators, circa 110 ricercatori e tecnologi di staff, circa 350 post doc, circa 500 studenti di dottorato e borsisti, circa 130 tecnici. Oltre 330 posti su 1400 creati su fondi esterni. Età media 34 anni. 41% donne / 59 % uomini.
Nel 2015 IIT ha ricevuto finanziamenti pubblici per circa 96 milioni di euro (80% del budget), conseguendo fondi esterni per 22 milioni di euro (20% budget) provenienti da 18 progetti europei, 17 finanziamenti da istituzioni nazionali e internazionali, circa 60 progetti industriali
La produzione di IIT ad oggi vanta circa 6990 pubblicazioni, oltre 130 finanziamenti Europei e 11 ERC, più di 350 domande di brevetto attive, oltre 12 start up costituite e altrettante in fase di lancio. Dal 2009 l’attività scientifica è stata ulteriormente rafforzata con la creazione di dieci centri di ricerca nel territorio nazionale (a Torino, Milano, Trento, Parma, Roma, Pisa, Napoli, Lecce, Ferrara) e internazionale (MIT ed Harvard negli USA) che, unitamente al Laboratorio Centrale di Genova, sviluppano i programmi di ricerca del piano scientifico 2015-2017.
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is a public research institute that adopts the organizational model of a private law foundation. IIT is overseen by Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca and Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze (the Italian Ministries of Education, Economy and Finance). The Institute was set up according to Italian law 326/2003 with the objective of promoting excellence in basic and applied research andfostering Italy’s economic development. Construction of the Laboratories started in 2006 and finished in 2009.
IIT has an overall staff of about 1,440 people. The scientific staff covers about 85% of the total. Out of 45% of researchers coming from abroad 29% are foreigners coming from more than 50 countries and 16% are returned Italians. The scientific staff currently consists of approximately 60 Principal Investigators, 110 researchers and technologists, 350 post-docs and 500 PhD students and grant holders and 130 technicians. External funding has allowed the creation of more than 330 positions . The average age is 34 and the gender balance proportion is 41% female against 59% male.
In 2015 IIT received 96 million euros in public funding (accounting for 80% of its budget) and obtained 22 million euros in external funding (accounting for 20% of its budget). External funding comes from 18 European Projects, other 17 national and international competitive projects and approximately 60 industrial projects.
So far IIT accounts for: about 6990 publications, more than 130 European grants and 11 ERC grants, more than 350 patents or patent applications, 12 up start-ups and as many which are about to be launched. The Institute’s scientific activity has been further strengthened since 2009 with the establishment of 11 research nodes throughout Italy (Torino, Milano, Trento, Parma, Roma, Pisa, Napoli, Lecce, Ferrara) and abroad (MIT and Harvard University, USA), which, along with the Genoa-based Central Lab, implement the research programs included in the 2015-2017 Strategic Plan.
