The research activities of the NLOLA Lab, since its establishment, are all related with the investigation of various aspects of laser-matter interactions, under different light excitation regimes (as for instance under low/high laser intensity, under fast/ultrafast laser excitation conditions, under resonant/non-resonant conditions, etc.).
The current main research activities of our Lab include:
- the study of the non-linear optical phenomena taking place when laser light interacts with matter of various forms (from molecules to solids)
- the systematic characterization of the non-linear optical response of novel photonic materials and nanomaterials/nanostructures, in order to understand and clarify the physical mechanisms which are responsible for this response/properties, aiming to tailor and tune these properties according to specific optoelectronic and photonic applications (as e.g., optical limiting, optical switching, etc.)
- the study of laser produced plasmas and their characterization (e.g., plasma temperature, electronic density, self-absorption phenomena, plasma light emission, etc.)
- the use of laser induced plasmas and their spectroscopy (i.e., Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy-LIBS) for various analytical applications, ranging from qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of materials of environmental interest, to metallurgical and combustion processes monitoring and to recycling applications of metal scrap and plastics and polymers
- the use of LIBS assisted by powerful machine learning algorithms for food authentication and safety, in particular for some of the most important natural products which are of high national economic interest, such as the olive oil, the honey and the milk