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Papers by Annamaria Gerardino

We demonstrate experimentally the ability to fully control and maps the spectral properties of an... more We demonstrate experimentally the ability to fully control and maps the spectral properties of an individual photonic mode in a two-dimensional disordered photonic GaAs slab with disordered distributions of circular air holes

arXiv (Cornell University), Apr 10, 2015

APL photonics, Jul 1, 2016

Applied Physics Letters, Feb 20, 2017

SEMA SIMAI Springer series, 2023

2020 22nd International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON), 2020

Many infections, such as pulmonary infections occurring in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, are pol... more Many infections, such as pulmonary infections occurring in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, are polymicrobial and caused by a combination of different bacterial species. Sometime, a micro-organism predisposes the host to colonisation by other species, and the microbial cooperation or antagonism govern the infectious sequelae. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the first pathogens infecting CF airways, but during adolescence up to 80% of patients become chronically colonised by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes a progressive pulmonary destruction, although antibiotic therapies can improve life expectancy. To investigate the antagonistic interactions between S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, we have designed and fabricated two different lab-on-chips. The first device consists of three parallel compartments, two are filled with different bacterial species while the central one is an agarose barrier, to avoid direct interaction between bacteria. Also the second microfluidic device is composed of three compartments, but the central one is connected to the other two by 260 microchannels; a cell trap is placed at the center of each microchannel to avoid physical contact between bacterial cells in different compartments. We use fluorescent-tagged bacteria and monitor their growth rate inside the microchannels using confocal microscopy.

XXII International Symposium on High Power Laser Systems and Applications, 2019

The main characteristics of the ENEA Discharge Produced Plasma (DPP) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) so... more The main characteristics of the ENEA Discharge Produced Plasma (DPP) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) source are presented together with results of irradiations of various materials. The DPP EUV source, based on a Xe–plasma heated up to a temperature of 30 ÷ 40 eV, emits more than 30 mJ/sr/shot at 10 Hz rep. rate in the 10 ÷ 18 nm wavelength spectral range. The DPP is equipped with a debris mitigation system to protect particularly delicate components needed for patterning applications. The ENEA source has been successfully utilized for sub–micrometer pattern generation on photonic materials and on specifically designed chemically amplified resists. Details down to 100 nm have been replicated on such photoresists by our laboratory–scale apparatus for contact EUV lithography. Preliminary EUV irradiations of graphene films aimed at modifying its properties have been also performed.

Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2021

Abstract Background Optical technologies, relying on spectral analysis, are more and more impleme... more Abstract Background Optical technologies, relying on spectral analysis, are more and more implemented in portable devices for food analysis. Thereby, each food safety, quality or authenticity provision as well as each technology requires the generation of a dedicated spectral database with reference data. Currently, knowledge on how these databases might be connected or transferred across food commodities, targeted compounds or devices are very limited. Hence, repetitive work is conducted and technologies are not optimally used. Scope and approach This perspective focuses on the currently available technologies and approaches for data handling and database transfer across miniaturized devices and technologies for food safety, quality and authenticity assessments. Key findings and conclusions For almost every food commodity or target compound a miniaturized spectroscopic device can be applied with the respective database to compare findings. Recent developments in optical spectroscopy allow more possibilities for their use as well as facilitate the production of portable devices. A multifunctional device hyphenating several sensors and broadening the application range is still not marketed. Newly developed software architecture accessing and extracting data help to overcome sample heterogenicity or spurious measured data. In addition, several data fusion approaches using machine learning and deep learning strategies are available to fuse spectroscopic data with itself or other non-spectroscopic data. Following the research results presented in this field, spectral data can possibly be re-used and shared across instruments and locations, highly increasing the applicability of data sets. Thereby obstacles such as policy or confidentiality are taken into account.

Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2021

Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 2019

Circularly dichroic metasurfaces are highly sought for a plethora of applications; while many alt... more Circularly dichroic metasurfaces are highly sought for a plethora of applications; while many alternative options are present in the literature, it is hard to select an approach that combines high circular dichroism (CD) with stable performances and easy reproducibility. In this work, we have designed and experimentally investigated a planar plasmonic metamaterial based on a comma-shaped geometry, which features such characteristics. We have focused the complexity of realization in the design process, which combines intrinsic chirality and high field localization, while fabrication was executed by using a standard single-step lift-off procedure. We have produced two classes of samples, closely related in shape but differing slightly in designing method and results, both reaching high levels of CD. Experiments on the first reveal the sensibility of the metasurface to geometrical variations due to fabrication non-idealities, as often happens in metamaterials based on surface plasmons and resonances; on the other hand, with the second, we demonstrate that it is possible to guarantee stable peak values on specific wavelength ranges, even when dealing with relevant fabrication tolerances. Moreover, numerical analyses suggest the possibility to reach values converging toward unity. The ease of implementation by using standard fabrication procedures and the robustness of the performance even with fabrication imprecisions make our proposed metamaterial eligible for adoption for further research in high-precision spectroscopy and implementation at industrial scale.

Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2019

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018

Cancer Immunology Research, 2019

The alarmin IL-33 plays pleiotropic roles in allergy, autoimmunity and inflammation through bindi... more The alarmin IL-33 plays pleiotropic roles in allergy, autoimmunity and inflammation through binding to its specific receptor ST2 expressed by most hematopoietic cells. Emerging evidences suggest an involvement of this cytokine also in cancer immunity, although its function remains ill-defined. Eosinophils (EOS) are a rare blood population playing critical roles in allergic inflammation and parasitic responses. We recently showed that EOS play an essential role in anti-tumor responses against melanoma growth and pulmonary metastasis mediated by IL-33 in vivo.In the present study we analyzed the mechanisms by which IL-33 mediates tumor infiltration and antitumoral activities of EOS. We show that IL-33 indirectly stimulates the recruitment of EOS inducing tumor-derived chemokines CCL24 and CCL5. Furthermore, IL-33 directly activates EOS inducing the expression of adhesion molecules, such as the integrin CD11b, resulting in efficient contact-dependent tumor cell killing. In co-culture e...

Ceramics, 2019

In this review, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of photonic crystal ar... more In this review, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of photonic crystal arrays, made of two and three coupled nanocavities. The properties of the cavity modes depend directly on the shape of the nanocavities and on their geometrical arrangement. A non-negligible role is also played by the possible disorder because of the fabrication processes. The experimental results on the spatial distribution of the cavity modes and their physical characteristics, like polarization and parity, are described and compared with the numerical simulations. Moreover, an innovative approach to deterministically couple the single emitters to the cavity modes is described. The possibility to image the mode spatial distribution, in single and coupled nanocavities, combined with the control of the emitter spatial position allows for a deterministic approach for the study of cavity quantum electrodynamics phenomena and for the development of new photonic-based applications.

We demonstrate experimentally the ability to fully control and maps the spectral properties of an... more We demonstrate experimentally the ability to fully control and maps the spectral properties of an individual photonic mode in a two-dimensional disordered photonic GaAs slab with disordered distributions of circular air holes

arXiv (Cornell University), Apr 10, 2015

APL photonics, Jul 1, 2016

Applied Physics Letters, Feb 20, 2017

SEMA SIMAI Springer series, 2023

2020 22nd International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON), 2020

Many infections, such as pulmonary infections occurring in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, are pol... more Many infections, such as pulmonary infections occurring in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, are polymicrobial and caused by a combination of different bacterial species. Sometime, a micro-organism predisposes the host to colonisation by other species, and the microbial cooperation or antagonism govern the infectious sequelae. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the first pathogens infecting CF airways, but during adolescence up to 80% of patients become chronically colonised by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes a progressive pulmonary destruction, although antibiotic therapies can improve life expectancy. To investigate the antagonistic interactions between S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, we have designed and fabricated two different lab-on-chips. The first device consists of three parallel compartments, two are filled with different bacterial species while the central one is an agarose barrier, to avoid direct interaction between bacteria. Also the second microfluidic device is composed of three compartments, but the central one is connected to the other two by 260 microchannels; a cell trap is placed at the center of each microchannel to avoid physical contact between bacterial cells in different compartments. We use fluorescent-tagged bacteria and monitor their growth rate inside the microchannels using confocal microscopy.

XXII International Symposium on High Power Laser Systems and Applications, 2019

The main characteristics of the ENEA Discharge Produced Plasma (DPP) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) so... more The main characteristics of the ENEA Discharge Produced Plasma (DPP) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) source are presented together with results of irradiations of various materials. The DPP EUV source, based on a Xe–plasma heated up to a temperature of 30 ÷ 40 eV, emits more than 30 mJ/sr/shot at 10 Hz rep. rate in the 10 ÷ 18 nm wavelength spectral range. The DPP is equipped with a debris mitigation system to protect particularly delicate components needed for patterning applications. The ENEA source has been successfully utilized for sub–micrometer pattern generation on photonic materials and on specifically designed chemically amplified resists. Details down to 100 nm have been replicated on such photoresists by our laboratory–scale apparatus for contact EUV lithography. Preliminary EUV irradiations of graphene films aimed at modifying its properties have been also performed.

Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2021

Abstract Background Optical technologies, relying on spectral analysis, are more and more impleme... more Abstract Background Optical technologies, relying on spectral analysis, are more and more implemented in portable devices for food analysis. Thereby, each food safety, quality or authenticity provision as well as each technology requires the generation of a dedicated spectral database with reference data. Currently, knowledge on how these databases might be connected or transferred across food commodities, targeted compounds or devices are very limited. Hence, repetitive work is conducted and technologies are not optimally used. Scope and approach This perspective focuses on the currently available technologies and approaches for data handling and database transfer across miniaturized devices and technologies for food safety, quality and authenticity assessments. Key findings and conclusions For almost every food commodity or target compound a miniaturized spectroscopic device can be applied with the respective database to compare findings. Recent developments in optical spectroscopy allow more possibilities for their use as well as facilitate the production of portable devices. A multifunctional device hyphenating several sensors and broadening the application range is still not marketed. Newly developed software architecture accessing and extracting data help to overcome sample heterogenicity or spurious measured data. In addition, several data fusion approaches using machine learning and deep learning strategies are available to fuse spectroscopic data with itself or other non-spectroscopic data. Following the research results presented in this field, spectral data can possibly be re-used and shared across instruments and locations, highly increasing the applicability of data sets. Thereby obstacles such as policy or confidentiality are taken into account.

Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2021

Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 2019

Circularly dichroic metasurfaces are highly sought for a plethora of applications; while many alt... more Circularly dichroic metasurfaces are highly sought for a plethora of applications; while many alternative options are present in the literature, it is hard to select an approach that combines high circular dichroism (CD) with stable performances and easy reproducibility. In this work, we have designed and experimentally investigated a planar plasmonic metamaterial based on a comma-shaped geometry, which features such characteristics. We have focused the complexity of realization in the design process, which combines intrinsic chirality and high field localization, while fabrication was executed by using a standard single-step lift-off procedure. We have produced two classes of samples, closely related in shape but differing slightly in designing method and results, both reaching high levels of CD. Experiments on the first reveal the sensibility of the metasurface to geometrical variations due to fabrication non-idealities, as often happens in metamaterials based on surface plasmons and resonances; on the other hand, with the second, we demonstrate that it is possible to guarantee stable peak values on specific wavelength ranges, even when dealing with relevant fabrication tolerances. Moreover, numerical analyses suggest the possibility to reach values converging toward unity. The ease of implementation by using standard fabrication procedures and the robustness of the performance even with fabrication imprecisions make our proposed metamaterial eligible for adoption for further research in high-precision spectroscopy and implementation at industrial scale.

Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2019

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018

Cancer Immunology Research, 2019

The alarmin IL-33 plays pleiotropic roles in allergy, autoimmunity and inflammation through bindi... more The alarmin IL-33 plays pleiotropic roles in allergy, autoimmunity and inflammation through binding to its specific receptor ST2 expressed by most hematopoietic cells. Emerging evidences suggest an involvement of this cytokine also in cancer immunity, although its function remains ill-defined. Eosinophils (EOS) are a rare blood population playing critical roles in allergic inflammation and parasitic responses. We recently showed that EOS play an essential role in anti-tumor responses against melanoma growth and pulmonary metastasis mediated by IL-33 in vivo.In the present study we analyzed the mechanisms by which IL-33 mediates tumor infiltration and antitumoral activities of EOS. We show that IL-33 indirectly stimulates the recruitment of EOS inducing tumor-derived chemokines CCL24 and CCL5. Furthermore, IL-33 directly activates EOS inducing the expression of adhesion molecules, such as the integrin CD11b, resulting in efficient contact-dependent tumor cell killing. In co-culture e...

Ceramics, 2019

In this review, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of photonic crystal ar... more In this review, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of photonic crystal arrays, made of two and three coupled nanocavities. The properties of the cavity modes depend directly on the shape of the nanocavities and on their geometrical arrangement. A non-negligible role is also played by the possible disorder because of the fabrication processes. The experimental results on the spatial distribution of the cavity modes and their physical characteristics, like polarization and parity, are described and compared with the numerical simulations. Moreover, an innovative approach to deterministically couple the single emitters to the cavity modes is described. The possibility to image the mode spatial distribution, in single and coupled nanocavities, combined with the control of the emitter spatial position allows for a deterministic approach for the study of cavity quantum electrodynamics phenomena and for the development of new photonic-based applications.

Conference on Ultrafast X-Ray Sources and Detectors, Proceedings SPIE vol. 6703 (2007) pp. 670308 – 670315, 2007

Within a National Project on nanotechnologies, a Micro-Exposure Tool (MET) for projection lithogr... more Within a National Project on nanotechnologies, a Micro-Exposure Tool (MET) for projection lithography at 14.4 nm, based on a laser-produced plasma source, is being developed at the Frascati ENEA Center. The choice of this “exotic” wavelength is due to the higher efficiency of a Debris Mitigation System (DMS) working in the interval of
approximately 14 nm < λ < 15 nm. It has to be noted that Mo/Si multilayer mirrors (MLM) can still have a high reflectivity also at these wavelengths.
The solid-tape-target laser-generated plasma is driven by a XeCl excimer laser, with an optimized intensity of about 3⋅1010 W/cm2, generating an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source with a diameter of about 0.2 mm. Clearly, this kind of source emits a lot of debris (both atomic and particulate types) and the 7-cm-far collector mirror must be protected against them.
The paper is mostly devoted to the accurate and systematic study of these debris and to their reduction. The results of mitigation efficiency obtained with a DMS prototype are very encouraging and lead to the design and patenting of its improved version.