This activity deals with the treatment, deposition and etching of different substrates and polymers via radiofrequency plasmas based on both capacitive and inductive coupling. The gas-phase processes are controlled by optical diagnostics (emission and IR absorption spectroscopies), while the material produced or modified in the process is characterized by several techniques (XPS, FTIR, AFM, SEM, contact angle measurements, profilometry). Interesting aspects of this activity include the development of the ellipsometry spectroscopy for the in-situ diagnostics, the real-time control of the plasma-surface reactive interactions and the optical and structural characterization of the deposited materials.

Several experimental and theoretical approaches are used to investigate fundamental processes (ionization, excitation, dissociation, fragmentation, energy transfer, reactive scattering, chemi- and physi-sorption, desorption) in atoms, molecules, radicals isolated and in interaction with surfaces. New instrumentation and methodologies are developed and applied to the characterization of processes occurring in plasma sources, atmosphere and material preparation and processing.

The theoretical activity is devoted to the study of the dynamics and kinetics of excited species in gases and plasmas with semi-classical and quantum mechanical approaches. Extensive use is made of modern Monte Carlo methods. The goal is the development of complete kinetics and fluid-dynamics codes for the macroscopic modelling of technological processes occurring in plasma reactors, electrical thrusters, high temperature planetary atmospheres, boundary layers of re-entering spacecrafts, laser-plasma expansion. The experimental activity is devoted to new applications of the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and the production of diamond-like thin films by microwaves discharges and laser water immersed graphite.

This activity studies i) the kind and properties of precursor species of thin films produced by laser ablation, ii) the properties of small size clusters and iii) the intra/inter-molecular forces active in supersonic beams of van der Waals and chiral molecule clusters via optical and ionic spectroscopies.

The activity focusses on the development of new carbon based materials for thermoionic devices, broad-gap semiconductor superstructures for advanced photovoltaic devices and high sensitivity detectors, energy converters from radioactive sources, and novel materials for heterogeneous catalysis. Possibili figure da mettere con i titoli di ogni attività.