The Advanced Materials for Optoelectronics (AMO) group has been active since 2010 in the Center for Nano Science and Technology @PoliMi (CNST) of the Italian Institute of Technology.

Since 2012, the group core-activity has been the investigation of solution processable metal halide perovskites, a family of crystalline semiconductors with amazing potential for application in optoelectronic and photonic devices.

Unlike more widely studied inorganic semiconductors, metal halide perovskites have fluctuating ionic structures where tilting, distortions, and polarizability of the lattice strongly affect the optoelectronic properties. This makes the functionality and reliability of perovskite-based devices strongly dependent on the control of the structure-property relationship of the active material and of its response to external stimuli, such as chemical interactions upon interface formation, electric field, light, and environmental agents.

AMO now focuses on investigating the physics behind low cost "future generation" perovskite photovoltaics and on the development of associated optoelectronic devices, such as photo and X-ray detectors, LEDs and lasers, with recent interest on photocatalysis. The emphasis is placed on uncovering the role of optoelectronic mechanisms to improve devices’ efficiency and stability.

• Material Synthesis and Processing. We develop methods for the synthesis and processing of semiconductors with improved optoelectronic properties, while responding to selection criteria which include low cost, durability, scalability and environmental impact (low energy and resource demands, reduced toxicity).
• Advanced Spectroscopy. By combining optical, vibrational and electronic spectroscopy, we investigate the optoelectronic properties of semiconductors, how they are affected when forming interfaces.
• Device Fabrication and Characterization. We design, fabricate and characterize optoelectronic devices to improve efficiency and stability while understanding their working mechanisms over different length and time scales.

We are in a lively and multidisciplinary Center, which gives us full access to tools for printed devices manufacturing. Within the shared facilities we count with morphology/structure investigating tools such as SEM, AFM, XRD, and vibrational spectroscopies like Raman and FTIR.

Our technical capabilities are as follows:

• Material Synthesis and Processing. Perovskite Lab is fully equipped to fabricate new perovskite compositions. Starting with an ultrasonic bath, O2 plasma and UV ozone chambers, a spin-coater, blade coater and hot plates, which allow for a variety of preparation methods. The four Nitrogen gloveboxes conatin another spin-coater and hotplates, an organic/inorganic evaporator, a Sn-perovskite evaporator and an encapsulation station, thus we are capable of fabricating devices with different architectures. The laboratory is equipped with a profilometer, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and steady state PL in order to control immediately the quality of fabricated perovskite films.
•  Advanced Spectroscopy. Our labs feature a variety of light sources and flexible setups for the study of the photophysical properties of semiconductors:
  
  - TRPL Lab is dedicated to time-resolved photoluminescence. A tunable ultrafast oscillator (Chameleon, 80 MHz) coupled to an optical parametric oscillator provides excitation from the NIR (950 nm) to UV (350 nm). The resulting photoluminescence can be measured with a time resolution of 1.6 ps in the visible range (Hamamatsu Streak Camera, up to 900 nm), and 1 ns in the IR (TCSPC, up to 1400 nm).
  
  - CW Lab offers a variety of light sources on CW or low repetition rate mode. These can be coupled with flexible photoluminescence lines and integrating spheres to test our materials under varied illumination conditions or used in connection with a spectrophotometer (200-2500 nm) and a spectrofluorometer (300 nm-1700 nm). Particularly useful for perovskite research is our Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy (PDS) set-up, to probe weak sub-bandgap absorption up to five orders of magnitude below that at the band-edge.
  
  - Femtosecond Lab. This lab hosts a femtosecond laser system dedicated to ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopies, including a transient absorption spectrometer, excitation correlation photoluminescence (ECPL) and optical gain measurements. This laser system is coupled with our Photo-Emission Electron Microscope (tr-PEEM). One novelty of our time-resolved systems in this lab is the particularly large range of accessible time delays, over 10 orders of magnitude time-delay (10^-13–10^-3 s). The spectroscopy equipment also includes a high magnification fluorescence microscope equipped with a hyperspectral camera, which allows to measure spectral-resolved fluorescence images with 1 micrometer of spatial resolution and 400-1000 nm wavelength range.
  
  Our optical labs are equipped with vacuum and cryogenic equipment which allows us to perform experiments in a controlled atmosphere and down to 4 K. 
• Characterization of perovskite-based devices. In Perovskite Lab we have the equipment necessary to perform full electrical characterization of solar cells, LEDs, and photodetectors. We count on solar simulators both in air and nitrogen, with fully automatic sample holder for 16 substrates. We possess an ageing chamber with controlled atmosphere, illumination and temperature, which allows us to perform degradation tests. For LEDs characterization, we built a setup consisting of a two-channel source meter and a spectrometer. For photodetectors, response can be acquired over 4 orders of magnitude of light intensity. Plus, a shared Electrical Characterization lab allows the characterization of the response speed of photodetectors. For X-ray detectors, we built a 20-100kV irradiation bunker with dedicated dosimeter, spectrometer and electrometer with sub-pA resolution.   

• Prof Filippo De Angelis (University of Perugia & ISTM-CNR). Expert in the field of ab initio computer simulations of electronic, structural and optical properties of complex materials, semiconductors and surface-adsorbed molecules and relativistic effects relevant for the description of heavy atoms; all key ingredients for the description of perovskites and hybrid interfaces
• Prof Lorenzo Malavasi (University of Pavia). Works in several areas of solid-state chemistry with particular interest in the investigation of structure–properties correlation in different kinds of functional materials, in particular electrolyte materials for clean energy, hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites and catalysis materials. 
• Prof Daniele Cortecchia (University of Bologna). He focuses on the study of perovskites self-assembly properties arising from supramolecular interactions, for the development of low-dimensional functional systems (quantum-wells) with improved luminescence and charge transport properties.
• Dr Isabella Poli (IIT - Center for Sustainable Future Technologies, Turin). Her research focuses on the synthesis and processing of new materials for photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic reactions, including water splitting, carbon dioxide reduction, and photodegradation of organic pollutants.
• Prof Gianvito Vilé (Politecnic of Milan). He focuses on catalysis and process engineering for sustainable chemical manufacturing. His research integrates atomically precise catalytic materials, continuous-flow reactor technologies, and automation to develop high-performance, scalable, and sustainable reaction platforms, with particular emphasis on pharmaceutical applications.