Maria José LO FARO

Maria Josè Lo Faro graduated in Physics of Condensed Matter cum laude at the University of Catania in 2013. She consolidated her experience in the field of nanostructures for integrated silicon photonics during her Ph.D. at the University of Catania. She was a visiting researcher at the Kastler-Brossel Lab (ENS Paris), where she investigated light propagation in random media using wavefront shaping in S. Gigan’s group. In 2017, she was a Postdoc in the Institute for Chemical and Physical Processes (IPCF- CNR) in Messina, working in the field of optical nanostructured biosensors, and in 2018, she moved to the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM-CNR) in Catania, where she investigated the use of Si nanostructures for lasing. She was a research fellow (RTD) at the Physics Dept. at UNICT  from 2018 to 2025, working on synthesizing and characterizing functional luminescent materials. Since 2025, she has been an Associate Professor in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at the DFA UNICT.

Research interest:

My primary research interest is the synthesis of silicon nanostructures achieved through low-cost processes compatible with Si industrial technology, aiming to control their optical and structural properties by fine-tuning their growth parameters (Semiconductor Science and Technology, 2017). Special attention is paid to light management in disordered fractal systems to control their light scattering and emission according to their structure (Light Sci. Appl., 2016; Nat. Photonics, 2017). My research activity is also focused on the study of quantum-confined nanostructures emitting at room temperature for integrated Si microphotonics applications (Scientific Reports 2015, Nano Letters 2019) by using photo, electro, and cathode-luminescence techniques. Indeed, I am also involved in the synthesis and characterization of visible-infrared multiwavelength light sources operating at room temperature by combining different functional materials (Nanomaterials 2018, Nanomaterials 2019) to be integrated with CMOS technology and whose optical response can be tuned by varying their fractal designs. My interest also lies in the development of low-cost, Si-based optical sensors based on luminescent, functionalized platforms for the selective detection of proteins, DNA, and exosomes (ACS Photonics 2018, ACS Sensors 2018, Nanotechnology 2016). Recently, I have been studying the realization of optical nanomaterials for optical targeting and imaging for biomedical applications  (Nanomaterials 2019).