Francesco PRIOLO

Curriculum Vitae - Francesco Priolo

Education

• Master degree in Physics, 110/110 cum laude, University of Catania
• PhD in Physics, University of Catania

Employment

• 1988-1989      Bell Labs, Murray Hill (NJ, USA)
• 1990              Consultant STMicroelectronics
• 1991-1997      Researcher (Assistant Professor)
• 1998-2000       Associate Professor
• 2001-present   Full Professor

Selected Service Positions

• Fellow of Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (since 2022)
• Rector of the University of Catania (since 19 September 2019)
• Director of the Department of Physics & Astronomy "Ettore Majorana" - University of Catania (2018-2019)
• President of the “Distretto Tecnologico Sicilia Micro e Nanosistemi s.c.a.r.l.” – (2017-2019) (www.distrettomicronano.it)
• President of the Scuola Superiore di Catania – Mediterrean University Centre, the School of excellence of the University of Catania (www.scuolasuperiorecatania.it) – 2013-2018.
• President of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS, Strasbourg - www.european-mrs.com) in the period 2009-2011, and now Member of its Senate and Executive Committee .
• Director (and founder) of the Center of Materials and Technologies for Information, communication & Solar Energy (MATIS), now Research Unit of the CNR Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems – www.matis.imm.cnr.it., from 2004 to 2015.
• Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC)
• Member of the European Research Council Panel for ERC Advanced Grant - 2016 & 2018
• Member of the Materials Science & Engineering Expert Committee (MatSEEC) of the European Science Foundation ( www.esf.org ) – 2010-2014
• Expert of the European Commission for the MicroElectronic Advanced Research Initiative (MEL-ARI) within Esprit and IST (1998-2000)
• Editor of the international journal Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing (Springer-Nature) from 2001 to 2016.
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Applied Physics Reviews, (American Institute of Physics) – since 2011
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal npj 2D Materials and Applications  (Nature Publishing Group)– since 2017
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Nanomaterials (MDPI, Basel) – since 2018
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, Elsevier (2001-2006)
• Member of the “ISOLDE and Neutron Time-of-Flight Experiments Committee” (INTC) at CERN (2003-2006).
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Ion Beam and Materials Research (www.fzd.de/fwi) within the  Forschungszentrum Dresden(Germany) (2007-2010).
• Member of the  Scientific Council of the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS – www.lens.unifi.it) in Florence
• Member of the Scientific Council of the Laboratory NEXT in Toulouse, France (Nano, mesures EXtrêmes & Théorie) comprehending 6 Istitutes of CNRS (CEMES, LCAR, LPCNO, LCPQ, LPT, LNCMI-T) – since 2011
• Member  of the Group of Evaluation Experts (GEV) in Physics established by ANVUR to evaluate research performace in Italy (VQR) – 2012
• Coordinator of the PhD course in Materials Science at the University of Catania (2000-2005).
• President of the Research Committee of the University  (University of Catania, 2009-2012) .
• Rector Delegate for International Relationships (University of Catania, 2009-2012)
• Member of the  Academic Senate  (University of Catania, 2010-2012)

Awards

• Graduate Student Award of the Materials Research Society (1988 -Boston)
• Campisano Prize of the National Institute for Matter Physics (INFM) - (2001 – Rome)
• Cavaliere della Repubblica for scientific merits (given by the President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on  June 2nd 2001).

Teaching Activities

Courses taught over the years: Structure of Matter - Semiconductor Physics - Photonics and Nanotechnologies - Experimental Physics - Electronic Devices. Supervisor of over 25 PhD theses and 100 master theses

6 Selected Project Grants

• PRIN2000 ex 40% (2001-2002) su “Nonequilibrium Diffusion in Si-based Heterostructures”, Role: National Coordinator
• CRS MATIS (INFM): Grant of 500 kEuro/year for 5 years to fund a new research center (role: PI)
• European Project – IST – SINERGIA (2001-2004) – Role: Coordinator Catania Unit & Member Steering Committee
• Project CADRES EU-FP6 su “Defects Relevant to Engineering Silicon Devices” - Role: Coordinator Catania Unit & Member Steering Committee
• European Project NanosciERA+ “Lasing of Erbium in Crystalline Silicon Photonic Nanostructures” (LECSIN) (2009-2011) – Role: Project Coordinator
• Project PON “Ricerca e competitività” (2011-2015) Acronym: BRIT (Bio-nanotechnology Research Innovation Tower) (>22 M€) – Università di Catania – Role: Project Coordinator

Research

Area of expertise: semiconductor physics, nanotechnology, microelectronics, photonics.

The main research areas comprehend nanotechnologies for electronics, photonics, photovoltaics and sensing. In these fields Francesco Priolo is a highly recognised international expert and a frequent invited speaker at international conferences.

Main Achievements

Silicon Photonics. Francesco Priolo has been a pioneer and it is now among the most recognized experts in the field worldwide. Among the most important achievements it is worth citing: (i) the discovery of optical gain in silicon nanocrystals (Nature 408, 440, 2000 - with around 2,000 citations); (ii) the studies on rare-earth optical doping of silicon (several pioneering papers with overall over 5,000 citations) with, in particular, the fabrication of room temperature operating Si:Er LEDs and the understanding of the energy transfer between silicon nanocrystals and erbium; (iii)the fabrication of silicon nanowires by a novel maskless method and their integration in photonic and photovoltaic devices; (iv) the fabrication of a novel photonic crystal based silicon LED representing the most efficient light source based on silicon. These results are among those opening thre route for  a silicon-based photonics. For some of these achievements Francesco Priolo has been awarded in 2001 the honor of Cavaliere della Repubblica by the Italian President of the Republic and  has been invited to write a review paper on Nature Nanotechnology  (Nature Nanotechnology 9, 19, 2014).

Dopant Diffusion. Francesco Priolo and his group have given fundamental contributions to the control and understanding of the atomistic mechanisms of dopants diffusion in silicon and germanium. The comprehension of the exact atomistic mechanism of B diffusion in Si and Ge has permitted to clarify a puzzle remained unresolved for decades.  The control of dopant diffusion has lead to the fabrication of the ultra-shallow junctions needed for new generation electronic devices. These studies have been published on a series of papers (among which several PRLs) and some of the most important results have been reviewed under invitation on Applied Physics Reviews.

Research Management. Francesco Priolo has founded (winning a competitive call in 2004) and has been first Director of the Research Centre MATIS, now research unit within CNR. As a Director Francesco Priolo has strongly promoted industrial interactions in order to close the virtuous cycle which goes from research to innovation. In 10 years of activity the centre has produced over 500 publications receiving over 7000 citations. As a President (2009-2011) of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Francesco Priolo succeeded in several important achievements: (i) improving the impact of the Society with a strong increase in the number of members and number of scientists participating to the annual conferences (overcoming  3,000), (ii) initiating a novel and strong interaction between E-MRS and the European Commission on the European policy in Materials Science, (iii) establishing a novel important prize promoting young scientists (EU-40 Materials Prize) dedicated to materials scientists with an age below 40 having already demonstrated outstanding research in materials science with strong impact results and excellence in leadership. As a President (since 2013) of the Scuola Superiore di Catania (SSC) – Mediterranean University Centre (a centre for excellence of the University of Catania founded following the example of the Scuola Normale Superiore) Francesco Priolo has promoted excellence in the formation of the young generations and  stimulated early stage research activities among the most brilliant students.Under his Presidency SSC became the most important centre for excellence in the formation of the young generations in Southern Italy.

Research Summary

The research output can be described synthetically:

• Number of Publications  (ISI Journals):                    >400
• Proceedings and Book Chapters:                            >80
• Total Number of Citations:                                       >14000 (WoS);  >18000 (Google Scholar) 
• Number of papers with over 100 citations :               25 (WoS) – 36 (Google Scholar)
• Invited Talks:                                                          >100
• Conference Chairman:                                           25
• Books:                                                                  1
• Editor of Proceedings or books:                              10
• Hirsch h-index:                                                      55 (WoS) – 58 (Google Scholar)

Francesco Priolo is an author of over 400 publications on materials science and nanotechnologies applied to microelectronics, photonics, photovoltaics and sensing. Here it is reported a selection of only 10 relevant publications:

10 Selected Publications

5 selected publications (highly cited – data from WoS):

1. L. Pavesi, L. Dal Negro, C. Mazzoleni, G. Franzò, F. Priolo, Optical Gain in Silicon Nanocrystals; Nature 408, 440 (2000) - Citations: 2050   
2.    G. Franzò, F. Priolo, S. Coffa, A. Polman, A. Carnera; Room Temperature Electroluminescence from Er-doped Crystalline Silicon; Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 2235 (1994) - Citations: 331
3.    F. Priolo, G. Franzò, F. Iacona, D. Pacifici, V. Vinciguerra; Role of Energy Transfer on the Optical Properties of Undoped and Er-Doped Interacting Silicon Nanocrystals; J. Appl. Phys. 89, 264 (2001) - Citations: 300             
4.    C.Spinella, S. Lombardo, F. Priolo; Crystal Grain Nucleation in Amorphous Silicon; J. Appl. Phys. 84, 5383 (1998); (invited review paper – Applied Physics Reviews) -  Citations: 280
5.    F. Priolo, G. Franzò, S. Coffa, A. Carnera; Excitation and Non-Radiative De-Excitation Process of Er³⁺ in Crystalline Silicon; Phys. Rev. B 57, 4443 (1998) - Citations: 273        

5 selected publications (recent – last 10 years):

1.   A. Irrera, P. Artoni, R. Saija, P. Gucciardi, M. Iatì, F. Borghese, P. Denti, F. Iacona, F. Priolo, O. Maragò; Size-Scaling in Optical Trapping of Silicon Nanowires, Nano Letters 11, 4879 (2011) - Impact factor: 13.19
2. A. Shakoor, R. Lo Savio, P. Cardile, S. Portalupi, D. Gerace, K. Welna, S. Boninelli, G. Franzò, F. Priolo, T.F. Krauss, M. Galli, L. O’Faolain, Room-temperature all-silicon photonic crystal nanocavity light emitting diode at sub-bandgap wavelengths,   Laser & Photonics Reviews 7, 114 (2013) - Impact factor: 8.008
3. F. Priolo, T. Gregorkiewicz, M. Galli, T.F. Krauss, Silicon Nanostructures for Photonics  and Photovoltaics, Nature Nanotechnology 9, 19 (2014) - Impact factor: 31.170
4.  A.Irrera, A. Magazzu, P. Artoni, S.Simpson, S. Hanna, P.Jones, F.  Priolo, P. Gucciardi, O. Marago,  Photonic Torque Microscopy of the Nonconservative Force Field for Optically Trapped Silicon Nanowires, Nano Letters 17, 3485 (2017) - IF: 13.198
5.   B.Fazio, A.Irrera, S.Pirotta, C. D’Andrea, S. Del Sorbo, M.J. Lo Faro, P.Gucciardi, M.Iatì, R.Saija, M.Patrini, P.Musumeci , C.Vasi, D.Wiersma, M.Galli, F. Priolo, Coherent Backscattering of Raman Light, Nature Photonics 11, 170 (2017) – IF: 37.85

Research activity concerns materials science and nanotechnologies applied to microelectronics, photonics, photovoltaics and sensing. In this field Francesco Priolo is an internationally recognized expert with over 400 publications.

• President of the “Distretto Tecnologico Sicilia Micro e Nanosistemi s.c.a.r.l.” – (2017-2019) (www.distrettomicronano.it)
• President of the Scuola Superiore di Catania – Mediterrean University Centre, the School of excellence of the University of Catania (www.scuolasuperiorecatania.it) – 2013-2019.
• Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC)
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Applied Physics Reviews, (American Institute of Physics) – since 2011
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal npj 2D Materials and Applications  (Nature Publishing Group) – since 2017
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Nanomaterials (MDPI, Basel) – since 2018