Introduction

The Department of Materials and Devices (DMD) is one of the 11 Departments of the scientific network of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). It coordinates the activities of 12 Institutes, spread over the whole national territory. Three more insitutes, pertaining to other Departments, participate to the scientific activity of DMD.

Thanks to the presence of the National Institute for the Physics of Matter (INFM) and of the National Institute of Applied Optics (INOA), which joined CNR in 2005, DMD plays a leading role at national level in the field of Applied Physics-Condensed Matter- Materials Science, providing valuable contributions to the international research in those areas. Innovative materials and related devices represent the pillar of all present and future technologies, with applications ranging from communications to transport, from data elaboration and storage, to biology and medicine, from food and agriculture to the aero-spatial sector.

Currently, DMD’s research activity is coordinated through 6 projects, organized in 126 different research lines. This is a very broad sector and the Italian research is highly ranked at international level, with a few excellence centres. Topics include investigations on the traditional structure of matter and quantum optics-electronics (both theoretical and experimental) as well as interdisciplinary activities, exploiting the same methodologies and devices in different domains, such as biology, computer science, production systems and cultural heritage.

At CNR, research potential in the field of nanoelectronics and microsystems is very significant, thanks to the fact that these technologies are multidisciplinary and transversal. DMD, however, has a driving role in many fields, both in fundamental and applied research. Special attention is paid to the development of synergies with end users (either public bodies or industries) and to the technology transfer and innovation. Many of the DMD groups are internationally recognized in their domains and are unique at national level. This is particularly true for several areas of materials science (from micro- and nano- structured materials to microelectronics, from magnetic and superconductive materials to plasma chemistry and physics, to ultra cold atoms) and in the field of optics and photonics (from sources with exceptional wavelength and duration to non classical light sources).

The overall goals of the Department include both the development of scientific thematic at the edge of knowledge and technological applications with significant economical outcomes.
The main objectives are the following:
  • study of the functionalities, processes and properties referring to atomic and molecular condensed states;
  • development of the fundamental knowledge and of the technological use of matter;
  • development of the knowledge and technology related to the radiation-matter interaction;
  • synergy of different disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology and engineering in the area of nanomaterials and microsensors.
Within the CNR, science of matter plays a strategic role both for the growth of basic and interdisciplinary knowledge and for the technology development and transfer. Collaborations among Departments are extremely important, and close links exist, for instance, between DMD and the Department of Molecular Design, which coordinates the chemistry area.
In order to maintain scientific and industrial competitiveness at high level, it is also necessary to produce know-how able to attract national and international companies. This is possible by promoting the creation and the support of centres of excellence having critical mass in terms of both human resources and infrastructures. The search for external partners and the existence of national and international collaborations is therefore essential and strategic for designing and planning new research projects.

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