Stefano Ferretti

I am an experimental physicist and my major interests relate to Optics and Photonics, in particular Micromanipulation, Microscopy, Microfabrication, and Whispering Gallery Modes.

I am working with Neda Ghofraniha at the Institute for Complex Systems of the CNR, in Rome. Our project aims to develop a photonic biosensor that exploits whispering gallery modes sensitivity to detect small amounts of biological nanoparticles (e.g. proteins) attached to micron sized spheres.

I had 1.5 years postdoc fellowship at “Parthenope” University of Naples, where I used a high-power pulsed infrared laser to simulate hyper velocity impacts on an impact sensor to calibrate the instrument for a cometary space mission.

I got both my PhD and Master degree at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, under the supervision of Prof. Roberto Di Leonardo.
In my PhD project, we developed an innovative instrument that integrates holographic optical tweezers and digital holographic microscopy through Virtual Reality technology. This strategy allows the immersive exploration and interactive 3D manipulation of microscopic systems in real time. This work resulted in a publication in Scientific Reports.

During my master thesis I worked on the design and fabrication via two-photon polymerization of micron-sized light-guiding structures that exploit light’s momentum to generate maximum torque. We also characterized such structures through experimental, numerical, and analytical methods. This work resulted in a publication in Nature Communications.