EnantioSelex – Mapping and controlling nanoscale optomechanical forces for separation of chiral analytes
Duration: From 28 Sep 2023 – 27 Sep 2025 (2 years)
Funding Institution: Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (MUR) – PRIN 2022 – 2022P9F79R
Principal Investigator: Giuseppe Strangi (University of Calabria)
Contact person in IPCF: M.G. Donato
Other research units (contact person): University of Calabria (Giuseppe Strangi); University of Messina (Rosalba Saija – vice PI)
Settori ERC: PE3_10 Nanophysics, e.g. nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanomagnetism, nanoelectromechanics; PE3_9 Condensed matter –beam interactions (photons, electrons, etc.); PE2_12 Optics, non-linear optics and nano-optics
Keywords: Optical forces; Machine learning and inverse design; Separation sciences; Chiral analytes; Biomarkers
EnantioSelex aims to conduct a fundamental study to inverse design a nanophotonic platform, based on dielectric/plasmonic metasurfaces, to separate optomechanically chiral biomolecules. By engineering epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) metasurfaces, we aim to achieve the levitation of chiral nanoparticles in the vicinity of ENZ substrates (axial forces). Such metasurfaces can also be nanopatterned with hybrid metal-dielectric nanostructures to imbue transversal field gradients and/or chiral optical activity (transversal forces). Taking advantage of these optomechanical forces will be implemented a sorting process to enable separation and recognition of right and left enantiomeric forms of chiral particles and target biomolecules.
Other IPCF people involved in the research activities: O. M. Maragò