The main activities carried out at the Sensing Technology Lab are related to printed, flexible, environmentally friendly, disposable, and biodegradable electronic devices used in a wide range of applications, from internet of things, food science, biotechnology, smart environment and agriculture, to wearable and medical systems. The main aim of the laboratory is to develop fully autonomous systems incorporating sensing, energy harvesting, storage, read-out, and wireless communication functionality, based on printed and flexible technologies. This is performed through basic research on novel materials, devices, and integration technologies, as well as through the field application of these innovative devices and systems.

Research Focus

• Printed and large-area electronics
• Internet of things
• Environmentally friendly production of electronic devices
• Design and simulation of electronic devices
• Disposable and biodegradable electronics

Main Instrumentation

The laboratory equipment of the Sensing Technology Lab is dedicated to the synthesis and deposition of novel active and passive materials, to the device fabrication and characterization, as well as to the integration of these devices into more complex systems.

Our current laboratories in piazza Università 1 include the following equipment for the fabrication and characterization of printed devices and systems:

• Screen printer
• Inkjet printer
• Dispense printer
• Spray-coating robot
• 3D printer
• Spin-coater
• Plasma asher
• Impedance analyzer
• Oscilloscopes, power supplies, function generator, source meters, and digital multimeter
• Optical reflection microscope
• Thermal camera

Our new laboratories currently under development at NOI Techpark will include the following equipment for the material synthesis, deposition and analysis, as well as for the device fabrication and characterization:

• Chemical vapor deposition of carbon nanotubes and graphene
• Atomic layer deposition of alumina
• Glovebox with e-beam and thermal evaporators, spin-coaters, and hotplates
• Chemical wet benches with microbalance, probe sonicator, centrifuge, and ultrasound bath
• Fourier-transform infrared spectroscope
• Atomic force microscope
• Optical reflection and transmission microscope
• Optical profilometer
• Reflectometer
• Mask aligner
• Optical setup for transmission and quantum efficiency measurements
• Probe station and parameter analyzer
• Network analyzer
• Oscilloscopes, source meters, data acquisition switch with multiplexer, and power supplies

Location
Piazza Università 1, Bolzano

Team
Paolo Lugli
Luisa Petti
Giuseppe Cantarella
Pietro Ibba
Biresaw Demelash Abera

Head
Paolo Lugli

Vice head
Luisa Petti