CNR NANOTEC · Institute of Nanotechnology · Lecce, Italynanotec.cnr.it · cnr.it
Advanced Photonics LaboratoryPolaritonics · Quantum fluids of light · Photonic circuits
CNR NANOTEC · Lecce

Advanced Photonics Laboratory

We study light that behaves like matter. Our polaritons form quantum fluids, supersolids and nonlinear circuits, and we grow the materials that bring them to room temperature.

Our researchMeet the teamJoin us
A supersolid of lightPolariton condensates in photonic-crystal waveguides crystallise while staying superfluid.

Exciton-polaritons are half light and half matter. They move like photons and interact like electrons, so a fluid of polaritons can flow without friction, carry quantised vortices and switch light with light. We use them to explore new states of matter and to build optical devices that are faster and more efficient.

15researchers and students
170papers since 2011
8research areas

We are part of CNR NANOTEC, the Institute of Nanotechnology of the Italian National Research Council, on the Ecotekne campus in Lecce. Samples, devices and measurements are made here, under one roof.

The team

Physicists, chemists and engineers working on light–matter physics, from crystal growth to quantum optics.

All people
Portrait of Daniele SanvittoDaniele SanvittoGroup leaderPortrait of Dario BallariniDario BallariniDirector of ResearchPortrait of Milena De GiorgiMilena De GiorgiTechnology DirectorPortrait of Dimitris TrypogeorgosDimitris TrypogeorgosSenior ResearcherPortrait of Lorenzo DominiciLorenzo DominiciResearcherPortrait of Giovanni MartoneGiovanni MartoneResearcherPortrait of Rosanna MastriaRosanna MastriaResearcherPortrait of Francesco TodiscoFrancesco TodiscoResearcherPortrait of Paolo CazzatoPaolo CazzatoTechnicianPortrait of Antonio GianfrateAntonio GianfratePostdocPortrait of Paolo ComaronPaolo ComaronPostdocPortrait of Deborah CapecchiDeborah CapecchiPostdocPortrait of Ivan GnusovIvan GnusovPostdocPortrait of Laura PolimenoLaura PolimenoPostdocPortrait of Anand VinodAnand VinodPhD student

Research areas

Eight connected lines of work, all built on strong light–matter coupling.

Research overview
Flow lines around two quantised vortices in a polariton fluid.

Quantum fluids of light

Superfluidity, quantised vortices, turbulence and phase transitions in fluids made of light.

69 papers
Rendering of a photonic-crystal waveguide hosting polariton condensates.

Photonic crystals, BiCs and supersolids

Band-engineered polariton condensates in photonic-crystal waveguides, from bound states in the continuum to a supersolid of light.

15 papers
Rendering of light coupled into a layered perovskite structure.

Waveguides and polaritonic circuits

Guiding, amplifying, switching and lasing with polaritons on a chip, at cryogenic and room temperature.

26 papers
Rendering of polariton droplets on a lattice, each emitting photons.

Quantum polaritonics

Polaritons one at a time: quantum states, photon correlations and the road to polariton blockade.

13 papers
Illustration: pseudospin textures and Berry curvature of two polariton skyrmions.

Topology, geometry and structured light

Berry curvature, quantum geometry, spin textures and light beams with structured polarisation.

26 papers
Rendering of polariton condensates on a lattice exchanging signals, like neurons in a network.

Neuromorphic and complex photonics

Physical neural networks built from interacting light, and computing with complex optical media.

9 papers
Rendering of a monolayer semiconductor embedded in a microcavity.

Materials for room-temperature polaritonics

2D perovskites, transition-metal dichalcogenides and organic semiconductors, grown and processed in house.

76 papers
Illustration: density stripes of a supersolid Bose gas.

Atomic quantum gases

Theory and experiment with ultracold atoms, the matter-wave counterpart of our fluids of light.

12 papers

Recent papers

All publications
Figure from the paperScience Advances · 2026

Dynamic topological exciton-polaritons enabling ultrafast logic operations

Fig. 1A from Jin et al., Sci. Adv. 2026 · CC BY-NC 4.0Figure from the paperSmall Structures · 2026

Strong Exciton–Photon Coupling in Microfluidic Confined Grown 2D Dion–Jacobson Perovskite

Fig. 2 from Coriolano et al., Small Struct. 2026 · CC BY 4.0Figure from the paperNature Communications · 2026

Mach-Zehnder Atom Interferometry with Non-Interacting Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensates

Fig. 1 from Petrucciani et al., Nat. Commun. 2026 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

News

All news
ProjectsEvents

AI-PHOQUS kick-off meeting in Lecce

On 22 and 23 October 2026 we hosted the kick-off meeting of AI-PHOQUS (Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Networks Embedded in Photonics and Quantum Sciences and Technology) at CNR NANOTEC in Lecce. The national project, coordinated by Paolo De Natale (CNR-INO) and funded by the PN RIC 2021–2027 programme, brings artificial intelligence and quantum technologies into photonics. Daniele Sanvitto coordinates its work package on AI for simulation and quantum computing.

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Events

LEAF 2026: Light, Excitons and Atomic Fluids workshop in Lecce

From 22 to 24 July 2026 we host LEAF 2026, an interdisciplinary international workshop at CNR Nanotec in Lecce, organised by Daniele Sanvitto with Giovanni Modugno (LENS). It brings together experiment and theory on collective dynamics, phase transitions and emergent phenomena in ultracold atoms, photon and polariton condensates, excitonic systems and nonlinear fluids of light.

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Life in the lab

Visitors, seminars, defences and farewells: the group is a place where people stay in touch long after they leave.

Saying goodbye to Riccardo Panico before his move to Bonn, October 2023.
Saying goodbye to Riccardo Panico before his move to Bonn, October 2023.
Farewell to Annalisa Coriolano after her PhD, December 2023.
Farewell to Annalisa Coriolano after her PhD, December 2023.

Work with us

We welcome master’s students, PhD candidates and postdocs in physics, materials science and engineering. Experiments here run from crystal growth to quantum optics, and ideas are discussed on their merits, whoever has them.

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