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Stanford University

I joined Stanford University in September 2013 and I was a PostDoctoral Scholar in the group of Prof. Mark Brongersma till May 2016. This is one of the best environments I have been working in during my professional life. Located in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, it is really one of the world’s leading teaching and research universities. I tried to take advantages of as many as possible opportunities offered by the Farm.

My research project focuses on improving the existing solar cells and make them cheaper and a real alternative to traditional energy sources. My project here is funded by 3Sun / Enel Green Power / ST Microelectronics and the US Department of Energy through the Bay Area PhotoVoltaic Consortium.

Publication output

Patent

  • Broadband, polarization-independent, omnidirectional, metamaterial-based antireflection coating for solar cells
    M. L. Brongersma, C. E. A. Cordaro, E. F. Pecora
    Provisional patent

Leadership experience

Leadership formation

  • Admitted at Adventures in Design Thinking: A d.school Experience class offered by the Stanford Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (Summer 2015)
  • Admitted at The Improviser’s Mindset class offered by the Stanford Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (Summer 2014)
  • Negotiation skills class, offered by the Stanford Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
  • Future Faculty Seminar INDE/CTL231 class, offered by the Stanford University
  • iRite/iSpeak course, offered by the Stanford Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
  • Stanford future leaders: Mentoring Workshop, offered by the Stanford Office of Postdoctoral Affairs

Invited talk

Conference participation

  • BAPVC meeting Spring 2013 – Stanford University
  • BAPVC meeting Fall 2013 – UC Berkeley
  • MRS Spring meeting 2014 – San Francisco, CA (USA) Poster presentation
  • BAPVC meeting Spring 2014 – Stanford University
  • BAPVC meeting Fall 2014 – UC Berkeley
  • BAPVC meeting Spring 2015 – Stanford University
  • MRS Fall meeting 2014 – Boston, MA (USA) Oral presentation
    Watch my presentation at MRS Fall meeting with MRS On Demand.
  • MRS Spring meeting 2015 – San Francisco, CA (USA) Oral presentation
  • MRS Fall meeting 2015 – Boston, MA (USA) Oral presentation
  • MRS Spring meeting 2016 – Phoenix, AZ (USA) Oral presentation

For download

Teaching activity

  • Guest lecturer for the CHEM26N class (The What, Why, How and wow’s of Nanotechnology) at Stanford University, Spring 2015 semester
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Boston University

PostDoctoral Associate at the Photonics Center of Boston University from 2011, March to 2013, August.

Research projects

Publication output

Conference proceedings

  • Integration of metallic nanostructures on nanowires for modification of their optical properties
    A. Casadei, E. Alarcon-Llado, E. F. Pecora, J. Trevino, C. Forestiere, D. Ruffer, E. Russo-Averchi, F. Matteini, G. Tutuncuoglu, M. Heiss, L. Dal Negro, A. Fontcuberta i Morral
    Frontiers in Nanophotonics, CSF Conference 2015
  • Second harmonic excitation spectroscopy in studies of Fano-type coupling in plasmonic arrays
    G. F. Walsh, J. Tervino, E. F. Pecora, L. Dal Negro
    SPIE Optics + Photonics 2015
  • Engineering light coupling in single nanowire with metal nano-antennas
    A. Casadei, J. Trevino, E. F. Pecora, E. Alarcò- Lladò, D. Ruffer, E. Russo-Averchi, G. Tutuncuoglu, F. Matteini, C. Forestiere, L. Dal Negro, A. Fontcuberta i Morral
    International Conference on One dimensional Nanomaterials ICON 2013
  • Second-harmonic generation from plasmonic nanoantennas and arrays
    A. Capretti, C. Forestiere, E. F. Pecora, G. Walsh, J. Trevino, S. Minissale, L. Dal Negro, G. Miano
    The International Conference on Surface Plasmon Photonics SPP6
  • Sub-250nm room temperature optical gain from AlGaN materials with strong compositional fluctuations
    E. F. Pecora, W. Zhang, H. Sun, A. Yu. Nikiforov, J. Yin, R. Paiella, T. D. Moustakas, L. Dal Negro
    Bulletin of the American Physical Society, vol. 58, V1.00111
  • Second-harmonic generation in substoichiometric silicon nitride layers
    E. F. Pecora, A. Capretti, G. Miano, L. Dal Negro
    Bulletin of the American Physical Society, vol. 58, V1.00119
  • Rare-earth doped Si-rich ZnO for multiband near-infrared light emitting devices
    E. F. Pecora, T. I. Murphy, L. Dal Negro
    Bulletin of the American Physical Society, vol. 58, C23.00004
  • Nanopatterning of optically-active silicon nanowires
    E. F. Pecora, N. Lawrence, P. Gregg, J. Trevino, P. Artoni, A. Irrera, F. Priolo, L. Dal Negro
    Frontiers in Optics (FiO) – Novel Silicon Waveguides and Nanophotonics (FM4E)
  • Sub-250nm room temperature optical gain from AlGaN/AlN multiple quantum wells structures
    E. F. Pecora, W. Zhang, L. Zhou, D. J. Smith, J. Yin, R. Paiella, L. Dal Negro, T. D. Moustakas
    CLEO: Science and Innovations, CTh3D, CTh3D.5
  • Sub-250nm room-temperature optical gain from AlGaN/AlN multiple quantum dot structures
    E. F. Pecora, W. Zhang, L. Zhou, D. J. Smith, J. Yin, R. Paiella, L. Dal Negro, T. D. Moustakas
    Bulletin of the American Physical Society, vol. 57
  • Room temperature low threshold stimulated emission of electron beam-pumped AlGaN-based deep UV laser structures emitting below 250 nm
    A. Nikiforov, W. Zhang, J. Woodward, J. Yin, E. Pecora, L. Zhou, L. Dal Negro, R. Paiella, D. Smith, T. Moustakas, A. Moldawer
    Bulletin of the American Physical Society, vol. 57

Conference participation

  • APS March Meeting 2013 – Baltimore, MD (USA) March 18 – 22, 2013 Poster presentation, Session V1
  • APS March Meeting 2013 – Baltimore, MD (USA) March 18 – 22, 2013 Poster presentation, Session V1
  • APS March Meeting 2013 – Baltimore, MD (USA) March 18 – 22, 2013 Oral presentation, Session C23
  • MRS Fall Meeting 2012 – Boston, MA (USA) November 25 – 30, 2012 Oral presentation, Symposium DD
  • MRS Fall Meeting 2012 – Boston, MA (USA) November 25 – 30, 2012 Oral presentation, Symposium DD
  • MRS Fall Meeting 2012 – Boston, MA (USA) November 25 – 30, 2012 Poster presentation, Symposium Z
  • CLEO Conference 2012 – San Jose, CA (USA) May 6 – 11, 2012 Oral presentation, Session “Low-dimensional Photonic Structures”
  • APS March Meeting 2012 – Boston, MA (USA) February 27 – March 2, 2012 Oral presentation, Session L28

Leadership experience

  • Laboratory Safety Coordinator for the Boston University Research Compliance – Environmental Health & Safety (2011 – 2013)

Teaching activity

  • Substitute lecturer for the EC471 class (Physics of Semiconductor Devices) at Boston University, Spring 2012 semester
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Alumni Scuola Superiore di Catania

I strongly believe in the give-back idea. I hold my current position also because of my education. This is because I decided to get involved in my alma mater alumni association. This really is a rewarding experience in terms of positive feedbacks, satisfactions for all the organized events, and recognition from the current students.
I served as President of the SSC Alumni Association (Associazione Alumni Scuola Superiore di Catania) between 2011 and 2014. Before, I was member of the Executive Board and Vice-President (2009 – 2010).

Who we are

130+ alumni of a high-excellence education institution within the University of Catania (Scuola Superiore di Catania). The institution acceptance rate is very low (less than 10%). It provides a full scholarship for all the college years, including lodging in an historical campus (Villa San Saverio). Very high grade average and strict deadlines are required to maintain the scholarship. Attendance of complementary and high-level classes is required, along with a research thesis at the end of the scholarship (in addition to the standard university classes and master thesis). As alumni, we contribute to the education of the current students, create a network of diverse experiences and skills, represent the best output of our alma mater

What we do

We organize scientific seminars and conferences (once a week during the school year) and orientation activities. We mentor current students. We organize social events

My role and responsibilities

As a President, I ran and led the organization of all the events and activities; I interact with the academic and students representatives; I organized an yearly fund-raising campaign to support the Association activities; I interacted with all the alumni members to involve, motivate, and support their active participation; I was the administrator of the Association website, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

In the media

Workshop with the Speaker of the Italian House of Representative (on. Laura Boldrini, Presidente della Camera dei Deputati) – see in the available downloads and the recorded streaming:

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Centro Siciliano di Fisica Nucleare e Struttura della Materia

PostDoc Fellow at MATIS Labs. granted by Centro Siciliano di Fisica Nucelare e Struttura della Materia on Growth and Characterization of Si and Ge Nanowires from 2009, November through 2010, December.

Research projects

  • Growth and characterization of Si and Ge nanowires, funded by Centro Siciliano di Fisica Nucleare e Struttura della Materia (2009, November – 2010, December)

Publication output

Book / Book chapter

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PhD in Physics

PhD in Physics, cum laude at University of Catania and MATIS Labs.
Thesis title: Growth, properties and processing of group IV semiconductor nanowires
Advisor: prof. Francesco Priolo
Date: 2010, February 15

Publication output

Book / Book chapter

Conference participation

  • E-MRS Fall Meeting 2010 – Warsaw (PL) September 13-17, 2010 Oral presentation, Symposium E
  • International School on “Materials for Renewable Energies” – Erice (TP, Italy) May 28 – June 2, 2010 Poster session
  • E-MRS 2009 – Strasbourg (F) June 8-12, 2009 Oral presentation, Symposium I
  • NODE International Summer School – Cortona (AR, Italy) July 1-5, 2008 Poster session
  • XV International Winter School on “New Developments in Solid State Physics” – Bad HofGastein (Salzburg, AT) February 18-22, 2008
  • XIII National School of Materials Science – Bressanone (Bz, Italy) September 30 – October 9, 2007 Poster session
  • XV International conference on “Ion Beam Modification of Materials” – Taormina (ME, Italy) September 18-22, 2006 Poster session

Leadership experience

  • Representative of Ph. D. Students in the Physics and Astronomy Department Council of the Catania University (2008 – 2009)
  • Webmaster of www.matis.imm.cnr.it (2006 – 2011)
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Scuola Superiore di Catania

Diploma, summa cum laude at Scuola Superiore di Catania – University of Catania
Thesis: Boron diffusion and clustering in amorphous silicon
Advisors: prof. Francesco Priolo, dr. Salvatore Mirabella
Date: 2007, September 26

Publication output

Conference proceeding

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University of Catania

Laurea Specialistica (M.Sc. equivalent) in Physics, summa cum laude at University of Catania
Thesis: Ruolo del contenuto di silicio sulla luminescenza di ioni Er in matrici di ossido di silicio substechiometrico (Role of the silicon content in substoichiometric silicon oxide matrices on the Er luminescence)
Advisors: prof. Francesco Priolo, dr. Giorgia Franzò
Date: 2006, October 11

Laurea (B.Sc. equivalent) in Physics, summa cum laude at University of Catania
Thesis: Confinamento quantico in nanocristalli di silicio (Quantum confinement effects in silicon nanocrystals)
Advisors: prof. Francesco Priolo, dr. Domenico Pacifici
Date: 2004, September 30

Publication output

Conference participation