Welcome to the home page of the SLAM research group. We are based in the Physics Department of the Federico II University of Naples, one of the largest and oldest research universities in Italy. Our activity is also carried out in the frame of the CNR Institute ISASI.
Our research focus is on the physics of structured light and matter and of their interaction. We interpret this focus rather broadly. In particular, we are interested in complex-structured singular light beams or photons, such as those carrying orbital angular momentum, or having a space-variant polarization, and in their interaction with matter. We investigate both classical and quantum optical phenomena. We are also interested in space-variant optical media, either artificially structured so as to induce interesting optical phenomena, or alternatively with a structure emerging directly from the nonlinear interaction with light. Finally, we use light to investigate material phenomena, trying to take advantage of spatial degrees of freedom of light or of the spatial structure of the material system.