SLAM (Structured Light and Matter) is a research cluster based in the Department of Physics at the University of Naples Federico II. We bring together three independent research groups with shared interests in the physics of light, matter and their interaction.
Structured Photons group. (2025) From left to right: Sneha (2nd year PhD student), Filippo (PI), Paola (3rd year PhD student), Patrick (Postdoc), Meri (3rd year PhD student), Francesco (Researcher), Lorenzo (Professor), Italo (Postdoc).
Originally established as a single research group, SLAM has evolved into three groups: Nonlinear Spectroscopy and Structured Matter, Structured Photons, and Photonic Devices. Each group pursues its own research programme, while maintaining close scientific connections, collaborating and sharing resources.
Our research spans classical and quantum optics, with a focus on structured light, structured matter and their interaction. We study optical beams and photons with tailored spatial and polarization properties. Our interests include singular optical beams, orbital angular momentum, quantized linear momentum and spatially varying polarization, optical information processing (both classical and quantum) and foundations of physics.
We also investigate optical media whose spatial structure is either engineered or emerges through nonlinear interactions with light. By controlling the spatial properties of light and studying the structure of materials, we develop ways to probe material properties and dynamics.