Researchers at SUPERVenice have shown that stacking two ultrathin materials can make an atomically thin semiconductor emit six times more light at room temperature. What happens when two crystals, each only a few atoms thick, are placed on top of one another? They do not simply retain their individual properties. Their electrons begin to interact across the interface, and the resulting structure can behave in ways that neither material would on its own. Researchers of SUPERVenice at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, have used this principle to substantially improve light emission from molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂), one of the most widely studied two-dimensional semiconductors. The team combined a single layer of MoSe₂ with a thin crystal of palladium diselenide, PdSe₂. When illuminated with green light, the resulting heterostructure emitted approximately six times more light than MoSe₂ alone. The work has now been published in Nano Letters. Helping excitons find the bright path When a semiconductor absorbs light, it creates temporary electron–hole pairs known as excitons. These excitons can recombine and release their energy as light, but they can also lose it through other processes, producing heat instead of photons. The challenge is therefore not only to create excitons, but also to guide them towards the pathways that produce light. This is what the PdSe₂ layer appears to do. Although it is not itself a strong light emitter, its electronic interaction with MoSe₂ changes the way excitons relax inside the material. Energy that would otherwise be lost is redirected towards the bright excitonic state responsible for light emission. The result is an estimated photoluminescence quantum yield of about 6%, compared with approximately 1% for an untreated MoSe₂ monolayer. The effect works across a broad range of excitation wavelengths and does not require chemical treatments or significant mechanical strain. The properties of the MoSe₂ layer are improved simply through its interaction with the material placed beneath it. More than brighter emission Two-dimensional semiconductors are promising candidates for future LEDs, lasers, optical sensors and quantum technologies. Their extreme thinness makes them compact and highly responsive, but their light emission is often limited by processes that waste the absorbed energy. The new results show that these losses can be controlled by carefully selecting which materials are stacked together. Not every combination works. When the researchers replaced MoSe₂ with the closely related semiconductor MoS₂, the same enhancement was not observed. The electronic structure and energy alignment of the two materials must therefore match in the right way. This turns the experiment into something more useful than a single bright heterostructure: it provides a possible design principle for engineering other two-dimensional materials with improved light-emission properties. A study led from Venice The research was led by the LION team at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Petr Rozhin, first author of the study, is a postdoctoral researcher in the LION group. The work brought together experimental and theoretical expertise from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of Crete and FORTH, Politecnico di Milano, the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan. The article, “Highly Efficient Exciton Modulation in MoSe₂/PdSe₂ Heterostructures,” is available open access in Nano Letters. Read the full paper

Preventing the devastating impact of extreme weather and climate-related events also requires a rapid and coordinated civil protection response. This means turning civil protection plans into dynamic digital tools that can be updated over time, connected to data collected in the field and easily accessed by both citizens and emergency response teams. This is the approach developed by Digital Plan, a project funded by the Interreg Italy–Croatia Programme, which concluded on 31 August 2026 after 30 months of activity. The project brought together four Italian and four Croatian partners. Its pilot areas included the municipalities of Busso and Montagano in Molise, Maiella National Park in Abruzzo, the municipality of Fermo in the Marche region, Zadar County, the City of Dubrovnik and Split-Dalmatia County. The main outcome is a digital platform where users can access maps, documents, risk information and monitoring data transmitted in real time by Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. Authorised personnel can also update civil protection plans, manage map layers, configure alert thresholds and receive notifications. From static documents to digital maps The digitalisation process converts information on risk areas, strategic buildings, infrastructure, access routes and emergency assembly areas into searchable, accessible and updateable map layers. For the Italian pilot areas, Digital Plan followed the operational guidelines approved by Decree No. 265 of the Head of the Italian Civil Protection Department on 29 January 2024. These guidelines define standards for the digitalisation and interoperability of civil protection planning data. The Italian framework also served as a reference for the work carried out with Croatian municipalities. This allowed the project to test a shared methodology across the two shores of the Adriatic while adapting it to different administrative settings. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice coordinated the digitalisation of the civil protection plans and contributed to defining common data structures and procedures. Together with the University of Split, it also designed the IoT platform and decision-support system. “Digital Plan allowed us to demonstrate in real-world settings how a civil protection plan can become a dynamic tool, continuously informed by up-to-date data and useful both for emergency preparedness and during an actual crisis,” explains Giovanni Antonio Salvatore, Professor of Electronics at Ca’ Foscari’s Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems and co-leader of the LION group. “The result is a replicable model. Public administrations can build on their existing plans, organise information according to shared standards and gradually expand the system by adding new data and sensors.” Pilot activities in Molise, Abruzzo and the Marche region In the Molise municipalities of Busso and Montagano, two environmental monitoring stations were installed. They transmit data to the platform and enable the testing of thresholds and notifications in inland areas exposed to extreme weather events. In Maiella National Park, pilot activities cover Lama dei Peligni, Caramanico Terme and Pratola Peligna, with a particular focus on risks including wildfires, avalanches and landslides. In Fermo, the project created a network to monitor flood and hydrogeological risk. It includes weather stations, water-level sensors along rivers and streams, and level sensors in underpasses that are particularly vulnerable to flooding. When predefined thresholds are exceeded, the platform generates notifications and, at selected locations, can activate warning lights to support road safety. A network that complements existing monitoring systems The low-cost sensors installed through Digital Plan complement existing environmental and meteorological stations. By increasing the density of observations, they make it possible to monitor highly localised phenomena more effectively. The data become even more valuable when integrated with risk maps and the other information contained in civil protection plans, making them useful to both the public and emergency response teams. Building lasting local expertise Digital Plan also trained local staff to use the platform, update plans and maps, interpret data, set monitoring thresholds and integrate additional sensors. The participating public administrations will therefore be able to continue updating and expanding the system after the end of the project. The platform is also ready to host additional civil protection plans and new monitoring stations. About the project Digital Plan — Civil Protection Plan Digitalization through Internet of Things Decision Support System based Platform — is funded by the Interreg Italy–Croatia Programme 2021–2027. The project ran for 30 months, from 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2026, with a total budget of €2,665,725.35. The project was coordinated by GAL Molise verso il 2000. The partners were the Agency for Rural Development of Zadar County (AGRRA), Maiella National Park, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the City of Dubrovnik, RERA SD – Public Institution for Coordination and Development of Split-Dalmatia County, the University of Split and the Municipality of Fermo. The public platform is available at digitalplan.cloud/plans-showcase.

A new study published in ACS Photonics, led by SUPERVenice researcher Domenico De Fazio, shows that scalable graphene can host coherent acoustic plasmon resonances and use them to enhance terahertz detection. Terahertz radiation sits between microwaves and infrared light in the electromagnetic spectrum. It can pass through many common materials, interact with molecular vibrations, and carry information at high frequency, making it promising for imaging, sensing, security screening, and future wireless communications. Yet detecting terahertz light efficiently, especially in compact devices, remains a major technological challenge. This study reports an advance in this direction using one of the thinnest possible materials: graphene. It demonstrates that chemical-vapor-deposited graphene — a scalable form of graphene compatible with larger-area fabrication — can support coherent acoustic plasmon resonances at terahertz frequencies under the right conditions. In simple terms, the researchers show that tiny waves of charge in graphene can be made to bounce back and forth inside a microscopic cavity, producing a measurable enhancement in the terahertz photoresponse. Turning graphene into a tiny terahertz resonator Graphene is only one atom thick, but its electrons can respond strongly to electromagnetic radiation. When terahertz light hits a graphene device, it can heat the electrons and generate a voltage through the photothermoelectric effect. This makes graphene attractive for terahertz photodetectors. However, because graphene is atomically thin, it normally absorbs only a small fraction of incoming light. To overcome this limitation, the team designed a device in which the metallic gates also act as a terahertz antenna. These gates concentrate the incoming terahertz field into the graphene channel and launch acoustic graphene plasmons — collective oscillations of electrons coupled to the electromagnetic field. At cryogenic temperatures, where electronic losses are strongly reduced, these plasmons become coherent enough to form standing waves. “By cooling the device down, the system becomes quiet enough for us to see the plasmons bouncing back and forth inside the graphene cavity,” explains De Fazio. “It is a bit like watching waves resonate in a tiny box, except that here the box is a graphene channel only a few micrometres long, and the waves are charge oscillations driven by terahertz light.” A full cavity — or only half of it One of the key results of the study is that the plasmon cavity can be reconfigured electrically. By changing the voltages applied to the two gates, the researchers can modify the carrier density profile inside the graphene channel. In one configuration, the plasmon resonance extends across the full graphene channel. In another, the device behaves as if only half of the channel forms the resonant cavity. This “half-cavity” behaviour occurs because the gate-defined conductivity landscape creates an internal reflection point for the plasmons. This gate-controlled behaviour gives direct evidence that the observed peaks in the terahertz photoresponse arise from acoustic plasmon Fabry–Pérot-like cavity modes, rather than from a simple background heating effect. The paper reports that the resonances modulate the photothermoelectric response by up to about 40% at low temperature, with the modes disappearing as the device is warmed due to increased plasmon damping. Why this matters The result is important because it shows that coherent acoustic plasmon cavity modes are not limited to the highest-quality exfoliated graphene devices. Here, the team uses CVD graphene, a form of graphene that is more suitable for scalable fabrication. This opens a route toward compact, frequency-selective terahertz detectors based on engineered graphene cavities. Such devices could eventually contribute to terahertz imaging, spectroscopy, on-chip sensing, and next-generation communication technologies. The work also highlights the broader potential of polaritonic engineering: instead of detecting terahertz light only through direct absorption, the device uses strongly confined light–matter waves to concentrate energy into nanoscale regions and convert it into an electrical signal. Collaboration and visualisation The study was carried out by an international team including researchers from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, ICFO, the University of Ioannina, Queen Mary University of London, the University of Manchester, INMA-CSIC/University of Zaragoza and other collaborators. The visual concept accompanying the work was created by David Alcaraz Iranzo, who represented the acoustic plasmons as colourful waves bouncing through a graphene cavity, helping translate a highly nanoscale physical process into an intuitive image. For SUPERVenice, the publication reflects the hub’s mission to connect advanced materials, photonics and emerging device concepts, bringing fundamental discoveries closer to future technologies. The full article can be found at the following link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsphotonics.6c00272

Researchers from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, working within the SUPERVenice research unit, have developed a new type of flexible, skin-compatible photodetector that can sense light across a broad range of wavelengths while operating at low voltage and remaining safe for direct contact with human skin. The device, reported in Advanced Functional Materials, combines graphene with specially engineered carbon dots on a plastic substrate, creating a lightweight and bendable photodetector suitable for wearable electronics and on-skin sensing applications. Addressing a key challenge in wearable optoelectronics Photodetectors—devices that convert light into electrical signals—are essential components in technologies ranging from cameras and optical communications to medical sensors. Conventional photodetectors, often based on rigid silicon electronics, perform well but are poorly suited for wearable or skin-integrated systems, where flexibility, low power consumption and biocompatibility are crucial. Many flexible photodetectors reported to date compromise on at least one of these requirements. Some offer high sensitivity but rely on toxic materials such as lead- or cadmium-based quantum dots; others are flexible but operate over a narrow spectral range or lack evidence of skin safety. The new work addresses these limitations by combining broadband optical response, mechanical flexibility and verified skin compatibility within a single device architecture. Carbon dots and graphene: complementary roles The photodetector is built by integrating hydrothermally synthesized carbon dots with single-layer graphene transferred onto a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The carbon dots act as the light-absorbing element, while graphene provides an efficient, high-mobility pathway for charge transport. Unlike conventional quantum dots, the carbon dots used in this study are metal-free, environmentally benign and inherently biocompatible. By carefully tuning their synthesis conditions, the researchers engineered the dots to absorb light not only in the ultraviolet but also across the visible and near-infrared range, extending roughly from 400 to 800 nanometers. Graphene alone absorbs only a small fraction of incoming light, but when coupled to the carbon dots it efficiently collects photogenerated charge carriers, enabling a measurable electrical response across the full spectral window. Low-voltage operation with a biopolymer gate To control the device electronically, the team used a chitosan–glycerol biopolymer electrolyte as a gate dielectric. Chitosan, derived from natural sources such as chitin, is non-toxic and widely used in biomedical applications. This electrolyte enables strong electrostatic gating at very low operating voltages, with optimal performance reached at around 0.5 V, well below the levels typically required by flexible photodetectors. Under illumination, the device shows a gate-dependent photoresponse that can be tuned between different operating regimes, with peak responsivities of approximately 0.19 A/W at 406 nm, 0.32 A/W at 642 nm, and 0.18 A/W at 785 nm. Performance under bending and repeated use Mechanical flexibility is a key requirement for wearable electronics, and the researchers subjected their devices to extensive bending tests. The photodetectors maintained stable operation at bending radii as small as 0.8 cm and showed no significant degradation after up to 1000 bending cycles. The response times, on the order of one second, are compatible with many wearable sensing applications, including biometric monitoring and environmental light sensing. Demonstrated skin compatibility Beyond electrical and mechanical performance, the study directly addresses skin safety, an aspect often assumed rather than tested in wearable optoelectronics. Using reconstructed human epidermis models and fibroblast cultures, the researchers showed that neither the complete device nor its individual components caused skin irritation or cytotoxic effects. Importantly, illumination under realistic operating conditions did not induce detectable reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, indicating that the device is photo-safe for on-skin use. Toward practical wearable photonics While the device is presented as a proof of concept, the authors emphasize that the materials and fabrication steps are compatible with scalable, low-cost processing. Future work will focus on improving detectivity, optimizing large-area uniformity, and integrating the photodetectors into functional wearable platforms. By combining metal-free light absorbers, graphene electronics, biopolymer gating and direct biological testing, the study outlines a practical route toward next-generation photodetectors designed from the outset for safe, wearable operation. The full study is published in Advanced Functional Materials and is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202523076

A new study led by researchers at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with ON Semiconductor, University of Naples Federico II, and University of Applied Sciences Kempten, has unveiled a powerful digital approach to designing the future of high-efficiency power electronics. The work, recently accepted for publication in the IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics, is titled “Multi-Physics Simulations of a 1.2 kV Embedded SiC Prepackage”. The research team includes Saimir Frroku, Ankit Bhushan Sharma, Pierfrancesco Fadini, Klaus Neumaier, Andrea Irace, Till Huesgen, and Giovanni A. Salvatore, who coordinated the study at Ca’ Foscari’s Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems. A New Era for Power Device Packaging Wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) are transforming power electronics thanks to their ability to operate at higher voltages, temperatures, and switching frequencies than traditional silicon. Yet, packaging remains a critical bottleneck—how these chips are physically mounted, cooled, and electrically connected determines the true performance and reliability of a power module. Embedding the SiC chips directly into an insulating substrate represents a breakthrough approach. By eliminating bulky wire bonds and reducing parasitic inductances, embedded packages enable faster and cleaner switching, boosting efficiency and compactness. However, questions of mechanical reliability and heat management have persisted. Digital Twins for Real-World Reliability The Ca’ Foscari team tackled these challenges through multi-physics finite-element simulations, virtually reconstructing a “prepackage” containing two 1.2 kV SiC MOSFETs and exploring different commercial substrates—alumina, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, and insulated metal boards (IMS). Their thermomechanical “digital twin” captured how heat and mechanical stress propagate during manufacturing and operation, allowing the team to pinpoint design weaknesses long before physical prototyping. Using a Pareto-based optimization, they identified aluminum nitride (AlN) as the most balanced substrate, achieving a thermal resistance of just 0.27 K/W and low mechanical strain levels. Engineering Smarter Structures The simulations also revealed how to strengthen the package against long-term mechanical fatigue. Replacing the traditional solid copper top contact with a pillar-like interconnect geometry reduced creep strain in the silver sintering layer by up to fourfold—a major leap for reliability. Even the cooling rate during manufacturing proved to be a critical factor: above a certain threshold (around 40 K/min), creep deformation virtually disappears, leaving only reversible plastic strain. This insight offers a new lever for process control and reliability enhancement. Toward Scalable, High-Frequency Power Modules By virtually paralleling four optimized prepackages, the researchers demonstrated a compact power module with only 3 nH of stray inductance, suitable for high-frequency, high-efficiency power conversion—crucial for electric vehicles, renewable-energy systems, and data-center power supplies. “These simulations allow us to accelerate innovation while reducing costly trial-and-error fabrication,” explains Giovanni A. Salvatore, senior author of the study. “Digital modeling provides predictive insights into reliability and performance, helping us design the next generation of power modules that are both efficient and robust.” From Simulation to Sustainable Energy Systems The findings open new perspectives for integrating wide-bandgap semiconductors into compact, thermally stable, and manufacturable modules—an essential step toward electrified mobility and renewable-powered grids. The team’s work exemplifies how virtual engineering and experimental design can converge to drive sustainable innovation in advanced electronics. The full article is available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11224018. All image rights and copyrights are reserved by IEEE.

A team of researchers at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice has developed a new class of sustainable, flexible, and biodegradable materials that could transform the future of wearable technologies, robotics, and green electronics. The study, published in ACS Nano and featured on its supplementary cover, demonstrates how chitosan-based thin films—derived from crustacean biowaste—can be engineered to achieve record piezoelectric performance. Turning waste into innovation Chitosan, a natural polymer obtained from chitin in crustacean shells, is already known for its biocompatibility and biodegradability. By incorporating chitin nanocrystals into chitosan films, the Ca’ Foscari-led team achieved a twofold increase in piezoelectric response. These soft, transparent films are also stretchable up to 40% strain and exhibit a low Young’s modulus (~100 MPa), closely mimicking the elasticity of human tissues. Why it matters Piezoelectric materials are the backbone of sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters. Today, most commercial devices rely on synthetic polymers like PVDF or inorganic ceramics such as PZT, which raise environmental and health concerns due to their toxicity, rigidity, or reliance on fluorinated compounds. The Ca’ Foscari study shows that biobased materials can achieve competitive performance without compromising sustainability. The films are fully biodegradable, scalable in production, and derived from low-cost biowaste—an example of circular economy applied to advanced materials science. Potential applications Because of their softness and biocompatibility, the new chitosan nanocomposites are particularly suited for: A collaborative effort The research was carried out by the LION group (Laboratory for Innovation in Organic and Nanostructured materials) at Ca’ Foscari’s Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, in collaboration with international partners. The project received support from EU NextGenerationEU programs (PRIN 2022, iNEST ecosystem) and the PRIMA initiative for sustainable bio-based packaging. Looking ahead According to Giovanni Antonio Salvatore, corresponding author of the study, this work “opens the door to a new generation of sustainable-by-design materials for electronics, capable of replacing polluting polymers and bridging the gap between biological systems and technology.” With this breakthrough, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice further strengthens its position at the intersection of materials science, sustainability, and technological innovation. 👉 Read the full article in ACS Nano: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c12855