Research activities

The research activities at the Structure and Dynamics of Complex Systems (SDCS) laboratory are focused on the experimental study of the interplay between structural and dynamical properties of a class of materials including liquids and glasses, soft matter, and disordered photonic systems. In fact, the relevant macroscopic properties of these materials (e.g. thermodynamic properties, transport coefficients, elastic moduli etc.) do not depend only on their structure or only on their dynamics but rather on their often complex interplay. Our research activities aim at achieving a detailed understanding of these phenomena and eventually at tailored design of materials with predefined properties.

Experimental techniques and laboratories

Our approach is mainly experimental, often complemented by theory and computer simulations. 
Materials are in most cases prepared in house with appropriate synthesis protocols. Their structural and dynamical properties are then investigated with different techniques including Raman and Brillouin spectroscopy, photon correlation spectroscopy, single- and multi-speckles, and X-ray diffraction. 
Experiments are done in Trento and are supported by results obtained at Large Scale Facilities. Indeed, we routinely carry out X-ray scattering studies at synchrotron radiation sources such as Elettra (Trieste, Italy), ESRF (Grenoble, France) or PETRAIII (Hamburg, Germany); but also at the new free electron laser facilities like FERMI (Trieste, Italy), LCLS (Stanford, USA) and XFEL (Hamburg, Germany). We also carry out neutron scattering experiments at the nuclear reactors like ILL (Grenoble, France) or MLZ (Garching, Germany). We also carry out an intense activity to develop new instrumentation. Innovative experimental set-ups are designed and realized in-house to tackle specific scientific problems. Moreover, we have participated in projects to design new instruments for Large Scale Facilities or to apply our laboratory-based techniques to specific industrial applications.

Group members