aim: letter from director
The Laboratorio Tecnologie Avanzate e nanoSCienze (TASC) was established in 1984 at the AREA di Ricerca di Trieste. In 1988 it became the first National Laboratory of the Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Fisica della Materia, now Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia (INFM). The Laboratory gradually expanded the scope of its activities under the direction of Professors Renzo Rosei (University of Trieste), Fernando Tommasini (University of Trento), Carlo Calandra (University of Modena), and Alfonso Franciosi (University of Trieste). Since July 2000 Professor Giorgio Rossi (University of Modena) serves as director of the TASC-INFM National Laboratory.
The mission of the TASC-INFM National Laboratory is twofold:
- it serves as a National resource for the solid state physics materials science, and synchrotron radiation spectroscopy communities,
- it implements a number of advanced in-house research programs including growth and elaboration of new materials and nanostructures.
The research at TASC is financed by means of European grants, Italian Government grants and contracts, funds from INFM and other Research National Institutions and contracts with industry.
The activity of TASC is monitored and steered by the Scientific Council of the TASC-INFM Laboratory, composed of six members who meet annually, by the Scientific Council of INFM, and by the Board of Directors (Consiglio Direttivo) of INFM.
The scientific staff of the Laboratory includes about 50 researchers (INFM and associated scientists), organized in several groups developing research programs on materials science (growth and characterization of semiconductors, two dimensional highly mobile electron gases, insulating oxides, carbon based nanostructured materials), surface and interface science (atomic structure and electron states at surfaces, surface phase transitions, plasma treatments), advanced microscopy (FEG-TEM analytical microscopy, variable temperature STM, cross-sectional STM, AFM), nanostructuring by electron, X-ray and AFM lithography, synchrotron radiation spectroscopies in the UV and soft X-ray range with variable polarisation sources.