Claudio Masciovecchio

Working address: Sincrotrone Trieste, 34012 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

Date and Place of birth: 24/12/68 in L'Aquila, Italy
e-mail: claudio.masciovecchio@elettra.eu
Tel:++390403758093/8516 (office/beamline)

I am working as Director of the FERMI free electron laser at the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste Laboratory.
My research activity deals with: dynamics of disordered matter (liquids, supercooled liquids, glasses, polymers), bio-protector materials (Trehalose, Sucrose), nanostructured materials (nanotubes, interfaces), extreme thermodynamic conditions, DNA, Protein Structure and Dynamics, Pharmaceutics and Non-Linear Optics. Methods of investigations are mainly light, ultraviolet and x-ray spectroscopic techniques as well as photoemission.

Education
March 1993. Laurea in Physics, Summa cum Laude, University of L'Aquila. Advisor: Prof. F. De Pasquale. Thesis title: The non-linear electron-phonon interaction.
October 1998. PhD in Physics, Très honorable avec félicitations, University J. Fourier of Grenoble. Advisor: Prof. J. F. Legrand. Thesis title: The inelastic x-ray scattering as a new technique to investigate the dynamics of glass forming systems.

International Prizes
1) Kai Siegbahn prize was awarded to Claudio Masciovecchio at the University of Uppsala on September the 10th 2012. The aim of the Prize was: To recognize and encourage outstanding experimental achievement in synchrotron radiation research with a significant component of instrument development.
2)The 2015 Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation has been given to Claudio Masciovecchio and his group from Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste. Their work on "First transient grating experiment in the soft X-ray range at the FERMI free-electron laser by exploitation of the coherent and multi-wave nature of the four-wave mixing process" has demonstrated the new potentialities of the worldwide first seeded free electron laser for soft X-rays FERMI.
3) The 2016 Bruker-SILS Outstanding Scientist Award was given to Claudio Masciovecchio in recognition of his contribution for the development of synchrotron and FEL radiation techniques.

Relevant Pubblications
[1] F. Sette, G. Ruocco, M. Krisch, U. Bergmann, C. Masciovecchio, V. Mazzacurati, G. Signorelli and R. Verbeni “Collective Dynamics in Water by High Energy Resolution Inelastic X-Ray Scattering” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 850 (1995).
[2] C. Masciovecchio, U. Bergmann, M. Krisch, G. Ruocco, F. Sette and R. Verbeni “A Perfect Crystal X-Ray Analyzer with meV Energy Resolution” - Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B111, 181 (1996).
[3] G. Ruocco, F. Sette, U. Bergmann, M. Krisch, C. Masciovecchio, V. Mazzacurati, G. Signorelli and R. Verbeni “Equivalence of the Sound Velocity in Water and Ice at Mesoscopic Wavelengths” - Nature 379, 521 (1996).
[4] C. Masciovecchio, G. Ruocco, F. Sette, M. Krisch, R. Verbeni, U. Bergmann, M. Soltwisch “Observation of Large Momentum Phononlike Modes in Glasses” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3356 (1996).
[5] C. Masciovecchio, G. Monaco, G. Ruocco, F. Sette, A. Cunsolo, M. Krisch, A. Mermet, M. Soltwisch R. Verbeni “High Frequency Dynamics of Glass-Forming Liquids at the Glass Transition” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 544 (1998).
[6] F. Sette, G. Ruocco, M. Krisch, C. Masciovecchio, G. Monaco “Dynamics of Glass-Forming Liquids Studied by Inelastic X-Ray Scattering” - Science 280, 1550 (1998).
[7] C. Masciovecchio, A. Mermet, G. Ruocco, and F. Sette “Experimental Evidence of the Acousticlike Character of the High Frequency Excitations in Glasses “- Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1266 (2000).
[8] C. Masciovecchio, S. C. Santucci, A. Gessini, S. Di Fonzo, G. Ruocco, and F. Sette “Structural Relaxation in Liquid Water by Inelastic UV Scattering” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 255507 (2004).
[9] C. Masciovecchio, G. Baldi, S. Caponi, L. Comez, S. DiFonzo, D. Fioretto, A. Fontana, A. Gessini, S. C. Santucci, F. Sette, G. Viliani, P. Vilmercati, G. Ruocco “Evidence of a Crossover in the Frequency dependence of the Acoustic Attenuation in Vitreous Silica” – Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 035501-1 (2006).
[10] R. Cucini, F. Bencivenga, C. Masciovecchio “All-reflective femtosecond optical pump-probe set-up for Transient Grating spectroscopy”- Opt. Lett. 36, 1032 (2011).
[11] L. Comez, G. Monaco, C. Masciovecchio, A. Paciaroni, A. Gessini, F. Scarponi, G. Ruocco, D. Fioretto “Acoustic dissipation and density of states in liquid, supercooled, and glassy glycerol” – Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 155701 (2011).
[12] E. Principi, R. Cucini, A. Filipponi, A. Gessini, F. Bencivenga, F. D’Amico, A. Di Cicco, and C. Masciovecchio “Determination of the Ion Temperature in a Stainless Steel Slab Exposed to Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulses”- Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 025005 (2012).
[13] F. Bencivenga, F. Capotondi, E. Principi, M. Kiskinova and C. Masciovecchio “Coherent and transient states studied with extreme ultraviolet and X-ray free electron lasers: Present and future prospects” Adv. in Physics 63, 327 (2015).
[14] F. Bencivenga, R. Cucini, F. Capotondi, A. Battistoni, R. Mincigrucci, E. Giangrisostomi, A. Gessini, M. Manfredda, I.P. Nikolov, E. Pedersoli, E. Principi, C. Svetina, P. Parisse, F. Casolari, M. B. Danailov, M. Kiskinova, C. Masciovecchio, “Four-wave mixing experiments with extreme ultraviolet transient gratings” – Nature 520, 205 (2015).
[15] B. Rossi, V. Venuti, F. D'Amico, A. Gessini, F. Castiglione, A. Mele, C. Punta, L. Melone, V. Crupi, D. Majolino, F. Trotta, C. Masciovecchio, “Water and polymer dynamics in a model polysaccharide hydrogel: The role of hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance” – PCCP 17, 963 (2015).
[16] B. Rossi, V. Venuti, A. Mele, C. Punta, L. Melone, F. D'Amico, A. Gessini, V. Crupi, D. Majolino, F. Trotta, C. Masciovecchio “Vibrational signatures of the water behaviour upon confinement in nanoporous hydrogels” - PCCP 18, 12252 (2016).
[17] M. Altissimo, M. Kiskinova, R. Mincigrucci, L. Vaccari , C. Guarnaccia and C. Masciovecchio “Perspective: A toolbox for protein structure determination in physiological environment through oriented, 2D ordered, site specific immobilization“- Struct. Dyn. 14, 044017 (2017).
[18] R. Mincigrucci, M. Kowalewski, J. R. Rouxel, F. Bencivenga, S. Mukamel and C. Masciovecchio "Impulsive UV-pump/X-ray probe study of vibrational dynamics in glycine" Scientific Reports 8, 15466 (2018).
[19] F. Bencivenga, R. Mincigrucci, F. Capotondi, L. Foglia, D. Naumenko, A.A. Maznev, E. Pedersoli, A. Simoncig, F. Caporaletti, V. Chiloyan, R. Cucini, F. Dallari, R.A. Duncan, T.D. Frazer, G. Gaio, A. Gessini, L. Giannessi, S. Huberman, H. Kapteyn, J. Knobloch, G. Kurdi, N. Mahne, M. Manfredda, A. Martinelli, M. Murnane, E. Principi, L. Raimondi, S. Spampinati, C. Spezzani, M. Trovò, M. Zangrando, G. Chen, G. Monaco, K.A. Nelson, C. Masciovecchio “Nanoscale transient gratings excited and probed by extreme ultraviolet femtosecond pulses” Science Advances 5, 5805 (2019).