Giovanni Boero

EPFL STI IMT LMIS1
BM 3110 (Bâtiment BM)
Station 17
1015 Lausanne

Expertise


Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Electron spin resonance (ESR), Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), RF/MW discrete and integrated electronics, Magnetic sensors, Noise phenomena.

Mission

Methods based on the magnetic resonance of nuclear spins (nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)), unpaired electrons spins (electron spin resonance (ESR)), and coupled electron spins electrons (ferromagnetic resonance (FMR)) are very powerful radiofrequency/microwave spectroscopy tools used in many research and industrial areas including physics, chemistry, material science, biology, and medicine. Our research is focused on the investigation methods and devices capable to extend the power of magnetic resonance spectroscopy to nanoliter and subnanoliter samples volumes. In particular, we investigate approaches based on the combination of low noise RF/microwave integrated circuits operating at room temperature as well as cryogenic temperatures, hyperpolarization techniques, superconducting devices, and micro/nano fluidics. 
Giovanni Boero received the Laurea degree in Physics from the Università di Genova, Italy, in 1994. He completed his undergraduate studies with a thesis conducted at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FERMILAB, Batavia, IL, USA) on clusterized gas beams for particle physics experiments. From 1994 to 1996 he worked at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland) and FERMILAB, focusing mainly on atomic, molecular, and clusterized gas beams. At CERN he contributed to the implementation and control of a clusterized xenon beam that enabled the creation of the first atoms of antimatter. In 1996 he joined École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland) to work on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microsystems for high accuracy magnetometry. He received his PhD from EPFL in 2000. He subsequently continued his career at EPFL as a postdoctoral researcher (2000–2005), scientific collaborator (2005–2012), senior scientist (2012–2023), and adjunct professor (since 2023). Over the past 25 years, Giovanni Boero has worked on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), dynamic nuclear polarization–enhanced NMR (DNP-NMR), electron spin resonance (ESR), and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy, with a particular focus on innovative methods and devices for nanoliter and subnanoliter sample volumes. He directed and co-directed the thesis of 20 phD students (10 direction, 10 co-direction). His most original contributions include RF and microwave integrated circuits for NMR and ESR spectroscopy, the Hall detection of ESR, the X-ray detection of FMR, noise phenomena in microwave integrated oscillators at cryogenic temperatures, and high spatial resolution proximity sensors. Giovanni Boero is teaching several courses at the bachelor, master, and doctoral school level, including General Physics: Electromagnetism, Sensors, and Nanotechnology. He is currently the director of the EPFL doctoral school in microsystems and microelectronics (EDMI). 

Short CV

Born in Genova (Italy). Married with two children. Speaks italian, english, french.
Workplaces:
1996-present: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
1994-1996: Organization Europeenne pour la Recherche Nucleaire (CERN),Geneva,Switzerland.
1993-1995: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL, USA.
Education:
2000: PhD, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
1994: Laurea in Physics, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

Teaching & PhD

PhD Students

André Chatel, Théo Jean Sanlaville, Mohammadparsa Mirzaeisarmad, Xinwei Li, Moustafa Mohamed Bahaa Abdelwahab Elsayed Alabd

Past EPFL PhD Students

Malika Bouterfas, Gabriele Gualco, Enrica Montinaro, Marco Grisi, Alessandro Valentino Matheoud, Anthony Jean Beaumont, Anton Malovichko, Nergiz Sahin Solmaz, Farsi Reza

Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector

Schahrazede-Lila Mouaziz, Tolga Yalçin, Marc Lany, Jens Anders, Jonas Gustav Henriksson, Gabriele Gualco, Mario Andres Chavarria Varon, Matthieu Rüegg, Roberto Russo

Courses

General physics : electromagnetism

PHYS-201(c)

Introduction to fluids mechanics, to electromagnetism, and to wave phenomena.

MEMS practicals I

MICRO-501

The goal of this practical work is to create thermal micro-actuators consisting of micro-cantilevers made out of silicon dioxide and covered by chromium meander-shaped electrical tracks and contact pads.

MEMS sensors practicals

MICRO-503

The objective of this practical is to apply in specific experimental settings the knowledge acquired in various MEMS related class.

Micro-magnetic field sensors and actuators

MICRO-602

The course provides the basis to understand the physics, the key performance, and the research and industrial applications of magnetic sensors and actuators. Together with a detailed introduction to magnetism, several magnetic sensors and actuators are studied.

Nanotechnology

MICRO-530

This course gives the basics for understanding nanotechnology from an engineer's perspective: physical background, materials aspects and scaling laws, fabrication and imaging of nanoscale devices.

Robotics practicals

MICRO-453

The goal of this lab series is to practice the various theoretical frameworks acquired in the courses on a variety of robots, ranging from industrial robots to autonomous mobile robots, to robotic devices, all the way to interactive robots.

Sensors

MICRO-330

Physical principles and electronics used in sensors. Applications of sensors.