This research group investigates the structural and electronic properties of materials at the nanoscale, down to single atoms and molecules, using a variety of scanning probe techniques. The primary goal is to design molecular nanoarchitectures extended on metallic substrates that possess specific electronic and magnetic functionalities and can serve as a new generation of nanodevices.
The research concept aims at deepening the understanding of the diverse functionalities of covalent molecular platforms and discovering synergistic phenomena that can lay the foundation for innovative applications. To achieve this, researchers use state-of-the-art scanning probe techniques at low temperatures (4.2 K), which enables them to imagine molecular structures with atomic precision and better understand their electronic properties. This allows imaging nanostructures at bond resolution and probing a wide range of physical properties, such as the energy and spatial distribution of specific molecular orbitals or the total electron density. In addition, analyses of inelastic spin flip excitation lead to understanding the magnetic properties in such molecular nanostructures on a more profound level.
Research interest
- Molecular nanoelectronics
- NanoGraphene spintronics
- Single-atom catalysis