FZT 47:  Functional Nanostructures

Structures with dimensions from below one micrometer down to the size of only a few or even single atoms are currently subject of intense research worldwide. These nanostructures (1 nanometer = 10^-9 m) form the basis of a technology referred to as nanotechnology. Besides the mere size reduction leading to behavior different from the bulk, nanostructures can exhibit a number of fundamentally different and novel properties, which simply do not occur in their macroscopic counterparts. Thus, nanotechnology comprises many different aspects of fundamental research in physics and chemistry, as well as many different areas of applications, such as materials science, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering. Future developments in other areas, e.g. circuit design/architecture and also software design in computer science, will not be possible without significant advances in basic research on nanotechnology.
We focus our activities onto the study of nanostructures with specific and dedicated functionality, concentrating on nanostructures with optical and electronic functions. Electronic functions shall also comprise electronic transfer processes between a nanostructure and the underlying substrate.
The selection of material systems, on the other hand, depends on the specific functions. For nano-optical structures, semiconductors and dielectric materials are in the foreground. Nano-electronic transport is investigated in metallic and semiconducting systems. For electronic transport in molecular structures, the material choices are currently less clear. Here, the relevant functional properties of many single molecule systems have yet to be explored, and we are screening a number of different molecular systems before dedicated functions can be worked on. Regarding nano-biology our focus is on transport properties of inorganic nanostructures into living cells and how cells can be influenced by nanostructured surfaces. This programme was successful in the German government's Excellence Initiative and has been funded since November 2006 as DFG Research Centre 47/Cluster of Excellence 172.

DFG Programme DFG Research Centres

• Central Administration (Project Head Wegener, Martin )
• Molecular Nanostructures (Project Head Kappes, Manfred )
• Nano-Biology (Project Head Ulrich, Anne )
• Nano-Electronics (Project Head Schön, Gerd )
• Nano-Energy (Project Head Ivers-Tiffée, Ellen )
• Nano-Photonics (Project Head Busch, Kurt )
• Nanostructure Service Laboratory (Project Head Gerthsen, Dagmar )
• Nanostructured Materials (Project Head Ivers-Tiffée, Ellen )

Applicant Institution Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Campus Süd (aufgelöst)

Spokesperson Professor Dr. Martin Wegener