SFB 1083:  Structure and Dynamics of Internal Interfaces

Internal interfaces between two solids play a decisive role in modern materials sciences and their technological applications. Among the most prominent examples are certainly semiconductor devices which have been miniaturised to such an extent that their optical and electronic properties are determined decisively by interfaces. In the future, the importance of internal, solid/solid inter-faces is expected to increase even further due to the development of new hybrid materials. One type of these materials combines specific properties of metals or inorganic semiconductors on the one hand, with those of organic or biomaterials on the other hand. Another type of composite material is created by stacking different two-dimensional solids, such as graphene or transition metal dichalcogenides, together. In both cases, the interaction of different solids across the interface and specific interface properties are crucial to the resulting functionality. Despite their enormous importance, our microscopic understanding of internal interfaces is lagging behind that of volume or surface properties. The main reason for this knowledge gap is the experi¬mental difficulty to detect and isolate the weak interface signature from the signals of the dominant bulk. The objective of the collaborative research centre SFB 1083 is to close this gap by collaboration between researchers from chemical synthesis, semiconductor physics, surface science, structural analysis and laser spectroscopy. Primarily, our research is not directed towards specific functional materials, as those generally consist of many, frequently not well-defined interfaces. Instead, we focus on model systems with specially prepared internal interfaces. We structurally characterise these interfaces on the atomic level and investigate their optical and electronic properties system-atically. In this way, we want to achieve a detailed microscopic understanding of chemical bonding, electronic coupling and energy transfer for different classes of heterointerfaces. We then can make use of this knowledge and tailor interfaces for specific applications and construct devices with novel properties and functions.

DFG Programme Collaborative Research Centres

• A02 - Inorganic/Organic and Organic/Organic Interfaces: Structure and Charge Transport (Project Head Witte, Gregor )
• A03 - Organic Heterolayer Interfaces: Structure and Vibrational Excitations (Project Head Jakob, Peter )
• A04 - Reactivity, Energetics and Structure of Buried Organic/Metal Interfaces (Project Heads Gottfried, Michael ;  Schmid, Martin )
• A05 - Atomically Resolved Structure of Solid/Solid Interfaces (Project Heads Gries, Katharina Ines ;  Volz, Kerstin )
• A06 - Unified Density Functional Description of Bonding and Interactions at Inorganic/Organic Interfaces (Project Head Tonner-Zech, Ralf )
• A08 - Organic Molecular Building Blocks for the Synthesis of Internal Interfaces (Project Heads Dürr, Michael ;  Koert, Ulrich )
• A12 - Structure and Excitations of Heteroepitaxial Stacks of Weakly Interacting 2D Materials and Molecular Layers (Project Heads Kumpf, Christian ;  Posseik, François ;  Tautz, Stefan F. )
• A13 - Theory of Electronic Interface States in Weakly Bound Heterostructures (Project Head Rohlfing, Michael )
• A14 - Metal Organic Vapour Phase Deposition of Two-Dimensional Heterostructures (Project Head Volz, Kerstin )
• A15 - Ionic 2D Materials for Designable Organic-Inorganic Interfaces (Project Head Heine, Johanna )
• A16 - Synthetic Interface Chemistry (Project Heads Gottfried, Michael ;  Koert, Ulrich )
• B02 - Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Control of Excitations Across Internal Interfaces (Project Head Chatterjee, Sangam )
• B06 - Time-Resolved Two-Photon Photoemission Studies of Interface Electron and Exciton Dynamics (Project Heads Höfer, Ulrich ;  Wallauer, Robert )
• B09 - Light-Matter Interaction at Interfaces of Quantum Materials (Project Head Malic, Ermin )
• B10 - Dynamics of Charge-Transfer Excitons at Organic/Organic and Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Heterointerfaces (Project Head Gerhard, Marina )
• B11 - Ultrafast Dynamics of Interface Currents (Project Heads Güdde, Jens ;  Höfer, Ulrich )
• B12 - Type-II Based THz Emitters (Project Head Koch, Martin )
• B13 - Inorganic, Interface-Dominated Heterostructures for Device Concepts (Project Heads Chatterjee, Sangam ;  Volz, Kerstin )
• MGK - Integrated Research Training Group (Project Heads Koert, Ulrich ;  Witte, Gregor )
• Z - Coordination Project (Project Head Volz, Kerstin )
• Ö - Public Relations Project (Project Heads Dehnen, Stefanie ;  Jänsch, Heinz Julius ;  Wegscheid-Gerlach, Christof )

• A01 - Metal Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy of Semiconductor Heterostructures and Interfaces (Project Head Stolz, Wolfgang )
• A07 - Functional Design and Synthesis of Metal Organic Chromophores for Heterojunction Interfaces (Project Head Sundermeyer, Jörg )
• A09 - Synthesis and Properties of Molecular Inorganic/Organic/Inorganic Multilayer Clusters (Project Head Dehnen, Stefanie )
• A11 - Bismuth(III)iodide as a 2D Material for Hybrid Compounds (Project Head Heine, Johanna )
• B01 - Optical Spectroscopy at Internal Interfaces - Semiconductor Heterostructures and Organic-Inorganic Hybrids (Project Head Heimbrodt, Wolfram )
• B03 - THz- and Time-Resolved Optical Spectroscopy on Buried Interfaces (Project Heads Heimbrodt, Wolfram ;  Koch, Martin )
• B04 - Microscopic Theory of Optical Excitations in Interface-Dominated Material Systems (Project Heads Kira, Mackillo ;  Koch, Stephan W. )
• B05 - Time-Resolved Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy at Semiconductor Interfaces (Project Heads Höfer, Ulrich ;  Mette, Gerson ;  Volz, Kerstin )
• B07 - Interface-Dominated Semiconductor Laser Structures (Project Heads Koch, Stephan W. ;  Stolz, Wolfgang )
• B08 - Quantum chemistry for molecular vibrational and electronic transitions at organic interfaces (Project Head Berger, Robert )

Applicant Institution Philipps-Universität Marburg

Participating University Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; Universität Leipzig; Universität Münster

Participating Institution Forschungszentrum Jülich

Spokespersons Professor Dr. Ulrich Höfer, until 6/2021; Professorin Dr. Kerstin Volz, since 7/2021