SFB 767:  Controlled Nanosystems: Interaction and Interfacing to the Macroscale

• Subject Area: Physics
• Term: from 2008 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 32152442

• Final Report Year: 2020

Final Report Abstract

The field of nanoscience has significantly matured during the last two decades. Perspectives for applications based on nanostructures have emerged which rely crucially on a precise control of the interaction between nanostructures or the influence of external fields. Our SFB has contributed significantly to the progress in nanoscience by developing control mechanisms for individual nanosystems in the past twelve years. We have shown that achieving control by structural, optical or electric means is a promising route to an advanced understanding of mechanical, electronic, and magnetic properties of nanosystems. Our research program was organized around these topics. The first area covered structural and mechanical properties and here the investigations have focused on coherent mechanical excitations of membranes and beams controlled by electromagnetic fields. One of our main findings is the reveal of the origin of mechanical damping in nanomembranes and the coherent control of a nanobeam. Furthermore, we have investigated the control of heat transport by temperature gradients. In the second research area on optical and electronic properties the main goal was to use the potential of optical control of nanosystems. An unprecedented level of control was achieved experimentally by two-color excitations of molecules and theoretically of spin-qubit candidates. Further major progress concerns the stability of colloidal quantum dots, their control on ultrafast time scales and in magnetic fields as well as direct detection of the photonic vacuum. Furthermore, in this area we have developed an ultrafast control of the coupling between a tunnel current and photons. The third project area, electronic and magnetic transport properties, has elaborated on the control of electrons in single molecular junctions or quantum point contacts and the magnetization in nanostructures. As highlights we have e.g. shown how to control single spins in molecules, single electrons by voltage pulses, vibrational modes by current, and domain walls by thermal gradients. In the course of the program, we have continued these research aspects concentrating on the most promising aspects and developed fine-tuned control schemes like electrical and optical field effects on mechanical and magnetic nanosystems, molecules and semiconductor quantum dots. Furthermore, using insights of the first funding periods we have extended our scope to topics such as ultrafast manipulation of electronic tunneling currents and engineered heat flow in nanocontacts.

Publications

• Phonon assisted current noise in molecular junctions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 136601 (2009)
  F. Haupt, T. Novotny, and W. Belzig
  
• Sub-cycle switch-on of ultrastrong light-matter interaction, Nature 458, 178 (2009)
  G. Günter, A. A. Anappara, J. Hees, A. Sell, G. Biasiol, L. Sorba, S. De Liberato, C. Ciuti, A. Tredicucci, A. Leitenstorfer, and R. Huber
  
• A passive terahertz radiation device, European Patent EP2422414, WO/2010142313 (2010)
  T. Dekorsy, G. Klatt, K. Huska, G. Bastian
  
• Imaging of domain wall inertia in permalloy half-ring nanowires by time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 067201 (2010)
  J. Rhensius, L. Heyne, D. Backes, S. Krzyk, L. J Heyderman, L. Joly, F. Nolting, and M. Kläui
  
• Nonadiabatic spin-Torque investigated using thermally activated magnetic domain wall dynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 056601 (2010)
  M. Eltschka, M. Wötzel, J. Rhensius, S. Krzyk, U. Nowak, M. Kläui, T. Kasama, R. E. Dunin- Borkowski, L. J. Heyderman, H. J. van Driel, and R. A. Duine
  
• Synthesis of a single cycle of light with compact erbium-doped fibre technology, Nature Photonics. 4, 33 (2010)
  G. Krauss, S. Lohss, T. Hanke, A. Sell, S. Eggert, R. Huber, and A. Leitenstorfer
  
• A tunable twoimpurity Kondo system in an atomic point contact, Nature Physics 7, 901 (2011)
  J. Bork, Y. Zhang, L. Diekhöner, L. Borda, P. Simon, J. Kroha, P. Wahl, and K. Kern
  
• Benzenedithiol: A broad-range single-channel molecular conductor, Nano Lett. 11, 3734 (2011)
  Y. Kim, T. Pietsch, A. Erbe, W. Belzig, and E. Scheer
  
• Coherent terahertz control of antiferromagnetic spin waves, Nature Photonics 5, 31 (2011)
  T. Kampfrath, A. Sell, G. Klatt, A. Pashkin, S. Mährlein, T. Dekorsy, M. Wolf, M. Fiebig, A. Leitenstorfer, and R. Huber
  
• Domain wall motion by the magnonic spin Seebeck effect, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 027205 (2011)
  D. Hinzke and U. Nowak
  
• Selective NIR chromophores: Bis-Pyrrolopyrrole Cyanines, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 1406 (2011)
  G. M. Fischer, E. Daltrozzo, A. Zumbusch
  
• Subharmonic resonant optical excitation of confined acoustic modes in a free-standing semiconductor membrane at GHz frequencies with a highrepetition-rate femtosecond laser, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 077401 (2011)
  A. Bruchhausen, R. Gebs, F. Hudert, D. Issenmann, G. Klatt, A. Bartels, O. Schecker, R. Waitz, A. Erbe, E. Scheer, J.-R. Huntzinger, A. Mlayah, and T. Dekorsy
  
• Charge transport characteristics of diarylethene photoswitching singlemolecule junctions, Nano Lett. 12, 3736 (2012)
  Y. Kim, T. J. Hellmuth, D. Sysoiev, F. Pauly, T. Pietsch, J. Wolf, A. Erbe, T. Huhn, U. Groth, U. E. Steiner, and E. Scheer
  
• A current-driven singleatom memory, Nature Nanotech. 8, 645 (2013)
  C. Schirm, M. Matt, F. Pauly, J. C. Cuevas, P. Nielaba, and E. Scheer
  
• Fundamental quantum noise mapping with tunnelling microscopes tested at surface structures of subatomic lateral size, Nanoscale 5, 99787 (2013)
  M. Herz, S. Bouvron, E. Cavar, M. Fonin, W. Belzig, and E. Scheer
  
• Heat dissipation in atomic-scale junctions, Nature 498, 2098 (2013)
  W. Lee, K. Kim, W. Jeong, L. A. Zotti, F. Pauly, J. C. Cuevas, and P. Reddy
  
• Temperature and magnetic field dependence of a Kondo system in the weak coupling regime, Nature Comm. 4, 2110 (2013)
  Y. Zhang, S. Kahle, T. Herden, C. Stroh, M. Mayor, U. Schlickum, M. Ternes, P. Wahl, and K. Kern
  
• Ground-state cooling of a carbon nanomechanical resonator by spin-polarized current, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 047201 (2014)
  P. Stadler, W. Belzig, and G. Rastelli
  
• Lateral and temporal dependence of the transport through an atomic gold contact under light irradiation: signature of propagating surface plasmon polaritons, Nano Lett. 14, 5218 (2014)
  D. Benner, J. Boneberg, P. Nürnberger, R. Waitz, P. Leiderer, and E. Scheer
  
• Over-bias light emission due to higher order quantum noise of a tunnel junction, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 066801 (2014)
  F. Xu, C. Holmqvist, and W. Belzig
  
• Role of entropy in domain wall motion in thermal gradients, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 097201 (2014)
  F. Schlickeiser, U. Ritzman, D. Hinzke, and U. Nowak
  
• Ultrafast optical control of orbital and spin dynamics in a solid-state defect, Science 345, 1333 (2014)
  L. C. Bassett, F. J. Heremans, D. J. Christle, C. G. Yale, G. Burkard, B. B. Buckley, and D. D. Awschalom
  
• Direct sampling of electric-field vacuum fluctuations, Science 350, 420 (2015)
  C. Riek, D. Seletskiy, A. S. Moskalenko, J.-F. Schmidt, P. Krauspe, S. Eckart, S. Eggert, G. Burkard, and A. Leitenstorfer
  
• Highly ordered surface self-assembly of Fe4 single molecule magnets, Nano Lett. 15, 4546 (2015)
  P. Erler, P. Schmitt, N. Barth, A. Irmler, S. Bouvron, T. Huhn, U. Groth, F. Pauly, L. Gragnaniello, and M. Fonin
  
• Paraxial theory of direct electro-optic sampling of the quantum vacuum, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 263601 (2015)
  A.S. Moskalenko, C. Riek, D. Seletskiy, G. Burkard, and A. Leitenstorfer
  
• Ground-state cooling of a mechanical oscillator by noiseinterference in Andreev-reflections, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 197202 (2016)
  P. Stadler, W. Belzig, and G. Rastelli
  
• Optical manipulation of the Berry phase in a solid-state spin qubit, Nature Photonics 10, 184 (2016)
  C. G. Yale, J. F. Heremans, B. B. Zhou, A. Auer, G. Burkard, and D. D. Awschalom
  
• Shot noise of 1,4-benzenedithiol single-molecule junctions, Nano Lett. 16, 1803 (2016)
  M. A. Karimi, S. G. Bahoosh, M. Herz, R. Hayakawa, F. Pauly, and E. Scheer
  
• Sub-cycle optical phase control of nanotunnelling in the single-electron regime, Nature Photonics 10, 667 (2016)
  T. Rybka, M. Ludwig, M. F. Schmalz, V. Knittel, D. Brida, and A. Leitenstorfer
  
• Correlation driven transport asymmetries through coupled spins in a tunnel junction, Nature Comm. 8, 14119 (2017)
  M. Münks, P. Jacobson, M. Ternes, and K. Kern
  
• Quantized thermal transport in single-atom junctions, Science 355, 1192 (2017)
  L. Cui, W. Jeong, S. Hur, M. Matt, J. C. Klöckner, F. Pauly, P. Nielaba, J. C. Cuevas, E. Meyhofer, and P. Reddy
  
• Subcycle quantum electrodynamics, Nature 541, 376 (2017)
  C. Riek, P. Sulzer, M. Seeger, A.S. Moskalenko, G. Burkard, D. V. Seletskiy, and A. Leitenstorfer
  
• Efficient emission enhancement of single CdSe/CdS/PMMA quantum dots through controlled near-field coupling to plasmonic bullseye resonators, Nano Lett. 18, 5396 (2018)
  F. Werschler, B. Lindner, C. Hinz, F. Conradt, P. Gumbsheimer, Y. Behovits, C. Negele, T. de Roo, O. Tzang, S. Mecking, A. Leitenstorfer, D. V. Seletskiy
  
• Magnon detection using a ferroic collinear multilayer spin valve, Nature Comm. 9, 1089 (2018)
  J. Cramer, F. Fuhrmann, U. Ritzmann, V. Gall, T. Niizeki, R. Ramos, Z. Qiu, D. Hou, T. Kikkawa, J. Sinova, U. Nowak, E. Saitoh, and M. Kläui
  
• Collective dynamics of strain-coupled nanomechanical pillar resonators, Nature Comm. 10, 5246 (2019)
  J. Doster, S. Hoenl, H. Lorenz, P. Paulitschke, and E. M. Weig
  
• Spatial modulation of nonlinear flexural vibrations of membrane resonators, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 154301 (2019)
  F. Yang, F. Rochau, J. S. Huber, A. Brieussel, G. Rastelli, E. M. Weig, and E. Scheer
  
• Subcycle squeezing of light from a time flow perspective, Nature Physics 15, 960 (2019)
  M. Kizmann, T. Lucena de M. Guedes, D. V. Seletskiy, A. S. Moskalenko, A. Leitenstorfer, and G. Burkard
  
• Thermal conductance of single-molecule junctions, Nature 572, 628 (2019)
  L. Cui, S. Hur, Z. A. Akbar, J. C. Klöckner, W. Jeong, F. Pauly, S.-Y. Jang, P. Reddy, and E. Meyhofer
  
• Thermal skyrmion diffusion used in a reshuffler device, Nature Nanotech. 14, 658 (2019)
  J. Zázvorka, F. Jakobs, D. Heinze, N. Keil, S. Kromin, S. Jaiswal, K. Litzius, G. Jakob, P. Virnau, D. Pinna, K. Everschor-Sitte, L. Rózsa, A. Donges, U. Nowak, and M. Kläui
  
• Dynamical Coulomb Blockade as a Local Probe for Quantum Transport, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 156803 (2020)
  J. Senkpiel, J. C. Klöckner, M. Etzkorn, S. Dambach, B. Kubala, W. Belzig, A. Levy Yeyati, J. C. Cuevas, F. Pauly, J. Ankerhold, C. R. Ast, K. Kern
  
• Sub-femtosecond electron transport in a nanoscale gap, Nature Physics 16, 341 (2020)
  M. Ludwig, G. Aguirregabiria, F. Ritzkowsky, T. Rybka, D. C. Marinica, J. Aizpurua, A. G. Borisov, A. Leitenstorfer, and D. Brida