Electron Transport in Molecules

We  participate  in two topics of the research area "Science and Technology of Nanosystems" (STN). Our first topic is devoted to fundamental problems in the broad field of "Condensed Matter and Molecular Building Blocks" with a focus on "Molecular Electronics". The second topic is more closely oriented towards applied aspects:  "Nanomaterials - Functionality by Design". Specifically, we are working towards theoretical frameworks for predicting properties of "Tunable Materials", e.g., optical excitation energies. Our present emphasis is on novel (functonalized) molecular materials, where we investigate cooperative as well as  mesoscopic phenomena, in particular the quantum transport.

Molecular Electronics

Electronic wavefunction near a Quantum Hall transition exhibiting multifractal amplitude fluctuations.

Disorder of some kind is a ubiquitous encounter in any macroscopic solid. From the fundamental point of view it creates novel material classes where interference, quantum phase transitions and the physics of rare events dominate the phase diagrams.

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Molecular Materials and Their Cooperative Phenomena

Graphene flake with zigzag termination and buckling.

Molecular Materials comprise a broad class of solids including graphene, supramolecular structures and hypothetical metamaterials. Their cooperative properties are rich, tunable and can often be obtained quantitatively with sophisticated ab intio methods.

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Mesoscopic Quantum Transport: Topological Insulators, Graphene and Friends

Electronic wavefunction near a Quantum Hall transition exhibiting multifractal amplitude fluctuations.

Disorder of some kind is a ubiquitous encounter in any macroscopic solid. From the fundamental point of view it creates novel material classes where interference, quantum phase transitions and the physics of rare events dominate the phase diagrams. 

[read more]