Scaling Phenomena (Department FWIO)
Research
The department focuses on the creation, characterization and modeling of nanostructures and nanostructured matter. Electron lithographic top-down techniques are employed to generate nano-scale functional elements with specific structural, mechanical, optical and transport phenomena that differ from the pure, extended bulk phase. In addition, specific and partially ion-beam-assisted techniques allow the self-organized, bottom-up formation of nanostructured composites and surface modifications. Methods from nanometrology provide quantitative access to the properties of the nanostructures and thus elucidate the physical origin of the differences in comparison with the macroscopic material properties. Modeling by multi-scale methods from density-functional theory up to continuum-mechanics approaches for larger length and time scales gives insight in the interactions that dominate phenomena at the nanoscale.
