Research efforts in the Department are centered on nanometer-scale science and technology, primarily focussing on solid state phenomena that are determined by small dimensions and interfaces. Materials with controlled size, shape and dimension ranging from clusters of a few atoms to nanostructures with several hundred or thousand atoms to ultra thin films with nanometer thickness are studied. A central scientific goal is the detailed understanding of interactions and processes on the atomic and molecular scale. Novel methods for the characterization and control of processes on the nanometer scale as well as tools to manipulate and assemble nanoobjects are developed. Of particular interest are: fundamentals of epitaxial growth and self-organization phenomena, atomic scale fabrication and characterization of metal, semiconductor and molecular nanostructures, quantum electronic transport in nanostructures, atomic scale electron spectroscopy and optics on the nanometer scale. As surface phenomena play a key role in the understanding of nanosystems the structure, dynamics and reactivity of surfaces in contact with gaseous or liquid phases are also in the focus of interest.