Molecular Engineering & Photonics
A key aspect of molecular nanoscience is the design and fabrication of well-defined molecular architectures with atomic scale control of size, shape and composition. The precise engineering of the interplay of intermolecular and interfacial interactions is essential for the organization of molecules and secondary building blocks into functional assemblies. The functionality of the overall architecture is implemented by specifically designed molecular units with tailored physical and chemical properties addressing a wide range of applications ranging from molecular electronics through molecular photonics to catalysis.
A particular effort is put on the investigation of energy conversion on the single molecule level. We combine the atomic-scale precision of scanning tunneling microscopy with optical methods. Using this method we learn previously inaccessible details about light-matter interaction mechanisms like light-harvesting, photosynthesis, and electron-to-photon conversion with unprecedented sub-nm precision.
Responsible Scientists
Dr. Kelvin Anggara
Dr. Klaus Kuhnke
Dr. Anna Roslawska (webpage)
Team Members
Dr. Daniel Arribas, Thiago Brito, Rebecca Forth, Dr. Dhaneesh Kumar Gopalakrishnan, Dr. Jimin Ham, Shengpeng Huang, Dr. Irena Padniuk
Key Publications
Abhishek Grewal, Hiroshi Imada, Kiniyuki Miwa, Miyabi Imai-Imada, Kensuke Kimura, Rafael Jaculbia, Klaus Kuhnke, Klaus Kern, and Yousoo Kim
Single-molecule phosphorescence and intersystem crossing in a coupled exciton-plasmon system
ACS Nano 19, 23796–23805 (2025)
Article
Abhishek Grewal, Christopher C. Leon, Klaus Kuhnke, Klaus Kern, and Olle Gunnarsson
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy for Molecules: Effects of Electron Propagation into Vacuum
ACS Nano 18, 19, 12158–12167 (2024)
Article
Johannes Seibel, Giulio Fittolani, Hossein Mirhosseini, Xu Wu, Stephan Rauschenbach, Kelvin Anggara, Peter H. Seeberger, Martina Delbianco, Thomas D. Kühne, Uta Schlickum, and Klaus Kern
Visualizing chiral interactions in carbohydrates adsorbed on Au(111) by high-resolution STM imaging
Angewandte Chemie 62, e202305733 (2023)
Article
Kelvin Anggara, Hannah Ochner, Sven Szilagyi, Luigi Malavolti, Stephan Rauschenbach, and Klaus Kern
Landing proteins on graphene trampoline preserves their gas-phase folding on the surface
ACS Central Science 9, 151 (2023)
Article
Anna Rosławska, Pablo Merino, Abhishek Grewal, Christopher C. Leon, Klaus Kuhnke, and Klaus Kern
Atomic-scale structural fluctuations of a plasmonic cavity
Nano Lett. 21, 7221 (2021)
Article
Rico Gutzler, Manish Garg, Christian R. Ast, Klaus Kuhnke, and Klaus Kern
Light-Matter Interaction at Atomic Scales
Nat. Rev. Phys. 3, 441 (2021)
Article
Lukas Krumbein, Kelvin Anggara, Martina Stella, Tomasz Michnowicz, Hannah Ochner, Sabine Abb, Gordon Rinke, André Portz, Michael Dürr, Uta Schlickum, Andrew Baldwin, Andrea Floris, Klaus Kern, and Stephan Rauschenbach
Fast Molecular Compression by a Hyperthermal Collision Gives Bond-Selective Mechanochemistry
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126 (2021) 056001
Article
Anna Rosławska, Christopher C. Leon, Abhishek Grewal, Pablo Merino, Klaus Kuhnke, and Klaus Kern
Atomic scale dynamics probed by photon correlations
ACS Nano 14, 6366 (2020)
Article