Atomic Scale Phenomena
We are pushing the design and fabrication of well-defined molecular architectures with atomic scale control of size, shape and composition to its limits. We address the fundamental properties of nanostructures at the single atomic and molecular level in order to characterize physical and chemical properties atom by atom. Our experiments provide an important benchmark for the understanding of quantum physics in nanostructures. The development of novel design strategies opens up manifold opportunities at the interface of natural science, life science and engineering.
To this end the department is using and developing highly sophisticated research tools that permit us to look with exquisite detail at the behavior of atoms and molecules at surfaces, interfaces and nanostructures.
Responsible Scientists:
Dr. Christian Ast (webpage)
Dr. Klaus Kuhnke
Dr. Anna Roslawska (webpage)
Dr. Paolo Sessi
Team Members
Dr. Daniel Arribas, Thiago Brito, Maneesha Ismail, Soumyaranjan Jhankar, Clara Nieder, Anne-Catherine Oeter, Dr. Irena Padniuk, David Sousa, Xianzhe Zeng
Key Publications
Fábio J.R. Costa, Daniel Arribas, Thiago G.L. Brito, Tin S. Cheng, Jonathan Bradford, Amelia Thompson, Alex Saywell, ChristopherJ. Mellor, Peter H. Beton, Sergei V. Novikov, Juliette Plo, Bernard Gil, Guillaume Cassabois, Luiz Fernando Zagonel, Klaus Kuhnke, Klaus Kern, and Anna Rosławska
Nanoscale Band Gap Modulation and Dual Moiré Superlattices of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Weakly Coupled to Graphite
ACS Nano, 19, 40, 35528–35538 (2025)
Article
Sujoy Karan, Haonan Huang, Alexander Ivanovic, Ciprian Padurariu, Björn Kubala, Klaus Kern, Joachim Ankerhold, Christian R. Ast
Tracking a spin-polarized superconducting bound state across a quantum phase transition
Nature Communications 15, 459 (2024)
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, 12158 (2024)
Article
Janis Siebrecht, Haonan Huang, Piotr Kot, Robert Drost, Ciprian Padurariu, Björn Kubala, Joachim Ankerhold, Juan Carlos Cuevas, Christian R. Ast
Microwave excitation of atomic scale superconducting bound states
Nature Communications 14, 6794 (2023)
Article
Abhishek Grewal, Christopher C. Leon, Klaus Kuhnke, Klaus Kern, and Olle Gunnarsson
Character of Electronic States in the Transport Gap of Molecules on Surfaces
ACS Nano 17, 13176 (2023)
Article
Sujoy Karan, Haonan Huang, Ciprian Padurariu, Björn Kubala, Andreas Theiler, Annica M. Black-Schaffer, Gonzalo Morrás, Alfredo Levy Yeyati, Juan Carlos Cuevas, Joachim Ankerhold, Klaus Kern, and Christian R. Ast
Superconducting Quantum Interference at the Atomic Scale
Nature Physics 18, 893 (2022)
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
Haonan Huang, Ciprian Padurariu, Jacob Senkpiel, Robert Drost, Alfredo Levy Yeyati, Juan Carlos Cuevas, Björn Kubala, Joachim Ankerhold, Klaus Kern, and Christian R. Ast
Tunneling dynamics between superconducting bound states at the atomic limit
Nature Phys. 16, 1227 (2020)
Article
Jacob Senkpiel, Jan C. Klöckner, Markus Etzkorn, Simon Dambach, Björn Kubala, Wolfgang Belzig, Alfredo Levy Yeyati, Juan Carlos Cuevas, Fabian Pauly, Joachim Ankerhold, Christian R. Ast, and Klaus Kern
Dynamical Coulomb Blockade as a Local Probe for Quantum Transport
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 156803 (2020)
Article