Research Teams

The research of the Department of Surfaces and Interfaces is focused on the exploration of new material properties related to surface, interface, and size effects in nanomaterials. A wide range of objects is studied, including ultra-thin layers of metals, oxides, or ceramics, furthermore nanoparticles, mono- and bi-metallic nanostructures, carbon-based nanomaterials, mesoporous structures, and hetero-interfaces. All studies are based on a thorough multi-scale investigation of the growth, structure and composition of the materials, as well as the characterization of their structural and physical properties.

The research fields of the department cover the study of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials, Functional Nanostructured Materials, the development of 3D Electron Tomography, the analysis of ultrafast Magnetization Dynamics, Spin Precession, Magnetoelectricity, the assessment of the physical properties of nanoscale and sub-nanoscale Molecules and Magnetic Materials. Atomistic Simulations and Electronic Band Structure Calculations developed by the theory team allow gaining further insight of fundamental growth mechanisms and electronic structure.