Graphene-flakes viewed through an optical microscope

The goal of the NTH School for Contacts in Nanosystems is to come to a better understanding and control of contact effects in nanostructures. The term contact is meant here in a wider sense than only in the meaning of the physical, typically metallic contact to a device. It includes here all sorts of interaction effects between a nanostructure and the environment.

In bringing together the different, but complementary expertises of the solid-state physicists at the three universities in Braunschweig, Clausthal-Zellerfeld and Hannover a better understanding and control of contact effects in nanostructures will be achieved.Within the school a certain number of model systems and materials which include nanorods and quantum wells in wideband gap semiconductors, quantum dots in AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures, the novel system graphene, molecular magnets and also porphyrin molecules will be investigated.

This knowledge will finally allow for future applications in novel sensors, new solar cells, molecular electronics etc.