Soft Matter Physics

"Soft matter" is the name for all those molecular material systems that are bound by weak forces such as van der Waals interactions or hydrogen bondings. Out of this results a high variety of structures, as cannot be found in the classic, covalently bonded materials such as metals and inorganic semiconductors. Research at the institute focuses on the investigation of transport processes in nanostructures, thin layers and fluids. Current work concerns the electronic properties of single molecules and molecular nanostructures on surfaces, optoelectronic phenomena in soft semiconductors for the photovoltaics and photocatalysis, opto-mechanical processes in photoactive nano- and micro-motors as well as fluid dynamics in photoresponsive materials.  Of increasing importance are quantum aspects and associated magnetic and topological characteristics. To examine these systems, the involved groups use a variety of partly high-resolution methods, from scanning probe microscopy with atomic resolution up to optical spectroscopy with femtosecond lasers.