New large scale instrument for smallest structures

At the end of last year, we were able to put our new large-scale instrument into operation. It is a so-called near-field microscope, a combination of an atomic force microscope and an optical microscope. With this system, the smallest structures down to approximately 30 nm in size can be imaged, and the combination with ultrashort-pulsed lasers enables time-resolved measurements. This allows us, for example, to measure the behavior of electrons in nanostructures with high temporal resolution. Initial measurements on metal surfaces are already underway.

Team Day – Trip on the Water

In June, we had a wonderful team day in glorious sunshine. We took canoes from Essen-Kettwig to Mülheim Water Station. After almost 10 km and 2 hours on the water, the day ended with a visit to a restaurant.

​​

​​​

New publication in Advanced Optical Materials:

Our work on THz absorption in plasmonic crystals has been published recently. Combining structured electrodes on the surface of a semiconductor heterostructure lead to extremely strong nonlinear response, the transmission through the structure depends in this case on the intensity of the impinging THz radiation. This can be exploited e.g. for optical switches, to control the transmission through such a plasmonic crystal with a laser. This was successfully demonstrated, even at rather low laser power.

You can read the whole publication here.