Research
The Research Training Group "Functionalisation of Semiconductors" deals with the development, characterisation and integration of novel materials on currently used semiconductors. In doing so, the capability of the synthesized complete system will be improved and new fields of application open up.
The research program of the Research Training Group aims amongst others in the integration of III/V-semiconductors on Si-substrates. This highly competitive field of research will revolutionize future applications in electronics and photonics. Until recently, for example, computer users expected an increasing speed of the machines with every computer generation. This is, however, due to fundamental physical limitations not possible any more in future. Therefore, the development of a laser on silicon substrate for inter- and intra-chip communication is one subject of the Research Training Group. The clock rates of silicon devices, which are functionalised in this way, can consequently speed up again. For the realization of this aim, research groups, which develop metal-organic molecules for deposition work closely with groups growing material as well as with groups, which examine the bonding of the molecules on the surface in theory as well as in experiment. Furthermore, groups, which characterise the structures structurally and optically are inolved in the research program. For the deposition as well as for the characterization of the structures, high-tech methods are applied.
A further topic of the Research Training Group is the synthesis of semiconductor nanoparticles and the integration of specific organic molecules on their surface. These nanoparticles will in turn be fixed on semiconductor surfaces by self-assembling monolayers. Using these structures, novel devices like position-sensitive, light-controlled switches are possible. A further field of application is the synthesis of molecular clusters, which have non-linear optical properties. Also in this topical area, inorganic chemists cooperate with semiconductor physicists and surface physicists in an interdisciplinary research program.
The doctoral students receive in this program, where research and education are adjusted to maximum benefit for them, a training, which prepares them optimally for carriers in academia and industry, respectively.