GRK 1570 "Electronic Properties of Carbon Based Nanostructures" extended!

Today's exciting news is that funding for the the Regensburg DFG research training group "Electronic Properties of Carbon Based Nanostructures" (GRK 1570) has been extended until 2018! The program focuses on the experimental and theoretical investigation of carbon-based nanostructures, i.e. devices based on graphene, carbon nanotubes, aromatic molecules or hybrids of those. A large number of projects is involved, with topics as various as e.g. the transport spectroscopy and analysis of electronic interactions in ultra-clean carbon nanotubes (our group), atomic force microscopy based research on forces in molecular electronics, or femtosecond plasmonics in graphene. More details on the research activities can be found on the projects web page, including direct links to the participating research groups. Thanks a lot to everyone who helped making this happen!

It's out - congratulations!!!

At least once every year, some physics researches have an uneasy sleep. That night has just passed, and the Nobel Prize 2010 in Physics was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of Manchester University "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene". Congratulations!!! For the last few years I have been listening to a lot of talks on graphene physics, mostly in Alberto Morpurgo's group in Delft, but also at conferences by the leads of the field, including the two stars of the day. While I have not always shared the unlimited enthusiasm for this material, it's physical properties are fascinating indeed. And since Samsung has recently demonstrated the roll-to-roll production of 30-inch graphene films for transparent electrodes (free preprint version) and a touch screen panel with a graphene electrode worked on the very first attempt, the technical usability has been proven. For mesoscopic physics, now only the question of clean edges and boundary conditions remains to be solved. Maybe we should just roll these graphene sheets up and form tubes? :o)