The group has its research focus on optical and electrical properties of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, on metal nanostructures, graphene, and on hybrid systems that benefit from advantageous properties of those materials. Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals can be excellent light emitters or absorbers, and the optical properties like for example the light emission wavelength, direction and polarization can be controlled via the nanocrystal size, shape and composition.
This makes them very interesting as active material in light emitting, lasing, or photovoltaic devices, and we are exploring novel approaches for proof of principle prototypes. On the other hand, metal nanostructures are very good conductors and can strongly interact with light in the visible and infrared spectral regions due to the presence of free electrons that can perform plasmon oscillations, which opened the field of nanoplasmonics.
Recently, graphene has attracted great interest as a 2D material with very appealing conductive, plasmonic, and mechanical properties. We aim at combining the favorable properties of these materials in order to investigate complex optoelectronic systems and to pave the way for novel architectures for components in photodetectors, optical communication, photovoltaics, plasmonics, and nanoscale electronics.