The subject of this core research area is the fabrication of novel types of crystalline thin films and nanostructures and the investigation of fundamental growth mechanisms.
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The ongoing miniaturization in semiconductor technology calls for precise information on the structure and composition of low-dimensional systems and nanoscale devices. Accordingly, the central aim of this Core Research Area is to clarify the fundamental structure-property relation of these systems.
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Semiconductor-based technology platforms for data communication, processing, and storage based on quantum phenomena are becoming increasingly more important. The CReA Nanoelectronics explores the quantum effects and quantum mechanical quantities necessary for technologies such as quantum computing, secure data communication, and artificial intelligence.
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Semiconductor nanowires are structures with an extremely high aspect ratio and a diameter typically smaller than 100 nm. In bottom-up approaches, feature sizes down to 10 nm and below can be achieved without any lithography. Complementary top-down approaches offer higher level of control, in particular for the fabrication of regular nanowire arrays. The quasi-one-dimensional shape and the nanometric size of nanowires result in unique properties, often independently of the concrete nanowire material. Their characteristics make nanowires an exciting subject for fundamental studies and offer many conceptual advantages for various applications.
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Solid state systems host a plethora of useful crystal excitations, e.g., electrons, holes, excitons, polaritons and magnons, to name a few. Future electronic and optoelectronic (quantum) devices will critically depend on the precise control (i.e., transport, tuning of the energy spectrum, etc.) of the aforementioned material excitations. The latter are very sensitive to the changes of the relative positions of atoms in the crystal lattice (i.e. the strain). Phonons, which are quanta of lattice vibrational modes, have been recognized as a useful source of dynamic strain.
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Quantum-cascade lasers based on the GaAs/(Al,Ga)As materials system are very useful radiation sources for many applications in the terahertz (THz) spectral region. This spectral region ranges typically from 0.1 to 10 THz bridging the electronics-based microwave region with the optics-based infrared region.
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