in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft

Institut für Festkörperforschung (IFF)

The NanoScience Lab: Supercomputer

Quantummechanics was never as visible as today. The scanning tunneling microscope, which has revolutionized surface science, made it possible to show us electron waves confined in a quantum corral made of Fe atoms. The corral was engineered atom by atom by an STM.

This is one example of the inspiring kosmos of nano-science, which may turn to the Ångström technology of the 21. Century. It is our aim to establish a nano-materials science by creating new atomic orders and nanostructures in space, on solid surfaces or within bulk solid through a microscopic understanding of growth, manipulation and control of atoms. Today Super-(Parallel)-computer provide an unique laboratory to study the field of nano-science using modern theoretical tools. It is no exaggeration to say that the nature of phenomena at the atomic scale cannot by clarified without a theoretical analysis on the level of the electronic structure of realistic materials.

Our theory group aims to achieve the following objectives using the supercomputer laboratory:

1.

Formation of Nanostructures: growth mechanisms on the atomic scale, formation and stability of small structures.

2.

To assist the interpretation of scanning probe measurements

3.

To provide assistance to the understanding of the essential meaning of interesting phenomena observed experimentally.

4.

To visualize those phenomena that are inaccessible to experiments.

5.

To predict novel phenomena and innovative materials without experimental input.

6.

To develop new theoretical methods and computational methodologies

Our expertise is on metals, magnetic materials, semiconductors. Our immediate goal is to extend to oxid materials and in the future also to biological materials. The study of growth may be extended to chemical reactions.

In this context there is a series of exciting Diplomatheses and PhD-theses availlable in the area of computational solid state physics:

• Magnetic Anisotropy of Nano-Magnets

• Microscopic Growth mechanisms for Nano-structures

• The physics of the magnetic tunnel junction for magnetoelectronis

• Theory of Non-collinear Magnetism in Low-Dimensional Systems

Please contact:
S. Blügel, s.bluegel@fz-juelich.de, Tel: (02461)-614249, Fax: (02461)-612620,

The candidate should have a good command in theoretical solid state physics and should show a strong interest in computational physics.

All projects are closely related to the projects Magnetoelectronics and Epitaxial Growth of the program foundation of information technology of the Forschungszentrum Jülich and several projects of European Union.