Nanophysics – Niels Bohr Institute - University of Copenhagen

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Nanophysics

Nanostructures grown with Molecular Beam Epitaxy


Nanophysics concerns natural phenomena at nanometre scale and involves studies of solids, fluids and gaseous substances on a scale that corresponds to one billionth of a metre, which is a dizzyingly small scale, right down at the size of individual atoms and molecules.

Nanoscience is an interdisciplinary field between physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. It is a new branch of natural science that opens up for numerous opportunities for new and exciting technology.

Nanostructures are studied experimentally by means of X-ray diffraction, which can show the spatial structure of, for example, solids, thin polymer film, nanoparticles and larger molecular complexes. With the new ultra-short X-ray and laser pulses, it is even possible to study the organisation of molecules in a chemical reaction. The first nanomovies have been shot at the Niels Bohr Institute's basic research centre - Center for Molecular Movies.

Nanoelectronics is studied through the performance of measurements on substances with movable electrons. The electric current is measured in a transistor, which consists of a single molecule, and the current is measured in a semi-conducting nanoline or a carbon nanotube is measured under closely controlled conditions at temperatures near the absolute zero.

Nanoscience research is developing at a very rapid pace and has, for example, resulted in the establishment of the Nano-Science Centre as well as in a brand-new degree study programme in Nanotechnology.