Nanostructures Laboratory: Research Themes

The activities of the Nanostructures Laboratory lie at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. Within ISIS we take the top-down approach to nanoscience, complementing the bottom-up techniques characteristic of the other laboratories of the institute. Our research utilizes state-of-the art nanofabrication and analysis techniques such as focused-ion-beam, e-beam, STEM, AFM, STM, and micro-optical spectroscopy. A fully equipped clean room is available for sample preparation. Presently our activities are centred around the following main themes:

• Novel optical properties of subwavelength apertures and other surface-plasmon induced phenomenon in artificially-patterned metallic nanostructures.
• Molecule-surface plasmon interactions.
• Electronic properties of low-dimensional carbon systems (e.g. single graphitic domains)
• Development of fabrication and characterisation techniques optimised for nanoscale applications.