Quantum transport and nanostructures

Research in nanotechnology is focused on systems whose basic constituents have typical dimensions which approximately range from one to a hundred nanometers (10^-7 - 10^-9 m). The most important changes in the behavior of nanoscale materials do not arise only from reducing their size but also from unique effects resulting from the subtle interplay between purely quantum effects such as coherence, interference and tunneling, and many-body interactions among electrons. Our task is thus to provide theoretical models and simulations to gain understanding of the fundamental principles underlying at the nanoscale and to collaborate in the concept and design of new devices built from low-dimensional systems.