Research topics

Our research is aimed at a direct microscopic understanding of how elemental processes in volume and at the surfaces of solid-state bodies take place over time. To examine these processes, we use time-resolved methods of femtosecond laser spectroscopy and methods of nonlinear optics, in some cases in combination with sample preparation in an ultra-high vacuum.

The focus of our research

• Femtosecond dynamics of optically excited electrons in molecular adsorbate layers at surfaces, lower-dimensional metallic and correlated electron systems examined with time-resolved photoemission.
• Time-resolved linear and nonlinear optics with the aim of (i) analysis of electronic and magnetic properties of border phases of solid-state systems (magnetization dynamics, electron-phonon coupling, and dynamics of coherent phonons) and (ii) time-resolved vibration spectroscopy (SFG) of molecules in border phases.
• Femtochemistry involving surfaces and reaction control using intense fs laser pulses on molecules adsorbed on single-crystal surfaces and metallic nanoparticles.
• Time-resolved THz spectroscopy for analysis of low-energy electronic excitations in organic and inorganic solid-state bodies.