Photon STM

The Photon STM group is at the forefront of investigating light-matter interactions at the atomic scale and studying the properties of quantum materials using Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM). Their research lines encompass a wide array of topics:

a) The exploration of excitonic and plasmonic light emission phenomena within molecules, Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs), and metals.

b) Chemical characterization of nanoscale structures by focusing a continuous wave (CW) laser within the STM junction. This enables precise measurements of tip-enhanced photoluminescence (TEPL) and Raman spectroscopy (TERS), providing insights into material composition and structure.

c) Photon correlation measurements, using Hanbury Brown Twiss Spectroscopy, allows the unravelling of intricate correlations between emitted photons, providing a deeper understanding of quantum phenomena and light-matter interactions.

d) Investigating the electronic properties of quantum materials with strong spin-orbit coupling is another focal point of the research. The study of electronic standing waves around atomic level defects gives insights not only into the band structure but the interaction between surface states and the effective fields created by atomically sized defects.