II. Physikalisches Institut B

2^nd Institute of Physics B

Welcome to the web page of the 2^nd Institute of Physics B at RWTH Aachen University. The institute consists of two scientific groups head by Prof. Dr. Markus Morgenstern (“Electron Systems at the Atomic Scale”), Prof. Dr. Uwe Klemradt (“X-ray scattering and phase transitions”) and Prof. Dr. Markus Ternes (“Structure and dynamics of atomic and molecular model systems”). Moreover, the institute is coordinator of the DFG research group 912 “Spin relaxation and coherence” and part of JARA-FIT (Jülich Aachen Research Alliance: Fundamentals of Future Information Technology).

Research

Our research is focused on the investigation of low dimensional electron systems at the atomic scale. The image shows a topological edge state of the weak topological insulator Bi₁₄Rh₃I₉ (Nat. Phys. 11, 338 (2015).).

Recent Publication

We have realized a valley flip for confined electrons in graphene quantum dots. It works by shifting the quantum dot a few nm across the superstructure of a graphene/h-BN stack (Nature Nanotechnology (2018).).

Recent Publication

Creation of edge free quantums dots in commensurate graphene on BN exhibiting orbital and valley splittings (Nano Lett. 16, 5798 (2016).).

Recent Publication

Pseudomagnetic fields of order 1000T have been produced by lifting graphene intentionally with an STM tip. The fields are probed by pseudospin polarization, i.e. the imbalance of electron density on the two sublattices (Nano Lett. (2017).).

Recent Publication

The nodes responsible for the quantum mechanical distinction of different Landau levels have been spotted directly by fixing Landau level wave functions to a potential valley (Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 16803 (2017).).

Recent Publication

Cartography of the Spin-Orbit-Interaction. Spatially resolved imaging of the Rashba parameter by scanning tunneling microscopy (Nat. Phys. 12, 920-925 (2016)).