ReseaRch Quality assuRance foR the futuRe a ... - Lund University

Panel 13 – PHYSICS / MATHEMATICS
2.6.3 Research Quality
The overall research quality of the entire portfolio of activities in Solid
State Physics and Nanoscience under the Nanometer Scale Consortium
is outstanding. In the area of semiconductor nanostructures, the Lund
group was the first to establish that mono-layer sharp hetero-interfaces
can give rise to novel electronic device structures. Their work has provided
new understanding of semiconductor nanowire growth processes
and their control. Their work in the area has also enabled much needed
integration with Si technology. Similarly in the area of nanphotonics
they are renowned for their pioneering work in single quantum dot
spectroscopy, and in the characterization and optimization of the optical
properties of nanowires. They were the first to measure spectroscopically
the photocurrent of a single nanowire. They have also designed a unique
optical method for time-resolved imaging of a vibrating nanowire, which
has opened up new research avenues. By attaining highly tunable artificial
atoms and molecules with semiconductor nanowires and measuring
electron transport in them the group has been able to extend its horizons
to atomic physics and molecular physics. Their discovery of a novel
nonlinear effect of ballistic electron transport in semiconductor branched
structures has found interesting applications in nanodevices. The work
on the physics of spin transport in semiconductor nanostructures with
strong spin-orbit interaction has applications in spintronic devices.
Focused effort in combining bio-physics with nanotechnology has
pioneered work at the chip-level, in nano-scale lab-on-chip applications.
The group has also initiated impressive work in nanolithography.
The Condensed Matter Theory group, starting with Lars Hedin, has
been one of the leading groups in the world in developments of density
functional theory. In particular, the GW approximation and implementation
of time-dependent density functional theory, so relevant to
understanding transport properties of materials (nanoscale and beyond),
are all products of the Lund group. The efforts of this group of theorists
are rated as outstanding.
The surface science group at Lund have also been at the cutting edge
in the field and have been the pioneers in a number of areas. They do
fantastic work using high resolution core level spectroscopy where they
are pioneers in identifying the chemical environments of the atoms and
where on the surface they are located on the surface. This work is very
nicely combined with state-of-the-art STM on surfaces and nano objects
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