Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: Basic Science and Applications of Nanoparticles

• Synthesis and characterization of novel semiconductor nanocrystals and nanostructures and their assemblies
• Size dependent optical and electronic properties of nanocrystal
• Single nanostructure microscopy and spectroscopy
• Alternative energy solutions using nanoparticles
• Lasers and optical devices based on colloidal semiconductor nanostructures
• Biological, medical and sensing applications of nanocrystals
• Non linear optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals and nanorods
• Electrical Transport studies on single nanorods and nanocrystal arrays

• Coherent chemistry: light induced processes
• Coherent control and laser cooling
• Dynamical processes on surfaces
• Quantum thermodynamics
• Computational and teaching methods

• Quantum control of complex molecular systems
• Quantum biology and logic with finite state machines

With the rise of quantum technologies and the ability to control single atoms, ions and molecules, thermodynamics faces new challenges:

• What new thermodynamic effects can be observed in the quantum microscopic realm?
• Can quantum heat machines drastically outperform classical heat machines?
• Are there additional scale-dependent thermodynamic laws that become important only in small coherent systems?
• What are the possibilities entailed in microscopic thermal control protocols?
• How will the next generation of microscopic heat machines look like?