SFB 602:  Complex Structures in Condensed Matter from Atomic to Mesoscopic Scales

Subject Area Physics
Term from 2002 to 2012
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5485028
 

Project Description

Until now the success of condensed matter research is associated with a quantitative description of macroscopic properties based on the microscopic properties of the atomic or molecular building units. Many of the traditional and especially the new and future materials show a complex microstructure. They contain many components or are either structurally complex or not in equilibrium. In such complex structures the macroscopic properties can be understood only by considering the interaction of many atoms or molecules within the range of a few Ångströms up to many nanometers. At the boundary between microscopic and macroscopic world the challenge for the collaborative research centre is twofold. Starting at the microscopic side the description of many particle effects is not sufficiently developed yet whereas phenomenological descriptions stemming from macroscopic models have to be reconsidered critically. Although a chemical and structural characterization in the range between 1 nm and 1 mm has always been of considerable interest, the appropriate techniques were developed not until now. Most of them are available in the participating laboratories of the collaborative research centre. Magnetic properties are a central subject and by the interaction of single spins up to the behavior of highly correlated systems a large range of interaction lengths will be covered. Static and dynamic heterogeneities like the ones present at the glass transition, during layer growth and within clusters are another focus. At phase boundaries they are especially responsible for rough interfaces and gradients of the chemical composition which both may determine macroscopic properties. In this context experiments will be conducted, where the geometric dimensions are reduced and a conflict between the decreased sample length and a characteristic length scale of a physical property or a heterogeneity arises.
DFG Programme Collaborative Research Centres
International Connection United Kingdom

Completed projects

Applicant Institution Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Participating Institution Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie
(Karl-Friedrich-Bonhoeffer-Institut) (aufgelöst)
Spokesperson Professorin Dr. Cynthia A. Volkert