Research project P4/10 (Research action P4)
In the fields of condensed matter sciences and material sciences, Reduced Dimensionality Systems (RDS) are defined as stuctures with at least one dimension that is smaller than an intrinsic or extrinsic characteristic length. These so-called mesoscopic dimensions make them prone to considerable surface, interface and quantum effects. The general objective of the IAP is to study such effects on various structural, electronic, optical, and transport properties so as to increase the fundamental and applied knowledge of such systems.
The research topics are the following :
I.Nanotubes and manoparticles: C and BCN nanotubes, fullerenes, metal clusters, metal oxide and metal halide clusters, metallic nanowires.
2.Organic layers: polymers deposited on substrates or metals deposited on polymers.
3.Magnetic Thin Films : Transport properties in thin magnetic films and heterostructures. Giant magnetoresistance in superlattices and heterogeneous nanowires.
4.Oxides : Films and Clusters of High-Temperature superconductors, Perovskites, Si02, Transition-metal oxides.
The choice of topics was motivated by the fact that the different teams of the IAP have been working on these subjects for several years and that multiple collaborations between participating laboratories already exist in these areas. Other criteria were timeliness and pertinence at the international level, the variety of fundamental physics and chemistry phenomena in condensed matter sciences and relevance to technological applications in microelectronics and the chemical industry. An important aspect of the choice was the scientific preparedness of the laboratories in basic conceptual physical and chemical knowledge, instrumentation availability, experimental expertise and know-how in theoretical modelling.
