Nano-Bio-Physics

Welcome to the homepage of the working group Nano-Bio-Physics. The main focus of this working group is the formation and analysis of the ionic molecules, complexes or clusters within the charged superfluid helium nanodroplets (HNDs). This technique allows for high-level control over the size, mass distribution, charge, and composition of the formed dopant ions. The unique properties of the HNDs, such as ultra-low temperature and transparency in the IR and UV range, make it an ideal matrix to study the desired ions.

Currently, there are three main directions to investigate the ions of interest:

  • Spectroscopy. The very low temperature (<1K) and the non-reacting nature of the HNDs make them an ideal matrix for ion spectroscopy since it is both transparent for infrared (IR) and visible (VIS) light and it facilitates the formation of He-tagged ion complexes, enabling high-resolution photo fragmentation spectroscopy, wherefore He-tagged ions are irradiated by the tunable laser and the photo-fragmentation is detected with mass spectrometry. 
  • Collision-induced dissociation. In this method, dopant ions of selected mass are exposed to the collisions with the buffer gas, such as Ar or He, at the well-controlled energy. The collisions lead to the fragmentation of the dopant and the fragments are detected with mass spectrometry. It not only allows getting structural information of the desired ions but also studying how tightly complex is bound.
  • Deposition and macroscopic studies. The HNDs ensure the soft landing of the dopants, typically metal clusters, to the substrate and the high control level helps to minimize the size dispersion. In this way, the surfaces can be created with the nearly uniform size of the deposited clusters. The formed surfaces are then studied by STM, AFM and other techniques.


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 Our group in February 2023:

Group2023

Front (left to right): Olga Lushchikova, Anna Maria Reider, Elisabeth Gruber, Lisa Ganner, Florian Foitzik, Johannes Reichegger, Matthias Veternik, Jan Mayerhofer, Fabio Zappa, Miriam Kappe, Chitra Perotti

Back (left to right): Luis Reitmeier, Pascal Weh, Siegfried Kollotzek, Paul Scheier, Stefan Bergmeister

 


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