Atomic scale interface design and characterisation

While many major strides have been made in the last three decades concerning the synthesis, characterisation and properties of individual nanoobjects, their technological uptake necessarily requires integration into devices. To achieve this, detailed characterization, design and control of the interface between nanoobjects and their environment is essential. Nanomaterials differ significantly from their bulk counterparts and one important aspect of this is their high surface to volume ratios. For this reason interface properties typically dominate the behavior of nanomaterials. As a consequence, one immediately faces the problem of designing and controlling surfaces and, in case of embedded or layered systems, interfaces on atomic scales.