PLENÁRNÍ SEKCE

Energy storage and transformation, transport of charges or spins, interaction of light and matter, responses to external stimuli or encoding information, all these processes are essential objects of modern technologies and societal needs, but they all depend on the availability of the right materials - even if not all physicists, engineers and political decision makers seem to be aware.
These applications will be realized by introducing i) precisely fabricated graphenes (Gs) as bulk materials, ii) graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) as a new generation of semiconductors and iii) core-shell hybrids from carbons and inorganics as discrete nanoparticles. The present discovery journey will, thus, cover a broad functional range from batteries and supercapacitors to field-effect transistors, lasers as well as quantum computers. But it is synthesis-driven by demonstrating how properties and device performances depend on the methods of fabrication. Our most recent case are long elusive nanodiamonds.
REFERENCES: Nature 2016, 2018, 2026; Science 2016; Nature Synthesis 2022; Nature Materials 2023; Nature Chemistry 2024, 2026; Nature Rev. Chem. 2017; Nature Commun. 2020, 2024, 2025; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 2023, 2024.

A metallic nanogap is a superb configuration to explore the interplay between light and matter. Light scattered off, or emitted by matter in a nanogap carries the information of the surrounding electromagnetic environment with it. This situation becomes even more appealing when a single molecule is located in such a nanocavity or in its proximity, with the molecule playing an active role either in the electromagnetic coupling with the nanocavity, or even participating in processes of charge injection and transfer, as revealed through cutting-edge molecular spectroscopy. In this talk, the process of interaction between molecular emitters and a nanocavity will be theoretically addressed to trace the ultrafast dynamics of electrons photo-emitted from nanogaps [1], to understand ultra-resolution of molecular photoluminescence in extreme picocavities [2], or to reveal non-linear regimes in molecular optomechanics [3]. Many of the theoretical insights will be interpreted in the context of state-of-the-art experimental results in nanocavity-enhanced molecular spectroscopy and microscopy.
REFERENCES: [1] "Sub-femtosecond electron transport in a nanoscale gap", M. Ludwig, G. Aguirregabiria, F. Ritzkowsky, et al.  Nature Phys. 16, 341-345 (2020); [2] "Tip-enhanced molecular fluorescence microscopy with atomic-scale resolution", A. Rosławska, K. Kaiser, S. Canola, et al., Rev. of Mod. Phys. 98, 025007 (2026); [3] "Molecular Optomechanics Approach to Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering", R. Esteban, J. J. Baumberg, and J. Aizpurua. Acc. Chem. Res. 55, 1889-1899 (2022).