Intelligente Substrate

The subject of the project is multiresponsive interfaces whose properties can be switched on different time scales by combining different stimuli. The focus is on the coupling of optical stimulation and electrical, mechanical or chemical secondary effects with the aim of reversibly manipulating interface potentials, electrical and electronic states, polarity or morphology.

In particular, stimulation by light is intended to enable fast and ultra-fast, spatially resolved or planar switching processes that can be modulated by slower chemical interactions or static fields. In programmable material architectures, multi-stage logical operations should thus become feasible, with the help of which excitation signals can be forwarded and translated into response effects.

Supported by computer-aided methods, significant breakthroughs in material chemistry and materials are to be achieved, especially in the areas of switchable membranes, biophotonics, switchable contact and binding materials, adaptive microbial habitats and switchable nanophotonic surfaces.

The Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding the development of the research network with approx. 4.5 million €.