Thin Films & Interfaces - Prof. U. Steiner

Optical Metamaterials

Nanomaterials can have optical properties not found in nature, such as a negative refractive index. We create periodic nanostructured plasmonic materials with interesting symmetries and study their optical response.

Nanostructured Energy Materials

Many materials for novel energy technologies benefit from a control of materials assembly on the 10-nm length scale. Examples include organic and dye sensitised solar cells, and electrodes for super-capacitors and batteries. We use a template-assisted nanostructuring approach utilizing polymer self-assembly.

Structured Materials in Nature

Biological organisms use carefully assembled materials for a range of functions and we study the interplay of structure and function in these systems. Examples include the structural optics of animals and plants, the structure and mechanics of nacre, and optical and wetting properties of biological surfaces.

Macromolecules far from Thermodynamic Equilibrium

The properties of macromolecular materials depend sensitively of their molecular structure. Because of their slow relaxation times, macromolecules are often quenched far from equilibrium. We study the formation of non-equillibrium morphologies and their consequence for materials properties.

Flexible Optical Structures

They include interference optics from rubbers that can be reversibly colour-tuned across the full visible spectrum by any kind of mechanical deformation, such as elastic Bragg stacks and cavities.

Jun	SEP	Dec
	10
2014	2015	2016

Optical Metamaterials

Nanostructured Energy Materials

Structured Materials in Nature

Macromolecules far from Thermodynamic Equilibrium

Flexible Optical Structures

Recent Publications

Contact us

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge

Recent Publications

Links