Up to the present day, it can be said that most developments in materials science with great consequence for daily life have happened by chance, and the optimization of the desired properties has mostly occurred in a phenomenological way. Therefore the main goal of materials science is to determine the relation between the (micro)structure and the properties of materials.

The importance of this problem can be illustrated by two important examples, which bear a strong relation to the research program of the IMPRS-AM: 

– Small Scale Materials. Future technologies (as in the microelectronic and micro-systems industries) require that components are used which possess smaller and smaller dimensions. By reducing the size of a material its properties change strikingly. Hence, a strong technological and scientific need exists to understand the properties of materials in sub-micron dimensions (as thin films). Fundamental knowledge is a prerequisite for future development of successful applications of sub-micron materials systems. 

– Bridging Length Scales. Starting from knowledge of the atomic arrangement and the bond strength between atoms, one desires to predict the behavior of much larger aggregates comprising many crystals. In other words: the task is to find the connection between discrete (atomistic) models and continuous models. This is a topic of extreme importance in materials science. Recognizing that it is impossible to arrive at an ab initio determination of materials behavior, for example by solving Schrödinger’s equation, one realizes that this area of mesoscopic materials science bears great promise, as it appears to be the appropriate and also feasible route to model, for example, the mechanical behavior of a thin film due to the collective response of all dislocations in the film to some external action. 

Starting from these general considerations, two research areas of high current interest have been chosen as the central themes of the IMPRS-AM:

A.   Physics and Chemistry in Low Dimensions, a research field which has experienced an explosion of activity in recent years, stimulated by fundamental discoveries such as the quantum Hall effect and high temperature superconductivity, and 

B.   Interface Controlled Materials, thereby recognizing that most materials of interest for practice have properties that depend to a very large extent to the presence of, usually very many, interfaces (e.g. grain boundaries within the same phase or between different phases). 

Electronic states in low dimensional systems have emerged as an extremely vigorous field of research during the past three decades. It has become possible to synthesize materials whose electronic structure is almost perfectly one- or two-dimensional, and to characterize their physical properties with novel experimental methods. At the same time, modern micro- and nanofabrication techniques have allowed scientists to build zero-, one-, and two-dimensional artificial structures with unprecedented precision. For instance, researchers now have the tantalizing ability to engineer "zero-dimensional" atomic-scale systems ("artificial atoms") of arbitrary size and shape. The physical properties of low dimensional solid state systems are often radically different from those of their three-dimensional analogues, and entirely new ground states occur. Two of the most striking examples are the quantum Hall effect in two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures, and high temperature superconductivity in quasi-two-dimensional, bulk copper oxides. The microscopic understanding of these novel quantum many body states is currently at the forefront of condensed matter physics. 

In addition to the fundamental interest in low dimensional physics and chemistry, a microscopic understanding of the new phenomena in such systems also opens manifold technological applications. On the route towards functionality of novel materials, it is imperative to understand and control phenomena at interfaces. Interfaces occur ubiquitously: work pieces/specimens are bounded by external surfaces; internal boundaries between different phases and between grains of one phase occur; liquids are contained by solid surfaces. The density of interfaces can be extremely high in advanced materials as nanomaterials and thin (multi)layers. Consequently, the properties of materials usually are determined to a large extent by the occurring interfaces. For instance, the physical properties of magnetic films critically depend on structural and magnetic roughness whose interplay one has to understand and control in order to render them useful for magneto-electronic applications. Practical applications of bulk materials are most often based on polycrystalline morphologies whose transport properties are to a large degree determined by grain boundaries. Such effects are particularly important in materials with low dimensional electronic structure; for instance, the critical currents of high temperature superconductors are almost entirely determined by grain boundaries. Conversely, precise control of interfaces can enable new fundamental discoveries, the most famous example being the quantum Hall effect that occurs at the interface between two semiconductors with different band gaps. Analyzing the (atomic and electronic) structure and composition at and near interfaces, diffusion and reactions at interfaces and modeling these, belong to the most challenging topics of cutting-edge materials science. The IMPRS-AM devotes a large part of its research program to this theme.

The following table lists some of the specific themes in the IMPRS-AM. A comprehensive description is given in the Scientific Background.
 

A. Physics and Chemistry in Low Dimensions	B. Interface Controlled Materials
A1 Clusters and Quantum Dots	B1 Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Small-Scale Materials
A2 Self-Organized Quantum Structures	B2 Phase Transformations in Small Scale Materials
A3 One- and Two-dimensional Metals and Superconductors	B3 Structure and Composition at Interfaces
A4 Magnetism in Low Dimensions	B4 Microstructure and Transport in Thin Films
A5 Fullerenes and Nanotubes	B5 Interfacial Chemistry and Ion Transport
A6 Quantum Hall Effect	B6 Interface Effects on Mechanical Properties
A7 Atomic-Scale Ordering Phenomena in Thin Films	B7 Complex Fluid Structures Imposed by Solid Surfaces

The following list contains the research groups involved, their affiliation, and their research interests within the IMPRS-AM. For more detailed information about the individual groups, please follow the links to the respective web pages.

E-mail	Research Group	Research Interests	Location
	Prof. Dr. O.K. Andersen	A3	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. C. Bechinger	A3, A7	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Physics
	Prof. Dr. S. Dietrich	A7, B7	Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems*
	Prof. Dr. M. Dressel	A3, A4	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Physics
	Prof. Dr. F. Giesselmann	B2, B7	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Chemistry
	Prof. Dr. H. Giessen	A1, A3, B1	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Physics
	Prof. Dr. B. Keimer	A3, A4	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. K. Kern	A1, A2, A5	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. K. v. Klitzing	A1, A5, A6	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. S. Laschat	A4, B2, B3	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Chemistry
	Prof. Dr. J. Maier	B3, B5	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. J. Mannhart		Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. W. Metzner	A1, A3, A4, A6	Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
	Prof. Dr. P. Michler	A1, A2	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Physics
	Prof. Dr. E. J. Mittemeijer	B1, B2, B4	Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems*
	Prof. Dr. A. Muramatsu	A3	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Physics
	Prof. Dr. R. Niewa	A3, A4	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Chemistry
	Prof. Dr. Th. Schleid	A3	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Chemistry
	Prof. Dr. G. Schütz	A3, A4, B3, B4	Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems*
	Prof. Dr. J. Spatz	A1, A4, B1	Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems*
	Prof. Dr. J. Wrachtrup	A1	University of Stuttgart Faculty of Physics

  ^* formerly: Max Planck Institute for Metals Research