Erfahrungsberichte

Experience Report Master Thesis

Hi, my name is Marcel Schlesag and I have written my Master Thesis with the title “Electronic Properties of Co/Au-induced Nanorods on Ge(001) studied with STM/STS” in the group of Prof. Matzdorf in 2022/23.

Before actually deciding to work on my thesis in this group, I have performed a 1-month internship there to see whether the field of surface science fits my interests. During this time, I was introduced into working with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and getting to know well-known material systems like the silver Ag(111) or gold Au(111) surface.

The STM measurement of these different surfaces with atomic resolution sparked my interest to investigate additional material systems, whose innate properties were not so well-understood to this time. My focus fell on the Co/Au-induced nanorods, a new type of nanostructures discovered in this group on the germanium Ge(001) surface in 2021. While its topographic features have been broadly examined in the course of another Bachelor Thesis, my ambition was to its electronic characteristics by the means of the complementary scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) technique.

After the instruction to work on the STM where I was thoroughly advised by my supervisor, I could work on my actual thesis very autonomously. Nonetheless, I could always discuss my findings and problems with everybody in the group, who gave me many suggestions and generally acted very open-heartedly. Therefore, time was not only spend working in the lab, but also in the cafeteria, canteen or on private occasions with pleasure.