Extreme conditions in semiconductors
Scientists from the University of Konstanz and Paderborn University have succeeded in producing and demonstrating what is known as Wannier-Stark localization for the first time. In doing so, the physicists managed to overcome obstacles that had so far been considered insurmountable in the field of optoelectronics and photonics. Wannier-Stark localization causes extreme imbalance within the electric system of crystalline solids. "This fundamental effect was predicted more than 80 years ago. But it has remained unclear ever since whether this state can be realized in a bulk crystal, that is, on the level of chemical bonds between atoms," says Professor Alfred Leitenstorfer, professor of experimental physics at the University of Konstanz. Analogues of the effect have so far been demonstrated only in artificial systems like semiconductor superlattices or ultracold atomic gases. In a bulk solid, Wannier-Stark localization can only be maintained for an extremely short period of time, shorter than a...