Ultrafast electron control⚡️In our new Nature Communications paper, we switch single-atom charge states in WSe₂ with picosecond THz pulses capturing atomic-scale ultrafast dynamics. @empa-materials.bsky.social @pennstatematse.bsky.social #QuantumMaterials #2Dmaterials www.nature.com/articles/s41...

💡New in Nature Communications: We developed carbon-based polymer platforms that anchor single metal atoms with atomic precision and stability, enabling tunable catalysis with CO & CO₂. Collaboration with CNR, OIST & Univ. Roma Tor Vergata. dx.doi.org/10.1038/s414... @Empa_CH

📢 We report optimized on-surface synthesis of 17-atom-wide armchair graphene nanoribbons reaching ~17 nm average length. Gradual annealing and high surface coverage enable length enhancement and stability under ambient and harsh conditions. @empa-materials.bsky.social dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsn...

Today we are celebrating our annual CarboQuant Day with lots of interesting presenations and a keynote given by Arzhang Ardavan from the University of Oxford. 🚀Congrats to Yujeong Bae, Stepan Kovarik and Nils Krane for winning the 2025 CarboQuant Innovator Awards!🚀 @empa-materials.bsky.social

🔬 New in ACS Nano: Triangulene on TbAu₂ shows a strong, spatially modulated interaction with ferromagnetic magnetization (~20 mV Kondo splitting). ➡️ TbAu₂ = new platform for π-magnetic nanographenes. doi.org/10.1021/acsn... @empa-materials.bsky.social

Empa researchers develop hybrid system of magnetically and electronically coupled "string lights" ➡️ Wide range of applications in molecular #electronics, from chemical #sensing to #quantumtechnologies. empa.ch/web/s604/gra... @nature.com @nanotechsurflab.bsky.social

From molecular wires to quantum bits: in our latest work presented in Nature Chemistry, porphyrins are docked to graphene nanoribbons with atomic precision. Hybrid properties, many possibilities. 🧪 rdcu.be/eBHyj

Congratulations to our PhD student, Laric Bobzien, for winning the 2025 EPS-QEOD / Young Minds Best Student Presentation Award! Laric works in our Terahertz lab, focusing on ultrafast scanning probe microscopy of atomic quantum emitters in 2D materials.

Exciting plenary talk by our head of laboratory, Roman Fasel, today to kick off the STM'25 conference in Seoul!

"Quantum Lego": We engineered spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains by linking Olympicene nanographenes, unveiling their length-dependent spin excitations. With STM/IETS, we confirm gapless behavior in the thermodynamic limit & visualize spinon standing waves. 📖 Nature Materials: rdcu.be/edxe0

SNSF consortium #PiMag project meeting with collaborators from Empa, @ethzurich.bsky.social and INL Portugal. Brainstorming on new ideas ⚡️🔬🧪 @juriceklab.bsky.social @uzhchemistry.bsky.social @nanosurflab.bsky.social #chemsky #pisky

New Empa lab, CarboQuant, set to harness #quantum effects from #carbon, opening the way for sustainable quantum technologies. www.empa.ch/web/s604/cab... @nanotechsurflab.bsky.social

In our latest work, we show a sub-exponential increase in charge-state lifetime of Se vacancies in WSe₂, from picoseconds in monolayers to nanoseconds in multilayers. Great collaboration with @pennstatematse.bsky.social ! journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... #2DMaterials #QuantumDefects #Optoelectronics

Empa has opened the CarboQuant Lab, a cutting-edge hub for exploring quantum effects in carbon! Supported by the Werner Siemens Foundation and the @snsf-ch.bsky.social, CarboQuant aims to create a materials platform for carbon-based quantum technologies.