“Nanotechnology offers fascinating possibilities”
   
Dr Cinzia Casiraghi, Project Director at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the Free University in Berlin

Desk work is also part of experimental physics (AA, Foto: Jan Greune)

“Graphene is the thinnest material in the world,” says Cinzia Casiraghi, describing the new substance to which she is devoting all her attention. Graphene was only discovered in 2004 and has attracted a great deal of attention in scientific circles ever since. No-one previously had any idea that such a thin material could exist at all. Unlike all other known substances, graphene has no spatial structure as such, but is two dimensional: a flat honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms. Researchers still know very little about what is behind graphene’s special properties. That is precisely what intrigues the 34-year-old Italian: she is investigating the substance’s secrets at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the Free University (FU) in Berlin with the aid of special measuring devices and laser beams. Cinzia Casiraghi is fascinated by her research subject: graphene is not only thin, she says, but also extremely hard – harder than diamond. Additionally, the material has an exceptionally high electron mobility. These three properties are what make graphene so interesting: it could play a major role in the miniaturization of electronic components – for example, in computer processors.

Honoured with Sofja Kovalevskaja Award

Cinzia Casiraghi is very busy at the minute. She is setting up her own research group in Berlin. She has recruited a PhD student and an undergraduate research student, and she is on the lookout for a postdoctoral student. She takes all the decisions alone, which is a great responsibility for a young scientist who only gained her doctorate in Cambridge, UK, in 2005. The reason is simple: Cinzia Casiraghi won the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2008, a prize for top-rank junior researchers from outside Germany that is endowed with 1.65 million euros. The prize money is intended to enable the recipient to independently realize promising research projects in Germany. Cinzia Casiraghi immediately moved from Cambridge to Berlin in November 2008 and began working at the Free University.

Research in the library (AA, Foto: Jan Greune)

The fascination of nanophysics

Research into graphene is certainly a promising area. Some scientists are already dreaming of computer microprocessors based on graphene instead of silicon. Others hope to use graphene to develop plastics that can conduct electricity or to dramatically increase the efficiency of batteries by adding graphene particles. Cinzia Casiraghi also sees this potential, but emphasizes that research into graphene is only just beginning. Initially, researchers must thoroughly investigate the properties of the material. Her interest in researching curious carbon materials only gradually emerged in the course of her scientific career. The Italian comes from near Milan, where she studied nuclear engineering. However, her final project at university already focused on carbon in the nanoscale and the subject remained when she subsequently moved to Cambridge University. “Nanotechnology offers fascinating possibilities,” she says. “The properties of the material change the smaller it is. We can use that for technological applications.”

Promising research field

In the course of the next four years in Berlin, Cinzia Casiraghi also intends to look at graphene-related materials that have been more intensively researched. Here she will be working closely with physics professor Stephanie Reich, who works in the lab next door. The German and Italian researchers got to know each other in Cambridge. It was Professor Reich who suggested Casiraghi apply for the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award. The Italian had already established ties with Germany through two research visits to the Research Centre Karlsruhe in 2006 and the LMU Munich in 2007. “This was a very positive experience. Afterwards I thought it would be really good to go to Germany,” she says. “Nanotechnology research is at a very high level here.” Germany is one of the leading countries in this promising field in terms of both research and industry. When it comes to patent registrations in nanotechnology, Germany is number one in Europe.

Dream destination Berlin

However, the city of Berlin also played a role in Casiraghi’s choice of research location. She named the Free University in Berlin as her desired destination in her application for the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award. “Berlin has everything you could want,” she says. “Above all, it’s a large city.” She was amazed to discover people even play beach volleyball in the German capital. So the Italian can relax and enjoy her favourite sport after a day’s work, to clear her head so that she can again concentrate on the secrets of the world’s thinnest material the next day.

Text: Sven Titz

"12 Worlds of Knowledge" is realized in cooperation with the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)