We were the first to demonstrate that stable 2D nematic colloidal crystals can exist. There are two crystal types, quadrupolar and dipolar, with characteristic binding energies of the order of 1000 kT per micron-sized particle. This is the first major breakthrough in the field after the discovery of nematic colloids in 1997, representing a conceptually new approach to colloidal science. This approach offers a promising route towards stable photonic crystals, which is a subject of intensive research in many top research laboratories all over the world.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1929572
Our group, together with the Weizmann Institute in Israel, has played a leading role in structural studies of novel inorganic nanotubes for years, using complementary synthesis pathways. We have studied nanotube self-organization, explained growth mechanisms, changed their chirality, stabilized new compounds in cylindrical geometry etc. Recently, we have synthesized the first inorganic peapods (mama-tubes), with fullerenes embedded into MoS2 nanotubes, and the first inorganic nanobuds, where the WS2 fullerenes are attached to the outer WS2 nanotube surface.
COBISS.SI-ID: 18641447
We have developed two software packages for nanostructure transport property and Kondo effect studies: SNEG and NRG Ljubljana, based on the 2nd quantization and numeric renormalization group, respectively. We were the first to point out the analogy between a three-quantum dot system and the two-channel Kondo model. Such non-Fermian systems are interesting because they consist of “particles” that are different from electrons that are elementary particles. We were also the first to show how to find the corresponding electron states by measuring temperature dependences of transport properties.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1968996
External light manipulation of colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal is highly non-trivial due to long-range orientational order and liquid crystal anisotropy. It is possible to manipulate particles with a refraction index lower than that of liquid crystal. The interaction between light and nematic colloids results from the nematic field deformation that is extremely long-ranged. There are two optical manipulation regimes, relevant below and above the optical Freedericksz transition.
COBISS.SI-ID: 18602791
We have developed the first consistent model for coordinated motility of two-head protein motor myosin V. Its mechanics is described via an elastic lever-arm, coupled to the active head. The model has resolved, in very good agreement with experiment, a controversial disagreement between the strong and weak ADP release rate vs. force dependences in monomer and dimer motors, respectively. The model also predicts the branching behavior of the myosin V molecule at actin filament branching points. The predictions agree very well with recent experiments.
COBISS.SI-ID: 19011879