The ultimate goal of molecular electronics is to create technologies that will complement—and eventually supersede - Si-based microelectronics technologies. To reach this goal, the field of single-molecule electronics is aiming at recognizing and characterizing single-molecule devices that mimic at least some of the behaviors of today's semiconductor components.

In this talk, an overview of surface-science investigations on the chemical reactivity of epitaxial graphene (Gr) and materials “beyond graphene” (van der Waals semiconductors, topological insulators, Dirac semimetals, Weyl semimetals) will be provided.

The superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) is a quantum phase transition in disordered superconducting films that occurs at the point where two inherently two-dimensional topological phase transitions - charage and vortex Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transitions - terminate each other.

Our research focus is on bottom-up nanoelectronics and in particular the electronic characterization of single molecules and nanoparticles for device applications. For this purpose, we employ several methods to create electrodes, such as direct e-beam patterning, electromigration of Au wires, electroburning of multilayer graphene flakes, (gateable) mechanically-controllable break junctions (MCBJs) and a self-aligned fabrication technique for fabricating nano-spaced electrodes over large lengths.

Three examples for the use of 2D layers as substrate for the growth of new materials are given. First, a new on-surface synthesis method is reported that enables the growth sandwich molecular nanowires. The synthesis is based on the use of Gr as an inert substrate and relies on the simultaneous deposition of rare earth metal atoms and organic ligands.