Electronic components are becoming increasingly smaller. "Modern computer chips already have components that are only a few nanometres in size," explains Gottfried Strasser, TU professor of materials engineering for nanoelectronics at the Institute for Solid State Electronics and the Center for Micro- and Nanostructures. Gottfried Strasser's area of work comprises the development of techniques which can be used to produce materials for electronic and optoelectronic components. "We are developing materials with individual layers that are only a few nanometers – that is micromillimeters – in size, which can be used to build laser light sources and sensors, for example," Strasser explains. This is possible using a technique in which layers the thickness of single atoms are evaporated onto carrier media. "We deposit individual atoms and create crystals with adjustable electronic and photonic properties," the TU researcher clarifies. Nanotechnology is considered a beneficial field for the future development of new technologies and Strasser's research in nanoelectronics is correspondingly interdisciplinary and international.

International career

Born in Vorarlberg in Austria, Gottfried Strasser studied physics at the University of Innsbruck. After receiving his degree, he transferred to Technische Universität München (TUM) whilst writing his dissertation, and continued to work on his doctoral thesis, which he defended in Innsbruck. After less than a year in a post-doctoral position at TUM, in 1992 he moved to Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) and helped establish the Institute for Solid State Electronics and the institute's cleanroom infrastructure, amongst other things. In 2001 he received his state doctorate at TU Vienna. In 2007 he was appointed an Empire Innovation Professor at the State University of New York in Buffalo, USA. In March 2009, Strasser took on a professorship at TU Vienna.

Family, sport and literature

Gottfried Strasser is married and has three children. He and his family enjoy Vienna's urban infrastructure and rich cultural offering, although they also learned to love life in Buffalo, NY, and the vastness of the surrounding countryside. In addition to his work, Strasser also enjoys winter sports such as downhill and cross-country skiing. When he has the time, he goes for a run to maintain a balance between work and leisure. Strasser enjoys reading and occasionally goes to the theatre when time permits.