Andreas Ostendorf and his group work on research applying femtosecond laser pulses from bulk micromachining to thin-film and beyond to 2D materials. He explains that whereas in bulk processing the generation of micro and nanopattern is an important objective in 2D materials (such as transition metal dichalcogenides) femtosecond laser pulses can control the phase of the material, such as the transition from metal to semiconducting behaviour. “This is an important process in future microelectronics, beyond Moore‘s Law,” says Prof Ostendorf.