Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids

The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids is dedicated to the discovery of new materials with unusual properties. To this end, researchers must have a fundamental understanding of the interrelations between the atomic structure, chemical bonding, electron states and the properties of a compound. The key research focus of the Institute is compounds of different metals. Chemists and physicists as well as experimental and theoretical scientists use state-of-the-art instruments and methods to investigate how the chemical composition, configuration of atoms and external forces affect the behaviour of electrons. It is these that are responsible for the magnetic, electronic and chemical properties of the compounds, and thus for their potential use as materials.

Contact

Nöthnitzer Str. 40
01187 Dresden
Phone: +49 351 4646-0
Fax: +49 351 4646-10

PhD opportunities

This institute has an International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS):

IMPRS for Chemistry and Physics of Quantum Materials

In addition, there is the possibility of individual doctoral research. Please contact the directors or research group leaders at the Institute.

Department Chemical Metals Science

more

Department Physics of Quantum Materials

more

Department Physics of Correlated Matter

more

Experiments show that the heavy fermion compound YbRh2Si2 undergoes a spectacular electro-nuclear phase transition into a modulated magnetic state at a temperature as low as 1.5 mK. In a just published paper, an international team of scientists from the UK (Royal Holloway University of London) and Germany (Goethe University Frankfurt, MPI-CPfS Dresden) demonstrated that in YbRh2Si2, at TA = 1.5 mK, the tiny nuclear moments profoundly change an electronic magnetic state formed at a much higher temperature  TN = 70.5 mK.  

more

Roughly 90 percent of all materials can have electronic states on surfaces which differ from those in their bulk

more

A giant anomalous Nernst effect was found in YbMnBi2

more

A novel material has been discovered that is characterised by the coupling of a charge density wave with the topology of the electronic structure.

more

Researchers demonstrate new high-throughput method for discovering magnetic topology

more
Show more

It is frequently only the development of new materials that makes technological advances possible, whether in the areas of energy supply or information technology. With the Heusler compounds, Claudia Felser, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, uncovered a rich source of materials that offer promising properties for a variety of applications.

Electric cables that routinely conduct electricity without loss – physicists have been motivated by this idea ever since superconductivity was discovered 100 years ago.

Electricity from Hot Air

MPR 1 /2011 Materials & Technology

Even the most efficient motor generates more heat than propulsion. However, thermoelectric generators could convert some of this unused energy into electricity. Scientists are currently searching for suitable materials.

No job offers available

Topological quantum chemistry

2021 Felser, Claudia

Chemistry Material Sciences Particle Physics Plasma Physics Quantum Physics Solid State Research

Using a recently developed formalism, titled topological quantum chemistry (TQC) and magnetic TQC, we carry out a high-throughput search of topological materials in well known databases, such as Inorganic Crystal Structure Database. We identified as many as 20000 materials that display topological features and another ~100 new topological magnetic materials. Herein, we review this discovery and provide insights for future material search directions.

more

The quantum Hall effect in the third dimension

2020 Gooth, Johannes

Particle Physics Plasma Physics Quantum Physics

The Quantum Hall Effect (QHE) in two-dimensional (2D) metals is a macroscopic quantum phenomenon and has helped to solve many important aspects of quantum physics. In common three-dimensional (3D) metals, the QHE is usually forbidden, because the third dimension destroys the quantization. However, our studies on the 3D metals ZrTe 5 and HfTe 5 show that their Hall resistance can be quasi-quantized if there are enough electrons in the materials. This makes the Hall effect in ZrTe 5 and HfTe 5 a real 3D counterpart to QHE in 2D systems.

more

Direct imaging of orbitals in quantum materials

2019 Tjeng, Liu Hao

Material Sciences Quantum Physics

The search for new quantum materials with novel properties is often focused on materials containing transition-metal or rare-earth elements. The presence of the atomic-like d or f orbitals provides a fruitful playground to generate novel phenomena. In order to efficiently design and tune the materials, it is essential to identify the d or f orbitals that actively participate in the formation of the ground state. Here we developed a new experimental method that circumvents the need for theory and instead provides the information as measured.

more

Evidence for Weyl fermions by the local nuclear magnetic resonance techniques

2018 Baenitz, Michael

Chemistry Particle Physics Quantum Physics Solid State Research

Tantalum has one of the largest quadrupole moments among all elements which makes it a rather useful local probe for excitations of Weyl fermions in the new Weyl semimetal TaP. We found three NQR lines in a good agreement with theoretical calculations including spin orbit coupling. The temperature dependence of the spin lattice relaxation rate is attributed to the magnetic excitations at the Weyl nodes and a good agreement with predictions from theory could be found. The microscopic magnetic resonance techniques therefore provide new insides into the class of Weyl semimetals.

more

The quantum sound of metals

2017 Hassinger, Elena

Chemistry Material Sciences Particle Physics Plasma Physics Quantum Physics Solid State Research

Every musical instrument has its own sound with a frequency spectrum that is determined by the shape of the instrument. In analogy to that, every metal has its characteristic frequency spectrum reflecting the properties of its electrons. Our investigation of the quantum sound of electrons in the metal PdRhO2 shows that electrons move quickly in the crystallographic planes whereas they hardly move perpendicular to the planes. The quantum music sounds slightly differently than expected and will help understand the particular hydrodynamic transport properties of electrons in these metals.

more
Go to Editor View