Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

An ultra-fast microscope combines atomic spatial and temporal resolution and thus enables unprecedented insights into the dynamics of electrons in molecules

The Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation recognize the achievements of Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Anastassia Alexandrova, and Sumit Gulwani

A new technique makes it possible to image the spatial structure of polysaccharides using a scanning tunnelling microscope

For the first time, it is possible to produce crystalline layers of precious metals that consist of a single atomic layer and which are semiconducting

A salt formed due to corrosion on a restored artwork features a structure that is known from the world of biology

The sun sends more energy to Earth than humanity needs. Researchers led by Bettina Lotsch, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, are working on materials that can help us put this abundant supply to use for a whole host of purposes – even beyond the energy revolution.

For a long time, pianists have had to live without the sensation of playing on ivory keys. One remedy for this is synthetic ivory, a substitute developed by Dieter Fischer, Sarah Parks, and Jochen Mannhart, who usually spend their time researching quantum electronic phenomena at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. Now, a start-up is planning to produce the material on a large scale – and not only for use in piano keys.

Brilliant-cut diamonds can emit a dazzling array of light, but that is not what attracts Joerg Wrachtrup to these precious stones. The Professor of Physics at the University of Stuttgart and Fellow at Stuttgart’s Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research works with less conspicuous diamonds. His team uses these to develop sensors that are intended to allow live observation of the molecular machinery in a living cell. These insights into the nanoworld could also be of benefit in medicine.

Nanoelectronics is at once a promise and a challenge. Within their tiny dimensions, electrons, the drivers of electronic circuits, exhibit some exotic quantum effects. Using ultrasensitive techniques, researchers in Klaus Kern’s department at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart are studying the behavior of electrons in nanostructures.

Printable, flexible and low-cost – these are the properties that engineers hope to achieve with organic electronics. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research are investigating various materials that can be used to manufacture monitors that can be rolled up, or low-cost chips for mass-produced articles.

Poly(heptazinimide), a chemically robust and versatile carbon nitride, is equipped with unique opto-electronic and -ionic properties. These properties allow for the simultaneous conversion and storage of sunlight within one single material. From classical photocatalysis to photocatalysis in the dark, all the way to solar batteries, light-driven microswimmers and novel sensors - carbon nitrides are chemical all-rounders and open up new perspectives at the interface between solar energy conversion and electrochemical energy storage.

Mechanical strain can be used to selectively modify physical properties in oxide heterostructures. For this purpose, we embedded La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ (LSMO) layers between La₂CuO₄ (LCO) layers and deposited them on different substrates. This allowed us to tune systematically the mechanical strain within the LSMO layers. Within the layers, we determine the charge distribution atomically resolved by electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and correlate it with measurements of conductivity as well as magnetic properties. 

The transition regime between the quantum world and our daily reality based on classical physics offers the possibility to realize phenomena and devices with unheard-of properties and functions. Non-unitary quantum electronics uses this transition regime by combining the evolution of quantum states as described by Schrödinger’s equation with quantum jumps, quantum collapse processes, or the decoherence of quantum waves. Electronic or photonic devices using this combination may work outside the generally accepted fundamental laws of physics.

With Higgs spectroscopy, we have developed a new method for the investigation of quantum materials, especially high-temperature superconductors. For this purpose, we excite Higgs modes as collective oscillations of the superconducting condensate using Terahertz lasers. This allows direct experimental access to the dynamics of the superconductor and its couplings to external modes. In addition to new insights into high temperature superconductivity and the possibility of its optical control, Higgs spectroscopy as a new method can also be applied to condensates in other quantum materials.

A novel x-ray spectrometer allows accurate investigations of collective excitations in quantum materials, even if these can only be synthesized in microcrystalline form. The first experiments with this instrument, developed at MPI for Solid State Research, provide a microscopic explanation for the exceptionally high magnetic ordering temperature of a ruthenium compound whose origin had previously been mysterious. These results open up many new perspectives for the exploration of microscopic interactions and collective quantum phenomena in solids.