Research News

An investigation of the Kagome metal AV₃Sb₅ without external perturbations has yielded new insights into this group of materials. The work, now published in Nature Physics, is a crucial step in order to understand the intrinsic electronic ground state of this material.  more

Measurements of the fluctuations of the atomic positions in SrTiO₃ under mid-infrared light yield new insights into the creation of the material’s ferroelectric state. An MPSD research team reports in Nature Materials that the material transforms into a state of permanently ordered electrical dipoles.  more

Researchers at the University of California San Diego and the MPSD have used an advanced optical technique to learn more about Ta₂NiSe₅ (TNS), with a broadened range of frequencies. The MPSD’s Theory Group provided DFT calculations for the study. more

New study published in Nature Communications by members of the Theory Department sheds light on the optical nonlinearities induced and amplified by strong phonon resonances within hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). more

Researchers at the MPSD have shown that a previously demonstrated ability to turn on superconductivity with a laser beam can be integrated on a chip, opening up a route toward opto-electronic applications.  more

Researchers in Germany and the USA have produced the first theoretical demonstration that the magnetic state of an atomically thin material, α-RuCl_3, can be controlled solely by placing it into an optical cavity. more

Researchers from the Cavalleri group have discovered a far more efficient way to create a previously observed metastable, superconducting-like state in K₃C₆₀ using laser light. Their work has appeared in Nature Physics. more

The mechanism by which liquids emit a particular light spectrum known as the high-harmonic spectrum is markedly different from the one in other phases of matter like gases and solids. An international research team from ETH Zurich and the MPSD reports on this distinctive process in Nature Physics. more

An MPSD theory team reports in Physical Review X that it has found no evidence of any universal topological signatures after performing the first ab initio investigation of high harmonic generation from topological insulators.  more

Plasmons promise a variety of applications if the processes triggered by optical excitation in the nanoparticles can be controlled. A research team from Hamburg and Berlin reports in Nano Letters experimental observations that cannot be explained by established models and describes a new theoretical model that explains the dynamics of excited gold nanoparticles observed in experiments. more