Institute and Research News

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have theoretically demonstrated that photons trapped inside an optical cavity carry detailed information about a material placed within it. By measuring properties of the photons leaking out of the cavity, researchers can probe how an optical cavity modifies the properties of the embedded materials. This insight opens new possibilities for experimental techniques to explore entangled light-matter systems. Their work has been published in Physical Review Letters. more

The ERC Synergy project Unravelling the Mysteries of Vibrational Strong Coupling (UnMySt) officially began with a two-day kick-off meeting hosted at the Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg. Bringing together all participating research groups from Tel Aviv University, Université de Strasbourg, the University of Pennsylvania and the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, the meeting marked the beginning of a six-year collaboration at the forefront of chemistry, quantum electrodynamics, and materials science. more

George Trenins and Mariana Rossi of the Lise Meitner Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have developed an efficient technique for simulating the impact of electronic friction on quantum atomic motion at metallic interfaces. Applying it to hydrogen atoms on copper, they explain the physical origin of experimentally observed diffusion rates — offering new insight with implications for heterogeneous catalysis and energy storage. Their work has now been published in Physical Review Letters (PRL). more

The Excellence Cluster CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter (CUI:AIM) has been positively evaluated following a successful review and is now set to enter a second seven-year funding phase under Germany’s Excellence Strategy, jointly supported by the federal and state governments. The Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), one of the founding applicants alongside Universität Hamburg (UHH), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), and European XFEL GmbH (XFEL), congratulates everyone involved on this major achievement. more

An international research team, led by Akitoshi Shiotari of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI, Germany), Mariana Rossi of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD, Germany) and Takashi Kumagai of the Institute for Molecular Science/SOKENDAI (IMS, Japan) has successfully achieved the single-molecule spectroscopic observation of hydrogen (H₂) and deuterium (D₂) confined within a picocavity. The picocavity was formed between a silver nanotip and a silver single-crystal substrate under cryogenic and ultrahigh vacuum conditions, using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). more

Scientists uncover how electrons self-organize into crystalline patterns—and melt—inside atomically twisted 2D materials. more

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have developed an innovative method to study ultrafast magnetism in materials. They have shown the generation and application of magnetic field steps, in which a magnetic field is turned on in a matter of picoseconds. more

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in collaboration with DTU Electro, the University of Sheffield and the University of Copenhagen, have proposed a novel method for efficiently generating single photons in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. This theoretical breakthrough, published in Science Advances, has the potential to revolutionize quantum technologies by enabling new applications in molecular sensing, precision metrology, and quantum communication. more

Simon Vendelbo Bylling Jensen, a postdoctoral researcher in the Theory Department at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), has been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship to investigate the cutting-edge field of attoscience in liquid crystals. more

A collaborative team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), Nanjing University, Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (SLAB), and international partners has introduced a new method to regulate exotic electronic states in two-dimensional materials. more