Institute and Research News

The MPSD has welcomed two new Humboldt Fellows to the Theory Department. Carlos Mauricio Bustamante and Hang Liu have each been awarded postdoctorate Humboldt Research Fellowships to carry out their own research at the Institute. more

Terahertz light pulses can stabilize ferromagnetism in YTiO₃ at temperatures more than three times its usual transition temperature. Researchers from the Cavalleri group report in Nature that the high-temperature ferromagnetic state persisted for many nanoseconds after the light exposure. more

Researchers in Hamburg have developed the Spitrobot - a device that greatly simplifies observing changes in proteins as they carry out their functions and makes time-resolved crystallography accessible for non-specialist research groups. more

13 school students took part in this year’s Girls’ and Boys’ Day at the MPSD. They got to try out experiments involving light refraction, magnet-battery motors, atomically thin graphene as well the transmission speeds of signals - and they had a lot of fun in the process.  more

The electronic properties of MoSe₂ are determined by the bonds of Mo and Se atoms, to which both elements contribute equally. But when exposed to ultraviolet light, the Mo signal clearly shows a signature dominated by collective processes while the Se signal suggests that the electrons act independently. more

How long does it take electrons to ‘dress’ in light and form Floquet bands? Just one single optical cycle is enough, according to a research team involving the Universities of Marburg, Regensburg and MPSD group leader Michael Sentef. Its study has been published in Nature. more

An international research team has demonstrated unambiguously that the bulk crystal Ta₂NiSe₅ is not an excitonic insulator, settling the debate around the microscopic origin of symmetry breaking in the material. more

MPSD Director Angel Rubio has been elected as a member of Germany’s National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina. His membership will be officially bestowed upon him at a ceremony in Halle in February 2024. more

Intense laser light can induce magnetism in solids on the attosecond scale – the fastest magnetic response to date. Theoreticians at the MPSD have investigated the magnetization process in several 2D and 3D materials. Their work has appeared in npj Computational Materials. more

Wiebke Kohlbrecher (20) has spent five weeks at the MPSD to learn at first hand about the day-to-day work of its researchers. She will complete three internships in total as part of the Hamburg-based ProTechnicale program which offers female school leavers an orientation year in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) occupations.  more