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How do we develop the materials that will power tomorrow’s technologies?

Institute building of the MPI-FKF with the precision laboratory, photographed from across the lake so that the institute is reflected in the water.

Internationally connected – locally rooted At the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research on the outskirts of Stuttgart, scientists from around the world explore the materials of the future.

Collage of various photos showing experiments and scientists.

Understanding materials. Shaping the future.
From batteries and superconductors to next-generation electronics, our scientists explore how the tiniest building blocks of solids—metals, ceramics, and crystals—determine their unique properties. At the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, we investigate matter at the nanoscale to unlock the potential of tomorrow’s technologies.

Photo of Prof. bettina Lotsch, being awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award of the DFG. In her hand she is holding a 3d-printed model of a cov molecule.

We are delighted to congratulate Professor Dr. Bettina Valeska Lotsch, Director of the Nanochemistry Department at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, on receiving the 2025 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.

Artistic representation of the experimental setup for the quantum Hall effect, accompanied by lab notebook entries and Klaus von Klitzing’s Nobel Prize medal.

The quantum Hall effect was discovered in 1980 by Klaus von Klitzing at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research. It occurs when electrons move through extremely thin semiconductor layers at very low temperatures and under strong magnetic fields. Under these conditions, an astonishing phenomenon emerges: electrical resistance does not change continuously, but in precise, quantized steps—always a multiple of a fundamental constant.
This quantization is so exact that it now serves as the basis for defining the electrical unit ohm. The discovery was not only a breakthrough in fundamental physics but also revolutionized precision measurement—earning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1985.

Research News

Schematic illustration of the experiment showing electron emitters under parallel electron-beam irradiation. Emitted electrons are collected by a positively biased electrode.

Electron-Beam-Driven Quantum Tunneling

April 21, 2026

2026

Visual representation of a molecular model, featuring colored spheres linked by rods, set against a stylized, abstract backdrop.

Pressure pushes Y-kapellasite into a fluctuating magnetic state

April 01, 2026

2026 Crystal Growth

Scientific illustration depicting a linear atomic network with colored spheres connected by lines, with red arrows indicating energy transfer through waveforms.

Uniaxial-Pressure Boosts Excitonic Fluctuations

October 15, 2025

Solid State Spectroscopy

Studying the properties of Ta₂NiSe₅ to test the hypothesis that its ground state is an excitonic insulator has been a decade-long research project combining the efforts of our research groups from two…

Digital illustration with intersecting colored light waves and a red, cone-shaped structure on a dotted grid.

Novel Experimental Method Measures the Higgs Mode in High-Temperature Superconductors

August 11, 2025

An international research team including Tomke Glier (University of Hamburg), Stefan Kaiser (formerly Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart , now TU Dresden), Dirk Manske (Max…

Multicolored nanostructures with a hexagonal pattern, including a stacked structure, presented on a dark table.

Programmable DNA Moiré Superlattices: Expanding the Design Space at the Nanoscale

July 17, 2025

Researchers are creating new moiré materials at the nanometer scale using advanced DNA nanotechnology. DNA moiré superlattices form when two periodic DNA lattices are overlaid with a slight rotational…

Collection of graphs illustrating hydrogen and deuterium uptake at sites 1 and 2, across temperatures 30 K and 60 K, with cell volume analysis.

Breaking Barriers in Hydrogen Isotope Separation

July 11, 2025

X-Ray Diffraction

A team of researchers from Tohoku University, Max Planck Institute, and international collaborators has unveiled a new material that could transform how we separate hydrogen isotopes — a process…

A laser interacts with a graphene lattice, creating wave patterns and electronic effects.

Catching hot electrons in a single molecule

May 28, 2025

Quantum Microscopy and Dynamics

Efficiently utilizing the hot carriers – electrons and holes whose energy distribution deviates significantly from the equilibrium distribution, is the key to a broad range of emerging applications…

A battery filled with molecules floats in water. Light shines down from above, revealing chemical structures. Three smaller batteries emit lightning bolts.

Sunlight in – power out, long after sunset

May 20, 2025

Nanochemistry Solar Batteries

Researchers develop a high-capacity solar battery based on a porous organic material storing solar energy for hours

Unveiling the relationship between charge order and the pseudogap in a homogeneous high-temperature superconductor

April 17, 2025

Solid State Spectroscopy

Our team at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, has uncovered a…

When p orbitals do the wave

April 09, 2025

Quantum Materials

Scanning tunneling microscopy visualizes signatures of p-orbital texture in the charge-density-wave state of the topological semimetal candidate CeSbTe