Research Groups

This Minerva Research Group focuses on the experimental studies of strongly correlated transition metal oxide thin films, multilayers, and superlattices. We use x-ray absorption spectroscopy and scattering to investigate structural, magnetic, orbital, and charge reconstructions in ultrathin layers. In particular our research concentrates on ordering phenomena occurring at interfaces in nickel oxide superlattices with composition RNiO₃−RXO_3-d (R = rare earth ion, X = Al, Sc, Ga, and d = 0 − 1) and in heterostructures of Mott-insulating RVO₃. Using the advanced simulation programs ReMagX and QUAD we have developed analysis routines to quantify spatially resolved orbital and spin profiles. We work closely with the department of "Solid State Spectroscopy" and the "Thin Film Technology" group and collaborate with groups from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin as well as in the TransRegio TRR80 and the IQST research networks.

The Ultrafast Solid State Spectroscopy group is a joint Research Group of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and the Department of Physics at the University of Stuttgart. The research interest is ultrafast spectroscopy of strongly correlated electron materials, and novel quantum materials. The group applies advanced nonlinear optical methods (table top as well as at large scale facilities) not only to investigate ultrafast dynamics in complex solid-state materials, but also to control them with tailored light pulses. Combining these methods with high-resolution optical near-field microscopy we can access such dynamics even with sub-wavelength resolution down to the nanoscale. Complementary we also apply our methods in momentum space within the MP−UBC−UTokyo Center for Quantum Materials. One research focus is non-equilibrium driven and light induced superconductivity. We investigate different scenarios like triggering competing phases by ultrashort light pulses or dynamical stabilization in periodically driven light fields. Going beyond time resolved probes of the excitation spectrum we have developed "Higgs-Spectroscopy" as novel method to directly probe the collective dynamics of the superconducting condensate. In general this method completes our view on driven dynamics in many body systems that we can apply now to novel quantum materials: It allows us proving the existence of new coherent ground states like excitonic insulators or identifying the nature of correlated magnetism based on collective ground state excitations.

Research in the Organic Electronics group focuses on novel functional organic materials and on the manufacturing and characterization of organic and nanoscale electronic devices, such as high-performance organic thin-film transistors and integrated circuits. Of particular interest is the use of organic self-assembled monolayers in functional electronic devices. We are developing materials and manufacturing techniques that allow the use of high-quality self-assembled monolayers as the gate dielectric in low-voltage organic and inorganic field-effect transistors and low-power integrated circuits on flexible substrates. We are also studying the use of self-assembled monolayers for the preparation of nanoscale organic/inorganic superlattices that exhibit unique electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. Scientific work in organic electronics is highly interdisciplinary and involves the design, synthesis and processing of functional organic and inorganic materials, the development of advanced micro- and nanofabrication techniques, device and circuit design, and materials and device characterization.

Materials with strong electronic correlations are amongst the most intriguing topics at the forefront of research in condensed matter physics. On the one hand, they exhibit fascinating phenomena like quantum criticality and high-temperature superconductivity, bearing a high potential for applications. On the other hand, they are theoretically very appealing due to their limited understanding, even on the very fundamental level. Within the research group “Theory of Strongly Correlated Quantum Matter”, starting from September 2020, the frontier of this fundamental understanding is pushed by applying cutting-edge numerical quantum field theoretical methods to quantum critical systems, high-temperature superconductors, Mott insulators and magnetically frustrated systems, both in the purely model (Hubbard model, periodic Anderson model) as well as material oriented (heavy fermions, cuprates, organics) context.

Research in the Solid State Nanophysics group focuses on the study of the many unusual ways in which electrons organize themselves as a result of interactions and correlations among their charge and spin degrees of freedom, when these electrons are confined in one or more dimensions on the nanometer scale. Transport and optical properties are investigated with local probe methods, at low temperatures, in high magnetic fields, under high frequency radiation or any combination thereof. The electrons are confined either in III–V semiconductor heterostructures or in strictly two-dimensional crystals such as graphene, molybdenum disulfide or other single layers of the large class of layered materials with weak interlayer forces. Also hybrid stacks of these two-dimensional crystals, so-called van der Waals heterostructures, are fabricated and explored in the quest for novel functionalities and interaction physics as well as for the study of ion diffusion and mixed conduction with the use of miniature galvanic cells.