Home | Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

Female scientist wearing a lab coat stands with arms crossed in a modern laboratory, while two colleagues work on computers and scientific instruments behind her.

We are honored to announce that Prof. Dr. Bettina V. Lotsch, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and head of the Department of Nanochemistry, has been elected as a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Congratulation banner for Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, who is holding a toy model of twisted bilayer graphene

The Norwegian Academy of Science of Letters has decided to award the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience 2026 to Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Eva Y. Andrei and Allan H. MacDonald for their “foundational work that established the field of Twistronics”.
MIT © Alberto Di-Lolli

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.

Grouphoto of our guests, directors and scientist

How do we develop the materials that will power 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

Detailed scientific diagram depicting hydrogen-induced cracking in a material, with magnified views of atomic lattice distortions and crack growth mechanisms over time and depth.

Kinetic regimes of hydrogen absorption in thin films

June 01, 2026

Simplified picture of scanning tunneling microscopy experiment: a metallic tip placed on top of the sample to analyze.

Imaging excitons in single molecules

May 18, 2026

2026

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…