Left hand or right? Many crystals have a "handedness" (chirality) that's fixed the moment they're grown. MPSD & Oxford University researchers just showed a simple squeeze or stretch can create it from scratch, and pick which hand. They call it the piezochiral effect. www.mpsd.mpg.de/1208949/2026...

A simple twist unlocks record-efficiency deep-UV light: moiré quantum wells in hexagonal boron nitride outperform conventional emitters by 10x. MPSD theorists helped explain why. New in Science: doi.org/10.1126/science.aeb2095

Highly efficient, deep-ultraviolet luminescence in hBN moiré quantum wells

Twisted stacking of two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) semiconductors creates moiré superlattices, which provides unprecedented control over quantum states and their light-matter interactions. We dem...

doi.org

Quantum Fluctuations in a vacuum can change an adjacent materials properties - if they are in resonance. This prediction from our Theory Department has just been first observed by physicists from @columbiauniversity.bsky.social, MPSD and 15 other institutes. www.mpsd.mpg.de/1167324/2026...

Matching vibrations is all it takes to modify materials

mpsd.mpg.de

New in @pubs.acs.org Nano: Scientists around @mahrossi.bsky.social from @mpsdhamburg.bsky.social / @mpip-mainz.mpg.de have shown a new method to enhace Tip-Enhanced Raman Images by applying first-principle calculations. The new method will enhance the quality of TERS images as a nanoscale probe.

Hoher Besuch am MPSD! 🔬 Wissenschaftssenatorin Maryam Blumenthal von der @bwfg.bsky.social hat uns besucht – und unsere Forschenden haben gezeigt, woran sie arbeiten (für mehr Infos Bilder anklicken) Wir freuen uns über das große Interesse an Hamburger Grundlagenforschung!

During the heavy snowfall in Hamburg our Institute really looked like a winter wonderland - our in-house photographer @jojoharham.bsky.social took some beautiful pictures of our institute and the campus around it.

JoJoHarHam@jojoharham.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Winterwonderland #2 at CFEL and MPSD Hamburg (Ger) @mpsdhamburg.bsky.social #CFEL #MPSDhamburg #DESY #ScienceCityHamburg #Max-Planck #hamburg #CenterForFree-ElectronLaserScience

🚀 New research from @MPSD shows that a 90° twist of rectangular 2D materials creates tunable square-lattice moiré systems — a powerful new platform for quantum simulation and correlated electron physics! Read more on our Website: www.mpsd.mpg.de/1116749/2025...

A 90-Degree Twist creates Tunable Quantum Simulators

mpsd.mpg.de

🚀 Ultrafast light meets quantum matter: Light can make atoms twist and untwist moiré patterns in 2D materials — not random heat, but coherent motion! Breakthrough reshapes what we thought possible now published in @nature.com: www.mpsd.mpg.de/1114810/2025...

Light stirs atoms to twist and untwist in a moiré

mpsd.mpg.de

We’re delighted that Sam Holt, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow with us, received the Young Researcher Award at TMAG 2025 in Bari, Italy! 💐 Sam’s work explores novel Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions and combining advanced micromagnetic modelling with AI to classify complex magnetic structures.

📢 Wir suchen! Haben Sie Lust, ein international geprägtes Spitzenforschungsinstitut zu unterstützen und eine vielseitige Rolle im Personalwesen zu übernehmen – von Beratung über Personalverwaltung bis Entgeltabrechnung? ⬇️ jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/c...

📢 Wir suchen! Haben Sie Lust, ein international führendes Forschungsumfeld zu unterstützen, Förderprojekte strategisch zu begleiten und als zentrale Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft, Administration und Förderinstitutionen zu wirken? ⬇️ jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/a...

Beeindruckend: Laut @clarivate.com gehören 3 unserer Direktoren – Angel Rubio (Theorie) und Jie Shan & Kin Fai Mak (Nanoskalige Quantenmaterialien) – zu den besten 1% ihrer Fachgebiete, gemessen an der Anzahl der Zitationen! Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 💐 www.mpsd.mpg.de/1103964/2025... #HighlyCited2025

Drei Direktoren des MPSD als „Highly Cited Researchers 2025” ausgezeichnet

mpsd.mpg.de

According to @clarivate.com, 3 of our directors — Angel Rubio (Theory) and Jie Shan & Kin Fai Mak (Nanoscale Quantum Materials) — rank among the top 1% by citations in their field and are therefore Highly Cited Researchers 2025! Congratulations! 💐 www.mpsd.mpg.de/1103750/2025... #HighlyCited2025

Three MPSD Directors selected as Highly Cited Researchers 2025

mpsd.mpg.de

Andrea Cavalleri, Gründungsdirektor des MPSD, wird von der DPG für seine bahnbrechende Arbeit im Bereich der lichtgesteuerten Kontrolle von Quantenmaterialien mit der renommierten Stern-Gerlach-Medaille ausgezeichnet. Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 🎉 www.mpsd.mpg.de/1104179/2025...

Andrea Cavalleri erhält die Stern-Gerlach-Medaille

mpsd.mpg.de

Great news: Andrea Cavalleri, founding director of the MPSD, will be awarded the prestigious Stern‑Gerlach Medal by the German Physical Society (DPG) in recognition of his groundbreaking work in light-driven control of quantum materials. Congratulations! 🎉 www.mpsd.mpg.de/1103632/2025...

Andrea Cavalleri to be awarded the Stern-Gerlach Medal

mpsd.mpg.de

Die DPG ehrt 2026 herausragende Wissenschaftler:innen, darunter: 🎖️ Max-Planck-Medaille: Kurt Kremer (@mpip-mainz.mpg.de) 🎖️ Stern-Gerlach-Medaille: Andrea Cavalleri (@mpsdhamburg.bsky.social/@ox.ac.uk) Zusätzlich wurden weitere renommierte Preise verliehen: www.dpg-physik.de/veroeffentli... /SE

Herausragende Forschung gewürdigt: DPG ehrt exzellente Physikerinnen und Physiker

Die Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft verleiht ihre höchsten Auszeichnungen, die Max-Planck-Medaille und die Stern-Gerlach-Medaille, sowie weitere Preise für unterschiedliche physikalische Disziplin...

dpg-physik.de

🚀 Durchbruch! In sternförmigen Kagome-Kristallen bewegen sich Elektronen nicht nur – sie singen auch gemeinsam! Eine neue Studie von MPSD-Wissenschaftlern & Kollaborateuren in @nature.com zeigt, wie Geometrie das Quantenverhalten beeinflusst. Weiterlesen 👉 www.mpsd.mpg.de/1101386/2025...

Wenn Elektronen harmonisch schwingen – und ihre Umgebung spüren

mpsd.mpg.de

🚀 Breakthrough alert! In star-shaped Kagome crystals, electrons don’t just move — they sing together! A new @nature.com study from MPSD scientists & collaborators shows how geometry shapes quantum behavior. 🎶 Curious how a crystal’s form can tune electrons? Read 👉 www.mpsd.mpg.de/1101253/2025...

When Electrons Sing in Harmony — and Sense the Shape of Their Home

mpsd.mpg.de

Wir freuen uns, dass unser Dachgarten den "Hamburger Preis für Grüne Bauten" gewonnen hat! 🌱🥇 Es gibt auch eine kostenlose Ausstellung. Mehr dazu in unserer Meldung: www.mpsd.mpg.de/1097247/2025...

Das MPSD gewinnt Preis für Grüne Bauten

mpsd.mpg.de

We are delighted that our roof garden has won the “Hamburg Award for Green Buildings”! 🌱🥇 There is also a free exhibition. Read more about it in our news: www.mpsd.mpg.de/1097017/2025...

The MPSD wins award for green buildings

mpsd.mpg.de

📢 Want a PhD in Ultrafast Science and Quantum Materials? 🎓 Our PhD school IMPRS UFAST is offering 29 PhD projects starting in summer/autumn 2026! Apply by November 6. jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/9...

📢 You're aiming to push the limits of state of the art nanofabrication? We're looking for a Clean room Engineer (m/f/d) 🥼 to support the common clean-room activities & coordinate the device fabrication of non-standard materials into hybrid devices between our partners! jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/d...

📢 Wir suchen eine*n erfahrene*n Einkäufer*in 🛒 mit Teamfähigkeit, Kommunikationsvermögen, interkultureller Kompetenz & Verhandlungsgeschick! Wir bieten: eine abwechslungsreiche Tätigkeit in einem internationalen Forschungsinstitut mit langfristiger Perspektive! jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/2...

New exciting publication in Nature Physics 📢: www.mpsd.mpg.de/1093587/2025... A team of Researchers at MPSD has found a new capability of 2D-quantum materials: they can act as a cavity:

Two-dimensional quantum materials act as cavities

mpsd.mpg.de

Hope Bretscher@hope-ful.bsky.social · 10mo ago

/1 After migrating to bsky- I haven't yet posted much here yet. But to me - it is important to share my research as this is publicly funded, and to make the practice of science more transparent.

Working in an award-winning building? Our new Institute building has won the Hamburg Prize for Green Buildings 2025 - which also got us featured in the local news🏆(in German) www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...

Hamburger Preis für grüne Bauten verliehen

Die Umweltbehörde hat Projekte zur Begrünung von Dächern, Fassaden und Innenräumen ausgezeichnet. Insgesamt wurden 39 Projekte eingereicht.

ndr.de

Ultrafast memory, powered by light: Researchers at MPSD and the @ox.ac.uk switch ferroaxial states with circularly polarized terahertz pulses — enabling stable, non-volatile data storage beyond ferroelectrics and magnets. ⚡ Just published in @science.org 🚀 dx.doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Photo-induced nonvolatile rewritable ferroaxial switching

Ultrafast switching of ferroic phases is an active research area with technological potential. Yet, some key challenges remain, ranging from limited speeds in ferromagnets to intrinsic volatility of s...

dx.doi.org

Cover Story: A recent paper from our theory group has been selected for the cover of the @aip-publishing.bsky.socialAPL Computational Physics Journal 🚀. They showed that four-component relativistic strong cavity-matter interactions can be approximated by an effective theory with two components.

Linear-response quantum-electrodynamical density functional theory based on two-component X2C Hamiltonians

Linear-response quantum electrodynamical density functional theory (QEDFT) enables the description of molecular spectra under strong coupling to quantized photo

doi.org

Another job at our institute in Hamburg. 📣 We are looking for a group assistant in one of our research groups! 🚀 jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/3...

📣 We are looking for a skilled Computational Scientist for the software engineering regarding the EU-funded Project "Magnetic Multiscale Modelling Suite (MaMMoS)". Asap! 🚀 jobs.b-ite.com/jobposting/3...

Computational Scientist (f/m/x) (MaMMoS)

jobs.b-ite.com

📢 Publication Alert 📢 Scientists from our theory group have published a new Study in #scienceadvances that shows that you can predict photon-sideband distributions in certain materials using Symmetry-based Floquet Optical Selection. www.mpsd.mpg.de/1079352/2025... @science.org #physics #maxplanck