A new method for exploring the nano-world

A large step forward in the characterization of nanoparticles: One possible application of this technique may be to identify illnesses

11-May-2022 - Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) and Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) in Erlangen present a large step forward in the characterization of nanoparticles. They used a special microscopy method based on interfereometry to outperform existing ...

Detecting the handedness of a single nanoparticle

New microscope-based spectrometer records both polarization states simultaneously and permitted the first observation of a dynamically moving single nanoparticle

11-Sep-2020 - Scientists from the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have developed a new spectroscopic-microscope, which can be used to observe a single nanoparticle in real time. This enabled the first detection of a nanoparticle’s handedness while it is ...

Serendipity in the research field of magnetism

Scientists discover new light-matter interaction with which they can write nanometer-sized magnetic structures

22-Apr-2020 - In cooperation with Chinese researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and others, German researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart have for the first time ever created individual skyrmions in a magnetic layer using soft X-rays. In numerous ...

How to remove dirt easily

When and how self-cleaning of superhydrophobic surfaces works

03-Apr-2020 - Dirt is not always dirt. Some dirt, such as dust, adheres only slightly to surfaces. But there is also dirt, such as dried paint, which sticks strongly. How can the adhesive properties of a surface be adjusted so that different types of dirt do not stick to it? This knowledge is essential to ...

Three-dimensional structure of skyrmions becomes visible for the first time

05-Mar-2019 - Skyrmions are three-dimensional structures that occur in magnetic materials. They are magnetic vortices a few nanometers in size in which atomic elementary magnets are arranged in closed vortex structures. Skyrmions are topologically protected, meaning that their shape cannot be changed. First ...

Gum metals pave the way for new applications

Scientists discover peculiarities in crystal structure of titanium alloy

02-Feb-2017 - Metals which can be bent as gum pave the way for new industrial applications for example in the aerospace industry. These so-called gum metals exist but the mechanism behind this behaviour was still unsettled and thus difficult to be used for applications. Scientists from the Max-Planck-Institut ...

Viewing a catalytic reaction in action

Researchers monitors the steps of a chemical reaction mediated by a metallic surface

06-May-2016 - To be able to follow and directly visualize how the structure of molecules changes when they undergo complex chemical transformations has been a long-standing goal of chemistry. While reaction intermediates are particularly difficult to identify and characterize due to their short lifetimes, ...

Cold fermions keep distance from each other

Scientists observe “Pauli blocking” between fermionic lithium atoms in an optical lattice

06-Jan-2016 - The microcosm is governed by its own laws – the rules of quantum mechanics. They describe, for instance, the statistical behaviour of elementary particles. Electrons and all the other constituents of atoms belong to the group of fermions that are never allowed to share identical quantum numbers. ...

Charge transport jamming in solar cells

Polymer researchers decipher the working mechanism of novel perovskite solar cells

26-Sep-2014 - Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, jointly with scientists from Switzerland and Spain, have investigated the working mechanism of a new type of solar cells in which an organic-inorganic perovskite compound forms the light-absorbing layer. These cells can be ...

Theory of crystal formation complete again

21-Feb-2013 - Exactly how a crystal forms from solution is a problem that has occupied scientists for decades. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), together with researchers from Germany and the USA, are now presenting the missing piece. This classical theory of crystal formation, which ...