Quantum simulator enables first microscopic observation of charge carriers pairing

Research results could be key to understanding high-temperature superconductors

23-Jan-2023 - A team of researchers at the MPQ has for the first time monitored in an experiment how holes (positive charge carriers) in a solid-state model combined to form pairs. This process could play an important role in understanding high-temperature superconductivity. Using a quantum simulator, ...

Light-driven molecular swing

Scientists have used ultrashort laser pulses to make the atoms of molecules vibrate and have gained a precise understanding of the dynamics of energy transfer

20-Oct-2022 - When light impinges on molecules, it is absorbed and re-emitted. Advances in ultrafast laser technology have steadily improved the level of detail in studies of such light-matter interactions. FRS, a laser spectroscopy method in which the electric field of laser pulses repeating millions of times ...

Pumping up the music of molecules

Significantly improving the "sense of smell" of molecular laser spectroscopy: Increases chances to reliably detect diseases

25-Aug-2022 - Sensitive animal noses can sniff out trace particles, such as volatile organic compounds, in the ambient air. Humans, on the other hand, are developing innovative technologies for this purpose, such as optical spectroscopy. This uses laser light to detect the molecular composition of gases. It ...

A nanokelvin microwave refrigerator for molecules

A new method to cool gases of polar molecules to near absolute zero paves the way to study quantum effects of exotic matter forms

02-Aug-2022 - Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have developed a novel cooling technique for molecular gases that allows polar molecules to be cooled down to a few nanokelvin. The trick used by the team in Garching to overcome this hurdle is based on a rotating microwave field. It helps ...

Most powerful dual-comb spectrometer developed

System paves the way for many applications

30-May-2022 - Scientists from Hamburg and Munich developed the world's most powerful dual-comb spectrometer that paves the way for many applications in atmospheric science and biomedical diagnostics, such as early cancer detection. The work has recently been published in Nature Communications. The core part of ...

Light-Controlled Reactions at the Nanoscale

Physicists used for the first time laser light to control the location of light-induced reactions on the surface of nanoparticles

23-May-2022 - Controlling strong electromagnetic fields on nanoparticles is the key to triggering targeted molecular reactions on their surfaces. Such control over strong fields is achieved via laser light. Although laser-induced formation and breaking of molecular bonds on nanoparticle surfaces have been ...

The next phase of the proton puzzle

New milestone in frequency comb spectroscopy

30-Nov-2020 - Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) have succeeded in testing quantum electrodynamics with unprecedented accuracy to 13 decimal places. The new measurement is almost twice as accurate as all previous hydrogen measurements combined and moves science one step closer to ...

Laser takes pictures of electrons in crystals

The experiments pave the way towards to deeply understand and eventually control the chemical and the electronic properties of materials

03-Jul-2020 - Microscopes of visible light allow us to see tiny objects such living cells and their interior. Yet, they cannot discern how electrons are distributed among atoms in solids. Now researchers around Prof. Eleftherios Goulielmakis of the Extreme Photonics Labs at the University of Rostock and the ...

An ultrafast glimpse of the photochemistry of the atmosphere

15-Oct-2019 - Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have explored the initial consequences of the interaction of light with molecules on the surface of nanoscopic aerosols. The nanocosmos is constantly in motion. All natural processes are ultimately determined by the interplay between ...

Modelling the molecular architecture

New approach for the simulation of quantum chemistry

14-Oct-2019 - Searching for new substances and developing new techniques in the chemical industry: tasks that are often accelerated using computer simulations of molecules or reactions. But even supercomputers quickly reach their limits. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching ...