Group Leader Profiles

Our research seeks to elucidate the links between the structure and properties of technologically-relevant materials. The primary goal of our work is to advance electrochemical energy storage through the design and control of the atomic and electronic structure, and microstructure of materials, including the discovery of novel compounds, and through the optimization of interfaces and composite structures in devices. Our approach encompasses innovative synthesis approaches, electrochemical testing, as well as the in-depth investigation of structural and electronic phenomena taking place in the electrodes, in the electrolyte, and at their interfaces during battery function. For this, we use complementary diagnostic tools, from state-of-the-art spectroscopy, to diffraction/scattering, to electron microscopy. In particular, we develop high resolution solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, operando and in situ NMR and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, magnetometry, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Another pillar of our work is the development of first principles and statistical mechanics computations to facilitate the interpretation of our experimental results.

Our research group is at the forefront of creating functional materials through the chemistry of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for catalytic applications. We specialize in the development of MOCOF, the fusion of MOF and COF chemistry, to realize materials with superior properties, as well as creating well-defined catalytic sites in MOFs/COFs/MOCOFs. Our expertise spans coordination chemistry, organic chemistry, and materials science, supported by an extensive range of analytical techniques. These skills empower us to thoroughly understand and design the synthetic processes, structures, and catalytic behaviors of porous crystalline materials. By leveraging our knowledge and methodologies, we strive to push the boundaries of materials science and chemistry.

In this application round, we plan to focus on a project about immobilizing molecular catalysts inside MOFs to enhance their performance for thermal CO2 hydrogenation. The tasks are the preparation of reported MOFs, the modification of MOFs with molecular catalysis by solution-based methods, the characterization of catalyst structure inside MOFs, and catalytic tests in collaboration with another group. The position is offered depending on the ongoing funding application.

Polarized x-ray based studies on magnetism and modern magnetic materials utilizing X-ray magnetism circular dichroism (XMCD) and related techniques, like X-ray resonant reflectivity (XRMR), and X-ray spectroscopic microscopy. While beeing focused on Keimer Department research topics, related phenomena are interface magnetism, spin-orbit-coupling and spin-orbit-torque, voltage induced magnetocrystalline anisotropy, orbital moments, nano-magnetism, spin conduction and relaxation, and interfacial exchange interaction.

Our work is dedicated to the synthesis, characterization and application of different carbon nanomaterials such as nanodiamond, diamond films and carbon onions as well as carbon-rich organic molecules for a broad range of applications. These applications include drug delivery, tissue engineering, quantum sensing and other quantum technologies, photocatalysis and energy storage in batteries and supercapacitors.

We are looking for experimental chemists and materials scientist with a keen interest in the development and functionalization of novel materials using methods from solid state and organic and inorganic chemistry as well as chemical vapour deposition. We use a broad range of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, such as Raman, IR and x-ray spectroscopies, TEM and SEM as well as particle analysis in combination with classic characterization techniques such as NMR ans MS. For applying to our group, experience with either materials synthesis using CVD or related techniques and/or synthetic chemistry also under inert conditions is a plus.

The research in my group is mainly focused on non-equilibrium phenomena in Quantum Materials as well as on novel Josephson and Proximity effects using triplet superconductors. One major direction of our actual investigations are Higgs oscillations in superconductors under non-equilibrium conditions. Employing various non-equilibrium techniques we have predicted unique effects that provide novel insights into unconventional superconductors. We collaborate with many experimental groups in Stuttgart as well as in Toyko and Vancouver within the framwork on the Max Planck--UBC--UTokyo Center for Quantum Materials. With the prediction of novel and Josephson and Proximity effects in triplet junctions my group has opened a new field of research in condensed matter physics. Finally, I pioneered a new field 'Higgs spectroscopy' where collective modes of the superconducting order parameter classifies the ground state. A new field in the area of superconductivity. Experiments have confirmed our recent predictions.

What does a single molecule look like? How can we excite it and control its emission? How can we build more complex molecular structures “by hand”? How can we tune the quantum properties of light with atomic precision? In our research team, we answer these questions using the combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with optics. This way, we bring the best of the two worlds together, the sub-nm resolution of STM, and all the information carried by photons to study optics at the atomic scale. Using this method we learn previously inaccessible details about mechanisms like light-harvesting, photosynthesis, and electron-to-photon conversion.

Our research group studies electronic and magnetic structures of quantum materials. A special focus is on topological materials, which exhibit unusual properties, such as exotic surface states and anomalous transport phenomena, that are unaffected by continuous deformations, e.g., stretching, compressing, or twisting. Our aim is to develop a theoretical framework to describe these topological properties, and to find new ways how to use them in the laboratory and for device applications. We seek to classify topological materials in terms of symmetries and to discover new remarkable examples. Current research priorities focus on the topological properties of nodal-line semimetals, topological metals with nodal planes,  altermagnets, and unconventional superconductors, which we study using both analytical and numerical techniques.