Laser physicists from the attoworld team at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) and Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München (LMU) have developed a new and unique high-power laser system for driving the attosecond beamlines and ultrafast attosecond experiments at MPQ. The new laser “HORUS” (High-power OPCPA system for high Repetition rate Ultrafast Spectroscopy) operates in the near-infrared spectral range at ... more

During photoinjection, an electron that cannot move freely through a solid receives enough energy from a light wave to become mobile. Scientists have been exploring this phenomenon since the beginning of quantum mechanics; nevertheless, there are still open questions about how the relevant processes unfold in time.  Laser physicists of MPQ and LMU have now made a direct observation of... more

The simulation of quantum chemical processes promises a lot of progress, such as the discovery of new chains of reactions, new synthetic materials or pharmaceuticals. But it is an enormous task, which known methods have failed to date. For classical supercomputers, the molecules are too complex, and for quantum simulations with cold atoms, the technological hurdles are still too high. In a new paper, theorists have now developed... more

Researchers at MPQ have created a switchable metamaterial: an atomic array whose optical qualities can be tuned to become either reflective or transparent. The findings build on team’s previous research on so-called “ordered atomic arrays” that enable efficient interaction between light and atoms. more

Researchers at MPQ have created a first-ever degenerate Fermi gas of sodium-potassium molecules. To this end, they drove a Bose-Fermi atomic mixture through a previously hypothetical quantum phase transition. The team's trick is to match the densities of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of sodium atoms and a Fermi gas of potassium atoms. more

A team of researchers at MPQ has for the first time observed evidence of a phenomenon that had previously only been suspected in theory: when ultracold polar molecules collide exotic bound states can arise. An experiment now indicates that this effect is indeed possible. For their investigations, the researchers used a specifically shaped microwave field with which they... more

Using a quantum simulator, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) have observed pairs of charge carriers that may be responsible for the resistance-free transport of electric current in high-temperature superconductors. So far, the exact physical mechanisms in these complex materials are still largely unknown. Theories assume that... more