DEPARTMENT OF
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
DEPARTMENT OF
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Director: Martin Wolf
Emeritus: Gerhard Ertl
Research Groups
Atomic-Scale Microscopy & Spectroscopy
Akitoshi Shiotari
Dynamics of Correlated Materials
Laurenz Rettig
Lattice Dynamics
Alex Paarmann
Nonlinear Chemical Imaging
Alexander Fellows
Nonlinear Interfacial Spectroscopy
Martin Thämer
Ultrafast Core-Level Spectroscopy
Ugaitz Elu
Max Planck Fellow
Structural & Electronic Surface Dynamics
Ralph Ernstorfer (also at TU-Berlin)
Support Group
Technicians Group
Marcel Krenz
ERC groups
Ultrafast Scanning Probe Microscopy
Melanie Müller
Emmy Noether Groups
THz Structural Dynamics
Sebastian Maehrlein
Associated Groups
Liquid-Vapor Interfaces (FHI AC)
Hendrik Bluhm
Nanoscale Surface Chemistry (IMS)
Takashi Kumagai (former website)
Terahertz Physics (FU Berlin)
Tobias Kampfrath (former website)
Electron Dynamiχ (HU Berlin)
A. Julia Stähler
... further Former Groups
Events & Seminars
Thu., 7 May. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
Jahan Dawlaty
(University of Southern California)
Reactivity, Ionic Structure, and Solvation at The Air-Water Interface
Thu., 7 May. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
Reactivity, Ionic Structure, and Solvation at The Air-Water Interface
Jahan Dawlaty 
(University of Southern California)
Wed., 3 Jun. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
Hanyu Zhu
(Rice University, Huston, Texas, USA)
Dynamic Chirality at the Interface
Wed., 3 Jun. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
Dynamic Chirality at the Interface
Hanyu Zhu 
(Rice University, Huston, Texas, USA)
News
  • Twisting Water
    Nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy and simulations reveal the importance of the molecular twist of interfacial water
  •
    Melanie Müller appointed as Professor at Universität Bonn
    Her group explores ultrafast dynamics and nonequilibrium behavior at the angstrom scale
  • Water at Charged Interfaces
    Depth-resolved vibrational spectroscopy reveals interfacial water structures at charged interfaces
  •
    Laurenz Rettig appointed as Professor at the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau
    His group studies ultrafast optical control of quantum materials and spin dynamics.
  •
    Sum-frequency Imaging Monolayers of Hexagonal Boron Nitride
    Absolute determination of crystal orientation and atomistic edge termination
  •
    Shrinking Terahertz Light to Nanoscale
    Ultraconfined THz phonon polaritons in hafnium selenides with confinement factors > λ0/250
    Research
    Research in the Department of Physical Chemistry focusses on the dynamics of elementary processes in solids and at surfaces, in particular, ultrafast dynamics of electronic excitations, electron-phonon coupling and interfacial charge transfer, surface reactions and molecular processes at interfaces as well as light-matter interaction at the nanoscale.
    Events & Seminars
    Thu., 7 May. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
    Jahan Dawlaty
    (University of Southern California)
    Reactivity, Ionic Structure, and Solvation at The Air-Water Interface
    Thu., 7 May. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
    Reactivity, Ionic Structure, and Solvation at The Air-Water Interface
    Jahan Dawlaty 
    (University of Southern California)
    Wed., 3 Jun. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
    Hanyu Zhu
    (Rice University, Huston, Texas, USA)
    Dynamic Chirality at the Interface
    Wed., 3 Jun. 2026, 11:00 am  -  Department Seminar  -  Room G 2.06
    Dynamic Chirality at the Interface
    Hanyu Zhu 
    (Rice University, Huston, Texas, USA)
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