Biological membranes consist of ordered molecular assemblies of various chiral phospholipids, most of which are spatially inhomogeneous. This heterogeneity is expressed by the formation of specialized condensed regions that take on specific functions in biological processes.  The physicochemical properties of these lipid islands are substantially governed by the details of in-plane molecular packing structure, which is still largely unknown despite extensive research over several decades. The reason [more...]

Active control over macroscopic properties of solids is highly desirable for a broad range of applications. A promising pathway to on-demand material properties are metastable hidden states, which are nonequilibrium phases that can only be reached after a quench by ultrashort optical or electrical pulses. As hidden states often host new emergent properties and can be switched on ultrafast timescales through non-thermal reaction pathways, they offer exciting novel functionalities for solid-state quantum devices. Yet, the fundamental processes that govern the dynamical pathway to hidden [more...]