Sebastian Maehrlein, leader of the “THz Structural Dynamics” group, has been awarded an independent Emmy Noether group by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for a funding period of 6 years. His research focus will be centered on actively steering lattice angular momentum in solids for ultrafast control of material properties.
Even though exchange of energy and linear momentum between lattice vibrations (phonons) and other degrees of freedom is a cornerstone of solid-state physics, phonon angular momentum is commonly just assumed to account for angular momentum conservation [more...]

When photoexcited by an ultrafast laser pulse, antiferromagnets allow direct angular momentum transfer between opposing spins, promising faster functionality than ferromagnets, which are inherently limited because their net angular momentum must be dissipated into the lattice. The process of angular momentum transfer is closely related to the type of magnetic coupling in the system.
In lanthanides, magnetic 4f exchange is mediated indirectly via the conduction electrons (Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida [more...]