Georg Woltersdorf reappointed as Max-Planck-Fellow
Woltersdorf will head the "Magnetic Microscopy and Spin Dynamics" Fellow Group at the Max Planck Institute until the end of 2029. The research aims to create the basis for future applications in information storage and processing.
"The extension of the Max Planck Fellowship provides an ideal opportunities for us to work on ultrafast dynamic processes in spintronic materials. This not only strengthens the cooperation between the Max Planck Institute in Halle and the Martin Luther University, but also our position in the international research landscape," says Prof. Dr. Georg Woltersdorf.
Innovative materials and nanostructures for spintronics are a central research topic of his research group at the Max Planck Institute "Magnetic Microscopy and Spin Dynamics". In addition to the electrical charge, this also uses the so-called spin, an intrinsic angular momentum of electrons. The results of this research should create the basis for highly energy-efficient and extremely fast logic components and information storage devices.
Since the start of funding in 2020, the combination of institute and university has proven to be extremely effective: "Our MLU group contributes expertise in magneto-optics, ultrafast spectroscopy, and optical microscopy. This ideally complements the world-leading spintronic materials and nanostructures that are developed and studied in the Nano-Systems from Ions, Spins and Electrons (NISE) department at the Institute of Microstructure Physics," says Woltersdorf. The team is also collaborating on a joint project in the Collaborative Research Center TRR 227 "Ultrafast Spin Dynamics", which MLU runs with the Freie Universität Berlin. In addition, the researchers have already published several studies on chiral spintronics and - together with the Free University of Berlin and the University of Regensburg - submitted an application for a Cluster of Excellence entitled "Center for Chiral Electronics". This has made it to the final round of the Excellence Strategy. The final decision on funding will be made in May 2025.
The aim of further joint research by the Max Planck Institute and Martin Luther University is to gain a better understanding of spin transport in layered systems made of various metals and ferromagnets and make these more efficient. For example, the team is investigating how spin current can be converted into charge current or how magnetic domains can be moved particularly efficiently and quickly. Recently, the group developed an opto-electrical method to observe magnetization with a spatial resolution of around 70 nanometres. The aim is to gain new insights into an improved understanding of the nanoscale spin dynamics of new materials.
Georg Woltersdorf was appointed to MLU in 2013 and works in optics and magnetism. He is deputy spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center TRR 227 "Ultrafast Spin Dynamics", which was founded in 2018 together with Freie Universität Berlin. He is the author and co-author of more than 125 scientific publications, including in renowned journals such as "Science", "Nature Physics" and "Physical Review Letters". He has been a Max Planck Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle since 2020.
About the Max Planck Fellow Program
The "Max Planck Fellows" program promotes collaboration between universities and Max Planck Institutes by appointing outstanding scientists to lead a small research group at a Max Planck Institute. The appointment is initially limited to five years with funding of generally 100,000 euros per year. There is the option of a one-off extension of five years with financial support of 40,000 euros per year. A total of around 80 Fellows are currently active at the Max Planck Institutes.
