People

Andrea Cavalleri

Director Condensed Matter Department

Andrea is founding director of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter. He heads the Condensed Matter Department at the MPSD located in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL).
He's a Professor of Physics at the University of Hamburg and at the University of Oxford.

See his full bio.

Hamburg → Contact
Bldg. 99, Rm. 02.079, Phone:-5354
andrea.cavalleri@mpsd.mpg.de

→ Andrea's selected publications

Michael Först

Michael investigates nonlinear phononics in the solid state, that is the anharmonic response of the crystal lattice to resonant phonon excitation by intense mid-infrared and terahertz light pulses. His research aims to contribute to the understanding of ultrafast lattice-driven phenomena in correlated electron systems, such as insulator-metal transitions, control of magnetic order, or light-induced superconductivity in high-T_C cuprates. Michael exploits ultrafast hard and soft X-ray diffraction at free electron lasers, as well as table-top ultrafast linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy. In addition, he develops new schemes for the generation and shaping of waveform-stable intense pulses at mid-infrared and THz frequencies.

Bldg. 99, Rm. 02.071, Phone: -5360
michael.foerst@mpsd.mpg.de
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Michael Fechner

Michael's research explores the interactions and dynamics within multifunctional materials using computational methods. In particular, he focuses on materials that exhibit a complex interplay of structure, charge and spin degrees of freedom. The aim of his research is to develop formalisms that explain and describe light induced materials properties.

Bldg. 99, Rm. 02.059; Phone: - 6625
michael.fechner@mpsd.mpg.de
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James McIver

James is interested in using coherent light-matter interactions as a means of manipulating the topological order of materials. To this end, he is investigating how light can be used to drive topological phase transitions in various materials by coupling to the lattice and electronic degrees of freedom.

Bldg. 99, Rm. 02.069, Phone: -6208
james.mciver@mpsd.mpg.de

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Daniele Nicoletti

Daniele studies the coherent control of complex materials using strong laser fields at Terahertz frequencies. He is mainly performing experiments on the control of superconductivity in high-Tc cuprates and organic molecular solids, but his interests extend more generally to the coherently excited many-body dynamics in strongly-correlated systems. He is combining the use of intense Terahertz pump pulses (generated with both table-top sources and Free-Electron Lasers) with different probing techniques, including time-resolved THz spectroscopy and femtosecond X-ray diffraction.

Bldg. 99, Rm. 02.061, Phone: -6208
daniele.nicoletti@mpsd.mpg.de
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