News and posts

08.09.2026 – Emergent Topology and Unconventional Order in Quantum Matter – Spanish-German WE-Heraeus-Seminar

The study of quantum matter is rapidly advancing through the discovery of emergent phenomena arising from the interplay of topology, electronic correlations, and symmetry breaking. New material platforms—such as twisted van der Waals systems, kagome metals, and compensated magnets—have revealed unconventional phases including correlated insulators, nematicity, altermagnetism, and unconventional superconductivity. Together with major experimental and theoretical advances, these developments open new opportunities for understanding complex quantum states and for developing future spintronic and quantum technologies. This seminar brings together leading German and Spanish researchers to explore these emerging directions and foster new collaborations.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

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01.09.2026 – Elastically Driven Phases and Dynamics in Quantum Materials

The interplay between electronic and lattice degrees of freedom in quantum materials gives rise to a wealth of novel phenomena, from unconventional superconductivity to complex magnetic and nematic orders. Strain tuning has proven to be a powerful tool to manipulate these states, providing access to quantum phases and instabilities that are otherwise challenging to realize. Recent developments have highlighted the role of altermagnetic states, nematic quantum liquids, and nonlinear electron-lattice interactions in strongly correlated systems.

This conference will bring together experimentalists and theorists to explore how strain can be used to probe and control electronic and structural properties in quantum materials. Discussions will focus on the tuning of competing charge and spin orders, mechanically responsive electronic states, and emergent collective dynamics. Particular attention will be given to novel experimental approaches that enable high-precision strain control and uncover hidden aspects of quantum correlations.

By gathering leading researchers in the field, the conference aims to advance our understanding of electronic-lattice interactions and their implications for future materials design and applications.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

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07.07.2026 – Ferrons and Magnons: friends or foes?

Ferrons and Magnons: friends or foes?

Ferromagnets/Ferroelectrics are materials in which magnetic/electric dipoles spontaneously align below an often high critical temperature. Applied magnetic/electric fields switch this order in devices such as MRAM/EPROM non-volatile memories. Magneto/electro-caloric cooling applications employ the entropy changes associated with the dipolar order. Both material classes are useful in electronics as inductors/capacitors.

“Magnonics” is a subfield of magnetism that studies spin waves, the excitations of the magnetic order that are quantized into “magnons”. A community that studies polarization waves or “ferrons” in ferroelectrics does not exist yet.
This interdisciplinary workshop brings together researchers actively interested in the excitations of the magnetic and ferroelectric orders, magnons and ferrons, respectively, motivated by recent seminal experimental results that both confirm and challenge existing theories of ferron excitations.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

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09.06.2026 – Young Research Leaders Group Workshop: Transport and transfer of angular momentum: magnons, chiral phonons and beyond

Young Research Leaders Group Workshop: Transport and transfer of angular momentum: magnons, chiral phonons and beyond

The manipulation of angular momentum (AM) has been a cornerstone of the field of spintronics. Where initial developments were focussed on electrically driven spin currents, in recent years the field of spintronics has been broadened to include a wide family of quasiparticles: magnons, orbitals, photons, and phonons. This diversity provides a broad and promising platform for investigating the mechanisms of AM transport and exchange, as well as realizing functional devices. In this workshop, we aim to connect these different fields, to develop new insights in how to effectively transport and transfer angular momentum.

This workshop will bring together experimental and theoretical perspectives to examine recent advances in the manipulation and detection of angular momentum. Through presentations and open discussion, we will explore emerging approaches, identify key challenges, and outline potential directions for future research.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

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On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 07.10.2026 - 15:00 CET

Superconductivity in graphene stacks

Francisco Guinea, IMDEA

The phase diagram of multilayer graphene stacks has become a very active research topic in recent times. These systems show a complex behavior, including apparently incompatible features, like superconductivity and magnetism. These multilayers also provide a route to very flat electronic bands, alternative to the ones already observed in twisted stacks. Recent experimental and theoretical research on rhombohedral graphene stacks will be presented, with emphasis on novel phases and anomalous behavior not commonly found in other systems.

 

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On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 11.11.2026 - 15:00 CEST

Field theory of three-sublattice antiferromagnets

Oleg Tchernyshyov, Johns Hopkins University

Non-collinear antiferromagnets such as Mn₃Sn and Mn₃Ge have three magnetic sublattices, and their order parameter is not a vector but a rigid body: an orthonormal spin frame built from the sublattice magnetizations. Its continuum description resembles the elasticity of a hexagonal solid and is governed by a handful of universal constants. I will illustrate this framework along two lines.

The first is the mechanics of the rigid body. A pulse of circularly polarized spin waves leaves the magnetic order rotated behind it by a geometric angle, with the mechanics of a wobbling coin, which suggests a way to control antiferromagnetic order with magnons rather than currents or fields.

The second is topology. The theory admits topological terms that are silent in the bulk but not at boundaries. One produces helical magnon edge modes without any spin-orbit coupling. Another gives a domain wall a spin degree of freedom familiar from the antiferromagnetic spin chain.

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19.05.2026 – Quantum materials and quantum information science

Quantum materials and quantum information science

Quantum materials and quantum information science are rapidly growing frontiers of modern fundamental physics. In quantum materials, recent studies have uncovered a wide array of macroscopic quantum phases, including unconventional superconductivity, Wigner insulators, orbital magnetism and topological orders. These phases are manifestation of spontaneous quantum coherence and entanglement between many electrons in the solids. Meanwhile, quantum information science has witnessed remarkable breakthroughs in quantum computing and quantum sensing across various physical platforms. Despite their rapid progress, the two fields have largely developed independently, suggesting exciting opportunities for synergy. Can we use qubits as novel probes to measure long-range many-body quantum entanglement in solids? Can we harness the collective quantum coherence and entanglement of correlated phases to design new types of qubits or quantum sensors? By bringing together leading experts from both communities, this workshop aims to explore the interface between quantum materials and quantum information science, fostering transformative ideas to address some of the most pressing open questions in both fields.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

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12.05.2026 – Unconventional Superconductors and Magnets

Unconventional Superconductors and Magnets

Unconventional superconductors are materials that exhibit superconductivity beyond the framework of BCS or Migdal–Eliashberg theories, often characterized by novel broken symmetries in addition to the usual U(1) gauge symmetry breaking. A parallel development has recently emerged in magnetism with the discovery of altermagnets—materials with collinear but compensated magnetic order that defy classification as either conventional ferromagnets or antiferromagnets. Together, these phenomena highlight some of the most exciting frontiers in quantum materials research, offering both fundamental challenges and promising pathways toward future quantum technologies.

This workshop will bring together leading experimentalists and theorists to discuss the latest developments in unconventional superconductors and magnets across a broad range of materials platforms. Topics will span the synthesis and discovery of new superconducting and magnetic systems, strategies for designing, manipulating, and amplifying the desired orders, and the development of next-generation experimental probes and theoretical frameworks. By fostering open dialogue between communities, the workshop aims to identify unifying principles, sharpen key scientific questions and accelerate progress in understanding and controlling these remarkable states of matter.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

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On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 18.02.2026 - 15:00 CET

Emergent altermagnetism at surfaces of antiferromagnets

Alexander Mook, University of Münster

We demonstrate the emergence of altermagnetism at the surfaces of antiferromagnets, vastly expanding the number of material candidates with altermagnetic characteristics and establishing a route to two-dimensional altermagnetism through surface-induced symmetry breaking [1]. We do so by developing a surface spin group formalism that fully classifies all surface magnetic states and identifies altermagnetic surface spin groups that can arise at the surfaces of antiferromagnets. We use this formalism to identify over 140 antiferromagnetic entries from the MAGNDATA database with at least one altermagnetic surface, often times with multiple such surfaces in the same material. We illustrate this emergent phenomenon in a realistic Lieb lattice-based minimal model and present ab initio calculations on two representative material candidates, NaMnP and FeGe.

References:

[1] Colin Lange, Rodrigo Jaeschke-Ubiergo, Atasi Chakraborty, Xanthe H. Verbeek, Libor Šmejkal, Jairo Sinova, Alexander Mook, arXiv:2602.08773 (2026)

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PDF file of the talk available here

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On-line SPICE-SPIN+X Seminars

On-line Seminar: 21.01.2026 - 15:00 CET

Orbital-to-spin conversion in magnetic heterostructures

Pietro Gambardella, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Spin-orbital torques are central to spintronics, enabling current-induced magnetization switching, excitation of spin waves, and manipulation of noncollinear spin textures in nanoscale devices [1]. Besides the electron’s spin, recent investigations have pointed out the importance of the orbital degree of freedom in generating and transferring angular momentum from charge currents to spin systems. The generation and transport mechanisms of nonequilibrium orbital momenta are currently heavily debated. This talk will discuss the related issue of orbital-to-spin conversion, which is relevant for orbital transport, torques, and pumping phenomena. Experimental examples will include nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic bilayers [2,3], ferrimagnetic alloys [4] and garnets [5], and antiferromagnets [6].

References:

[1] Current-induced spin-orbit torques in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems, A. Manchon, J. Železný, I.M. Miron, T. Jungwirth, J. Sinova, A. Thiaville, K. Garello, and P. Gambardella, Rev. Mod. Phys. 91, 035004 (2019).

[2] Giant orbital Hall effect and orbital-to-spin conversion in 3d, 5d, and 4f metallic heterostructures, G. Sala and P. Gambardella, Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 033037 (2022).

[3] Mitigation of Gilbert damping in the CoFe/CuOx orbital torque system, S. Ding, H. Wang, W. Legrand, P. Noël, and P. Gambardella, Nano Lett. 24, 10251 (2024).

[4] Orbital Torque in Rare-Earth Transition-Metal Ferrimagnets, S. Ding, M.-G. Kang, W. Legrand, and P. Gambardella, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 236702 (2024).

[5] Orbital pumping in ferrimagnetic insulators, H.Wang, M.-G. Kang, D. Petrosyan, S. Ding, R. Schlitz, L.J. Riddiford, W. Legrand, and P. Gambardella, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 126701 (2025).

[6] Generation, transmission, and conversion of orbital torque by an antiferromagnetic insulator, S. Ding, P. Noël, G. K. Krishnaswamy, N. Davitti, G. Sala, M. Fantauzzi, A. Rossi, P. Gambardella, Nat. Comm. 16, 9239 (2025).

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PDF file of the talk available here