... stands out through an extraordinary width of different phenomena and applications, from superconductors to semiconductors, from solar cells to thermoelectrics, from single crystals to nano- and heterostructures. It is the area were most physicists work in fundamental physics and industry.
At the center we have the (solid) material. At the Institute of Solid State Physics we synthesize materials e.g. in Tetra arc furnaces or through sputtering atomic layer by atomic layer. Structure and chemical decomposition is analyzed through x-ray diffraction, electron and atomic force microscopes. Of prime interest are the physical properties from thermodynamics to spectroscopy and transport, which we study under extreme conditions such as ultra-low temperatures and high pressures. Theoretically, we calculate materials and their properties with the help of high performance computers and quantum field theory.