An international team of physicists led by the University of Oldenburg has demonstrated an ultra-fast switching process that could be used in optical components in the future. The light switch consists of extremely thin semiconductor layers.

Significantly more heat is transferred between objects that are in very close proximity than physics theory predicts. A team from the university has confirmed this phenomenon, reporting their findings in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Whether in solar cells or in the eye: when molecules absorb light, they trigger complex processes. An international research team led by the Ultrafast Nano-Optics working group has observed how the very first moments of this process unfold.

The rapid movements of electrons in solids or molecules can be analysed much more easily than before thanks to a development by researchers in Oldenburg. The team presents the new method in the journal Optica.

The team’s detection method, which identified 138 space rocks ranging from bus- to stadium-sized, could aid in tracking potential asteroid impactors. A physics student from Oldenburg was involved in the study.

Using shaped laser pulses in the extremely high energy range, researchers have succeeded in manipulating helium atoms. Oldenburg physicist Matthias Wollenhaupt was involved in the study. 

Physicist Christian Schneider has been awarded one of the European Research Council's coveted Consolidator Grants. His project focuses on a special group of so-called two-dimensional materials and their optical properties.

The properties of complex crystal surfaces can be calculated automatically using a new method. This could speed up the search for suitable materials for solar cells or batteries, report physicists Caterina Cocchi and Holger-Dietrich Saßnick.

How to design experiments for students based on current research in physics? In a joint project, Oldenburg researchers are helping a team from the University of Zakho in Iraq to develop new concepts.

This year's Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for breakthroughs in the field of attosecond physics. The new methods are also being used in Oldenburg – thanks, not least, to a direct connection to Nobel Prize laureate Anne L'Huillier.

Curious inventions have almost become a tradition in the Physical Measurement Technology lecture. With unusual devices and absurd ideas, students prove that they have understood how sensors work and what they can do.

Take a look at the stars - the "Tiny Observatory" mobile observatory makes it possible. This unusual project offers do-it-yourself astronomy with the help of two telescopes and modern technology.

Experimental physicist Ana Predojević from Stockholm is currently a Helene Lange Visiting Professor at the University of Oldenburg. The renowned researcher is one of very few women in one of the most interesting fields in physics.

Astronomy is both complex research and a fascinating hobby for many people. In order to combine astronomical science with regional astronomical education, partners from the region have founded a network.

Special light sources are needed to transmit information securely in quantum networks. Researchers from Oldenburg are involved in two projects in which these novel emitters are being developed.

Improved computer models are needed to build larger wind turbines and to manage wind farms more efficiently. A new research project led by wind physicist Laura Lukassen paves the way for faster innovation – with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
 

How does a gift cross a river without a boat or bridge? With this question, two FWJ students of physics didactics got around 150 physics-loving children and young people puzzling.

When crystals consist of only a single layer, they often exhibit strange properties. The Quantum Materials working group makes the two-dimensional semiconductors glow - a first step towards future, tiny laser light sources.

Physicist Jan Vogelsang has been accepted into the renowned Emmy Noether Programme run by the German Research Foundation. Vogelsang can now establish his own junior research group.

Physicist Martin Esmann has been awarded a "Carl von Ossietzky Young Researchers' Fellowship" by the university for his research. The researcher is investigating vibrations in solids.