Welcome to ctd.qmat 

A Würzburg-based research team from the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat has developed a new type of tiny electronic component modeled on the human brain. The findings show that a single material platform can combine several functions — from switching and storage to learning-like behavior. This opens up new possibilities for energy-efficient hardware, including applications in artificial intelligence. The study was recently published in Nature Communications.

Laëtitia Farinacci assembles atomic building blocks in ways that give rise to previously unknown properties. An internationally recognized expert in magnetism at the atomic level, she took up the Edna Carter Professorship in Solid-State Physics in Würzburg.

Sebastian Klembt explores how light can be guided in ways that make it behave with a robustness similar to that of electrons in quantum materials with special properties. His pioneering work on topological lasers and novel light–matter states has made him one of the leading international figures in topological photonics.

Birds in flocks, bacteria, cells: in many collective systems, individual elements respond to only part of their surroundings, seemingly defying Newton’s third law of motion — action equals reaction. A Dresden physics team has now developed a theory that makes it possible to describe these interactions efficiently and simulate them far more precisely. The findings have been published in Nature Physics.

On May 21, 2026, the Würzburg–Dresden Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat – Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Materials – will launch its new Grete Hermann Career Forge program with a kick-off meeting. This professional development program has been specifically designed for early-career women researchers pursuing an academic career. Five candidates have been selected for the first round of participants from a large pool of applicants.

A Dresden-based research team from the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat has discovered a novel transport phenomenon. They found that luminescent quasiparticles can be carried along by magnetic excitations known as spin waves and even accelerated to ultrahigh speeds. This holds promise for future magneto-optical applications. The findings have been published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Crystals, bacterial colonies, flame fronts: the growth of surfaces was first described in the 1980s by the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation. Now—forty years later—a Würzburg-based research team from the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat has achieved the first experimental demonstration of KPZ behavior on 2D surfaces in space and time. The results have been published in Science.

Researchers at the Würzburg site of the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat have successfully transferred the topological quantum Hall and spin Hall effects to a hybrid light–matter system using targeted material design.