However, research in the field of spintronics and nanoelectronics is anything but simple. To gain an in-depth understanding of the underlying effects and to subsequently control them, customised materials must be designed and examined at the nano level. This requires extremely precise and time-consuming experiments, simulations and new theories.

Things also get exciting when spintronics is merged with other novel approaches in the field of electronics. And that’s exactly what is happening at MLU. For example, the researchers are combining spintronics with superconductivity, where current flows without electrical resistance. Here and in many other areas of spintronics and nanoelectronics, chirality plays a central role. An object can be described as “chiral” if it is distinguishable from its mirror image. The human hands are a good example of this; the left and right hand are similar but not identical. Chirality is a fundamental principle in nature down to the level of elementary particles and can give objects intrinsic stability as well as many other properties.

Georg Woltersdorf submitted the proposal for the “Center for Chiral Electronics” together with researchers from Halle, Berlin and Regensburg. “We’re conducting basic research at the nanoscale with the aim of unlocking new potential for applications in electronics. For example, combining spintronics and superconductivity through chirality offers an enormous potential”, says Woltersdorf. This is a highly ambitious and promising research programme, as shown by a recent success: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg has made it to the Excellence Strategy finals as part of a joint application for a “Center for Chiral Electronics” submitted in cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Regensburg and the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics. If the application is successful, the cluster will receive up to 70 million euros over seven years starting in 2026.

Despite its rather small size with only 15 professorships, it is no coincidence that the Institute of Physics at the University of Halle has emerged as an international leader in the field of solid-state physics. The physicists’ research forms part of the university’s core research area on “Materials Science – Nanostructured Materials”, which deals with the development of novel materials and innovative measurement methods.

The MLU can look back on a long history in this field and has received regular funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 1996 in the form of Collaborative Research Centres and Research Units. In the early 2000s, the opportunity arose to further enhance the Institute of Physics’ profile, as several professorships became vacant within a short period of time. The focus increasingly shifted to spintronics and nanoelectronics in addition to polymer physics.

Another benefit is derived from the fact that different groups often work together on research equipment, including the University’s own clean room, optics laboratories with laser systems for spectroscopy, laboratories with cryostats for transport measurements, vacuum systems for the synthesis of complex materials and layer systems. All of this is beneficial for scientific exchange and collaboration, as reflected in the funding granted to various joint projects. Thanks to these collaborative projects, strategic appointments and international research partnerships, the Institute of Physics has achieved a remarkable track record in recent years. The physicists regularly publish their research results in respected journals such as “Science”, “Nature Physics”, “Physical Review Letters” and “Nature Communications”. In addition to the large number of DFG projects, high-profile funding has also been secured from European and German authorities, including several coveted grants from the European Research Council (ERC), each of which is worth millions of euros.

In 2013, the University of Halle and the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics pulled off a special coup when Professor Stuart Parkin, the inventor of modern hard disk technology, was successfully nominated for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, the most valuable international research award in Germany. The scientist has filed for more than 120 patents and, according to “Clarivate”, is among the top 0.01 % of most cited researchers in the world. In early 2024, Parkin was awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize – worth 500 000 US dollars – from the United States National Academy of Engineering. This means that an MLU and MPI scientist can be mentioned in the same breath as the inventors of the World Wide Web, GPS technology and the lithium-ion battery.

Another example of the close and productive ties between the University of Halle and the Max Planck Institute can be found in the “Max Planck Fellowships”, a programme where the Max Planck Society promotes cooperation between its institutes and outstanding researchers at universities. The fellows initially receive 500 000 euros for five years, and this funding can be extended once. The Institute of Physics has appointed three researchers to the programme since 2007: Professor Ingrid Mertig, Professor Wolf Widdra and, since 2020, Professor Georg Woltersdorf.

The Institute of Physics at the University of Halle has also become a sought-after location for researchers from all over the world and constantly attracts top-class researchers with the support of organisations such as the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Professor Albert Fert (Nobel Prize in Physics) spent several research stays at the University of Halle in 2015. The researchers at the Institute of Physics want to continue this success story while ensuring that their findings find their way into practice in the coming years and decades. And who knows…? Perhaps in a few years, the latest hard disks and computer chips will contain a piece of MLU’s research.