head of department: Dr. Sabine Wurmehl
room D2E.13 Phone: +49 351 4659 519 email
The pursuit of novel materials with emergent properties drives fundamental knowledge and technological advancements. Researchers from material science, solid-state chemistry, and physics collaborate to understand the intricate relationships between local composition, crystallographic structure, and microstructure in multifunctional materials.
A key aspect of our research is elucidating the mechanisms governing phase formation in response to external stimuli such as temperature, atmosphere, pressure, cooling rate, and material composition. By selectively modifying these experimental parameters we are able to tune specific functionalities in our samples.
The development or modification of growth methods may be necessary to synthesize materials with targeted properties in poly- or single-crystalline form. We explore the driving forces for a certain phenomenon and/or functionality by probing the structure-property relationships also in cooperation with partners.
Relevant materials may comprise but are not limited to (i) Heusler compounds as representatives for intermetallic materials with a myriad of different functionalities (ii) (Fe-based) unconventional superconductors (iii) magnetically frustrated systems where frustration may arise either from geometrical constraints or from competing interactions as found, e.g., in 3d-5d double perovskite and related structures (iv) shandites as candidates for being kagome semimetals (v) mixed anion compounds that may show, e.g., altermagnetic properties.
Ultimately, our research aims to synthesize samples that converge to targeted properties. Their study gives us a deep understanding of specific phenomena and guides us towards the design of novel materials.
we welcome four new colleagues:
Merve Keles, Catherine Witteveen, L.M. Vargas Sallas and Jerin Abraham George.
we are very happy to have you in the team!
project "Search for kagome Weyl type III semimetals" jointly with Bernd Büchner, Dima Efremov and Alexander Kordyuk funded by DFG
Topologically non-trivial semimetals are currently at the forefront of research in condensed matter physics, not only because of their unusual properties, but also because of their potential applications in a new generation of electronics for quantum computing and spintronics. The objective of our project is to explore Weyl III semimetal by striving to unveil and validate the first Weyl III semimetals by an international team from Dresden and Kiev. We focus on the exploration of less or not at all explored Co-based shandites as candidates for being kagome semimetals.
Crystal structure, magnetic properties, and DFT study of the two series
RPdIn1-xAlx (R = Pr, Nd; x=0–1) with ZrNiAl type structure
M. Horiacha, V.V. Romaka, O. Kots, O. Pavlosiuk, G. Nychyporuk, V. Zaremba, S. Wurmehl
J. Alloys and Compds 1049, 185388 (2025)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.185388
Material design toward a thermodynamically stable Co-Cr-Fe-Al Heusler-type phase
A. Omar, F. Börrnert, M. Richter, J. Trinckauf, F. Heinsch, C. G. F. Blum, V. Romaka,
S. Rodan, F. Steckel, M. Haft, S. Hampel, S. Beckert, A. Thomas, C. Hess, A.U.B. Wolter,
W. Löser, B. Büchner, S. Wurmehl
APL Mater. 13, 051118 (2025)
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0268257
On the growth and characterization of SmOFe1−𝑥Co𝑥As single crystals
F. Anger, M.-I. Sturza, R. Firouzmandi, V. Kocsis, A. U.B. Wolter-Giraud, B. Büchner, S. Wurmehl
J. Cryst. Growth 627, 127473 (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2023.127473
Phase transformation in Mn3Ga considering different degrees of deformation
Gloria Kirste, Jens Freudenberger, Sabine Wurmehl
Acta Materialia 258, 119205 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119205
Anomalous Hall effect and magnetoresistance in microribbons of the magnetic Weyl semimetal candidate PrRhC2
M. Martini, H. Reichlova, L.T. Corredor, D. Kriegner, Y. Lee, L. Tomarchio, K. Nielsch, A.G. Moghaddam, J. van den Brink, B. Büchner, S. Wurmehl, V.Romaka, A. Thomas
Phys. Rev. Materials 7, 104205 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.104205
Flux Growth and Characterization of Bulk InVO4 Crystals
O. Voloshyna, M. V Gorbunov, D. Mikhailova, A. Maljuk, S. Seiro, B. Büchner
Crystals 13, 1439 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13101439
Magnetic structure of the swedenborgite compound CaBaMn2Fe2O7 derived by powder neutron diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy
N. Qureshi, R. Morrow, M. Valldor, I. Puente-Orench, P. Adler
Phys. Rev. B 106, 144428 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.144428
current projects
DFG project "Search for kagome Weyl type III semimetals", PL Büchner, PL Wurmehl, PL Kordyuk
DFG project "In-situ study of diffusion-controlled phase formation and grain growth in functional Heusler/perovskite materials using multimodal synchrotron-based techniques“ PL A. Guilherme Buzanich (BAM, Berlin), PL Wurmehl
SFB 1143: Correlated Magnetism: From Frustration To Topology - Synthesis, crystal growth, and phase diagrams of frustrated magnets (B01) PL Anna Wolter-Giraud (IFW), PL Wurmehl
Integrated Research Training Group (MGK) as part of SFB 1143: PL Timm, PL Kaiser, PL Wurmehl
completed projects
DFG project "Neue intermetallischen basierenden auf Seltenerdmetallen Verbindungen als Kandidaten für Realisierung des Shastry-Sutherland-Gitters" (PL Romaka)
DFG "Exploring the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) technique as tool for modern materials research" (PL Wurmehl)
BMBF UKRATOP "Topological order of electrons in solids: New materials, Phenomena & Application Concepts" (Wurmehl as participating researcher)
BMBF -ERA-RUS-NET "New Layered Intermetallic Iron-based Superconductors and Related Compounds" (coordinated by PL Wurmehl)
DFG "Rationale Synthese neuartiger niedrigdimensionaler Materialien durch Abstimmung des Fermi-Niveaus durch chemische Dotierung" (PL Sturza)
DFG-materials world network "Halbmetallischer Transport in chemisch komplexen Systemen" (PL P. Woodward and PL F.Y. Yang, both OSU, Ohio, USA; PL Wurmehl)
DFG "Tetragonal distorted Mn3-xGa Heusler compounds: Novel hardmagnetic materials without 4f electrons" (PL Wurmehl)
DFG "Synthesis and crystal growth of new and well-established iron pnictide superconductors" (PL Büchner, PL Wurmehl)
DFG "GRK 1621: Itinerant Magnetism and Superconductivity in Intermetallic Compounds" (Wurmehl as participating researcher)
DFG_Emmy- Noether-Project "Optimierte Heusler Verbindungen für die Spintronik durch Kontrolle der Struktur-Eigenschaftsbeziehungen" (PL Wurmehl)
DFG "NMR als Methode zur strukturellen Charakterisierung sowie zur Messung der Spinpolarisation halbmetallischer Ferromagnete" (PL Wurmehl, research stay at TU Eindhoven)
scientists:
Jerin Abraham George
Dr. Nico Gräßler
Anagha Jose
Mervenur Keles
Gloria Kirste
Robin Kramer
Kaustabh Kumar Panda
Dr. Wolfgang Löser
Dr. Andrej Maljuk
Dr. Ryan C. Morrow; see personal webpage
Dr. Ahmad Omar
Lhesly Mayume Vargas Sallas
Dr. Catherine Witteveen
Dr. Sabine Wurmehl, see personal wepbpage
technical staff:
Christian Blum
Robert Kluge
Chika Schlage (training)
Rowena Wachtel
in memoriam Dr. Günter Behr (former group leader)
former group members
Dr. Alexey Alfonsov
Dr. Morgan Allison
Dr. Felix Anger
Dr. Gizem Aslan-Cansever
Dr. Saicharan Aswartham
Robert Beck
Dr. Maria Eleni Belesi
Mira D.R. Brandt
Margitta Deutschmann
Dr. Tusharkanti Dey
Patrizia Fritsch
Dr. Markus Gellesch
Yasin Hacisalohoglu
Dr. Franziska Hammerath
Franziska Harder (nee Seifert)
David Hettmann
Vakula Hlushko
Dr. Myroslava Horiacha
Dr. Rhea Kappenberger
Dr. Andrii Karnak
Dr. Seunghyun Khim
Kristina Leger
Christine Malbrich
Dr. Kaustuv Manna
Stefan Marx
Dietmar Meiler
Rosemarie Müller
Sabine Müller-Litvanyi
Ivan Mershiev
Dr. Claudia Nacke
Frank Naumann
Madleen Nicklisch
Dr. Ahmad Omar
Dr. Steven Rodan
Dr. Vitaliy Romaka
Dr. Tamara Rubrecht
Dr. Miroslava Sakaliska
Dr. Silvia Seiro
Dr. Sebastian Selter
Michael Schulze
Dr. Shiv Singh
Anastasia Smerechuk
Hannes Stummer
Sebastian Storch
Dr. Mihai I. Sturza
Ilka Vicon
Dr. Michael Vogl
Oleg Volkonskyi
Dr. Olesia Voloshyna
Jochen Werner
Robert Zaunick
Andreas Zimmermann
