New Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at HZB

Felix Büttner has set up a holography chamber at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Felix Büttner has set up a holography chamber at Brookhaven National Laboratory. © privat

Dr. Felix Büttner will establish a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group (YIG) on topological solitons at the HZB beginning in March 2020. Topological solitons occur in magnetic quantum materials and can contribute to extremely energy-efficient switching processes. Büttner wants to develop a new imaging technique at BESSY II to study these quasi-particles.

Dr. Felix Büttner has received funding from the Helmholtz Association following a tough selection process. He will now build up his own research group, a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group (YIG).

Until now, he was doing research as a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, USA.  Büttner has already distinguished himself with numerous publications in the field of magnetic quantum materials.

At the HZB, he wants to develop a new high-resolution technique at the BESSY II synchrotron source that will enable the imaging of complex magnetic structures under realistic conditions at room temperature.

He will focus on antiferromagnetic topological solitons that occur in certain materials and are considered important candidates for extremely energy-efficient data storage. “There has been little progress in antiferromagnetic soliton research so far due to a lack of high-resolution imaging techniques that can detect antiferromagnetic topological solitons in actual devices”, Büttner explains and adds: “The HZB offers high-tech facilities and expertise in all these areas, making it the perfect place for this ambitious project.

arö

  • Copy link

You might also be interested in

  • What Zinc concentration in teeth reveals
    Science Highlight
    19.02.2026
    What Zinc concentration in teeth reveals
    Teeth are composites of mineral and protein, with a bulk of bony dentin that is highly porous. This structure is allows teeth to be both strong and sensitive. Besides calcium and phosphate, teeth contain trace elements such as zinc. Using complementary microscopy imaging techniques, a team from Charité Berlin, TU Berlin and HZB has quantified the distribution of natural zinc along and across teeth in 3 dimensions. The team found that, as porosity in dentine increases towards the pulp, zinc concentration increases 5~10 fold. These results help to understand the influence of widely-used zinc-containing biomaterials (e.g. filling) and could inspire improvements in dental medicine.
  • Fascinating archaeological find becomes a source of knowledge
    News
    12.02.2026
    Fascinating archaeological find becomes a source of knowledge
    The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (BLfD) has sent a rare artefact from the Middle Bronze Age to Berlin for examination using cutting-edge, non-destructive methods. It is a 3,400-year-old bronze sword, unearthed during archaeological excavations in Nördlingen, Swabia, in 2023. Experts have been able to determine how the hilt and blade are connected, as well as how the rare and well-preserved decorations on the pommel were made. This has provided valuable insight into the craft techniques employed in southern Germany during the Bronze Age. The BLfD used 3D computed tomography and X-ray diffraction to analyse internal stresses at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), as well as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at a BESSY II beamline supervised by the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM).
  • Element cobalt exhibits surprising properties
    Science Highlight
    11.02.2026
    Element cobalt exhibits surprising properties
    The element cobalt is considered a typical ferromagnet with no further secrets. However, an international team led by HZB researcher Dr. Jaime Sánchez-Barriga has now uncovered complex topological features in its electronic structure. Spin-resolved measurements of the band structure (spin-ARPES) at BESSY II revealed entangled energy bands that cross each other along extended paths in specific crystallographic directions, even at room temperature. As a result, cobalt can be considered as a highly tunable and unexpectedly rich topological platform, opening new perspectives for exploiting magnetic topological states in future information technologies.