The Söllerhaus-Workshop 2026 from the 13th to the 19th of March 2026 of the 2nd Institute of Physics A , B and C focusing on interesting (partly cross-sectional) topics was great fun with many interesting talks and discussions, skiing and slippery snow hiking.

Roxana Anghel won one of the three poster prizes at the IWEPNM Winterschool in Kirchberg with her poster on "Asymmetric electron-hole double quantum dots in bilayer graphene". Congratulations!

Nano Letters 26, 2119 (2026)
We report low-temperature measurements of two adjacent, gate-defined Josephson junctions (JJs) in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) at a moiré filling factor near ν = -2. We show that both junctions exhibit a prominent, gate-tunable Josephson diode effect, which we explain by a combination of large kinetic inductance and non-uniform supercurrent distribution. Despite their proximity, the JJs display differences in their interference patterns and different diode behavior, underscoring that microscopic inhomogeneities such as twist angle variations shape the non-uniform supercurrent and drive the diode behavior. As a result, the nonreciprocal supercurrent can be tuned by gate voltage, enabling tuning of the diode efficiency and even reversing the polarity at fixed magnetic fields. Our findings offer potential routes for tailoring Josephson diode performance in superconducting quantum circuits.

Our phyphox team has received the RWTH Aachen Special Teaching Award in recognition of the impact and meaning of the physics teaching app phyphox.

You can find more details in the official RWTH article “How fast does the roller coaster accelerate? Your smartphone knows.”

Sebastian Staacks has been awarded the Physics Teaching Award for Supporting Teaching 2026 by the Fachschaft Physik RWTH Aachen. The award recognizes his exceptional dedication to teaching in experimental physics, his strong motivation, and his unwavering commitment to student learning at RWTH Aachen University. We congratulate Sebastian on this well-deserved award!

The Profile Area Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) of RWTH Aachen University supports the 38th International Winterschool on Electronic Properties of Novel Materials (IWEPNM). The winter school will take place from February 28 to March 6, 2026, in Kirchberg/Tirol, Austria, bringing together leading researchers and young scientists to discuss recent advances in the electronic properties of novel materials.

2D Materials 13, 015025 (2025)
A spin lifetime anisotropy between in-plane and out-of-plane spins in bilayer graphene (BLG) can be achieved by spin-orbit proximity coupling of graphene to transition metal dichalcogenides. This coupling reduces the in- plane spin lifetime due to proximity-induced spin scattering, while the out-of-plane spin lifetime remains largely unaffected. We show that at room temperature spin lifetime anisotropy exceeds 60 in a bilayer graphene lateral spin valve proximity coupled to WSe₂. The out-of-plane spin lifetime of about 250 ps closely matches that of a BLG reference region not in contact with WSe₂. In contrast, the estimated in-plane spin lifetime of less than 4 ps leads to a complete suppression of the in-plane spin signal measured at the ferromagnetic Co/MgO spin detector. The proximity coupling of WSe₂ to BLG is particularly promising, as it does not compromise the charge carrier mobility within the graphene channel.

A great start to 2026! On Monday, 12 January 2026, Dr Alexander Rothstein successfully defended his PhD thesis. Congratulations to Dr Alexander Rothstein on this great achievement! Many thanks also go to the entire team for the fantastic 'Doktorhut'.