Quantum Research News, Quantum Physics

Max Planck Institute & Rice University map 9,000 materials for quantum states

Avatar of Ivy Delaney
September 29, 2026 by Ivy Delaney

Researchers have mapped the electronic structures of 9,000 two-dimensional materials, creating a catalog to aid the design of new quantum systems. The international collaboration identified over 1,600 candidates for “twisting,” a technique where stacking and angling layers unlocks novel electronic behaviors and potential quantum simulators.

“Every new family of twisted materials gives us a chance to ask a different question about quantum matter,” said B. Andrei Bernevig, a professor of physics at Princeton University and co-author of the studies published in Science. This work, involving scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, aims to expand quantum research beyond current material limitations.

Twistronics and New Quantum States in Layered Materials

M-point twisting emerges as a promising method for altering electronic structure, as demonstrated in recent research, and unlocking previously inaccessible physics within layered materials. The team’s work in Science highlights how manipulating the stacking angle of layers can generate entirely new electronic behaviors, expanding the toolkit for quantum material design.

This approach differs from simply discovering new materials; it focuses on engineering specific properties through precise structural control. The catalog of over 1,600 candidate materials for twisting represents a significant expansion beyond current quantum simulator platforms, offering researchers a wider range of starting points for exploring novel quantum states.

Each material presents unique growth challenges, requiring tailored conditions to realize its potential, as explained by a researcher: “Each compound asks for its own growth conditions, so we work through them one at a time.” The Max Planck Society, a German non-profit association of research institutes founded in 1948 with origins dating to 1911, is headquartered in Munich, Germany. Several Max Planck Institutes conduct quantum research, including the Institute for Quantum Optics, covering quantum physics, quantum computing, quantum materials and quantum technologies. Through initiatives like the Munich Quantum Valley, the Max Planck Society actively supports this global quantum research community, encouraging innovation in both fundamental science and practical applications.

Every new family of twisted materials gives us a chance to ask a different question about quantum matter. We want to move beyond the few platforms we know and explore the enormous range of physics that other layers and other twists could make possible.

B. Andrei Bernevig, a Princeton University professor of physics and co-author of both studies

The collaborative effort illustrates how changing the starting electronic structure opens different physics. Andrei Bernevig contributed to this work.

1,600+ Candidates Identified for Novel Quantum Simulators

More than 1,600 two-dimensional materials now stand as promising candidates for “twisting,” a technique altering electronic structure to unlock novel quantum simulator designs. This expanded pool represents a departure from current platforms, offering researchers diverse starting points for manipulating electronic behavior. The identification of these materials, detailed in a recent Science publication, builds on a larger effort mapping nearly 9,000 two-dimensional materials and their topological properties.

The team’s approach focuses on bulk crystal growth, transforming candidate lists into physical samples available for measurement by other research groups. This collaborative effort spans over a dozen institutions, combining theoretical predictions with experimental validation. Alqem AI’s 2026 collaboration specifically targets rare-earth-free magnetic materials, expanding the range of potential quantum materials beyond conventional options. Through these partnerships, the Max Planck Society supports German quantum research excellence and serves the global quantum research community.

Each compound asks for its own growth conditions, so we work through them one at a time. That is how a list of candidates becomes samples other groups can measure.

Emilia Morosan, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and co-author on the second paper
More like this
PhysicsUCF team identifies signs of altermagnetism in layered material
Quantum Research NewsHugues de Riedmatten’s ICFO team develops quantum memory
Quantum Research NewsResearchers Measure Links Between Computing Power & Sustainability
PhysicsChaotic quantum systems show universal spectral patterns
Stay current

See today’s quantum computing news on Quantum Zeitgeist for the latest breakthroughs in qubits, hardware, algorithms, and industry deals.

Tags:
Graphene materials science Princeton University Quantum Matter Quantum Simulators Rice University
Avatar of Ivy Delaney

Ivy Delaney

Ivy Delaney has been working with neural networks and machine learning since the mid-nineties, back when a couple of hidden layers and a long afternoon of training counted as ambitious. She has watched the field go from academic curiosity to the thing quietly running underneath everything, and she brings that long view to quantum computing. For Quantum Zeitgeist she covers the ground where the two fields meet. That means quantum machine learning and the variational algorithms it leans on, and it also means the less glamorous but more interesting story of classical machine learning already doing real work inside quantum machines, decoding error-correcting codes, calibrating noisy hardware and learning the error models that simulators depend on. She writes about the hardware those algorithms have to run on too, and about the post-quantum cryptography scramble that the same hardware has set off. Her stories typically start with the paper, whether that is peer-reviewed work, conference proceedings or an arXiv preprint, with the source linked so you can hold a claim up against the research it came from. She is unimpressed by benchmarks that will not say what they beat, and by demonstrations that only work in the press release.

Latest Posts by Ivy Delaney: