PD Dr. habil. Friedrich Roth
Group Leader
Institute of Experimental Physics
Department 'Structure research with XFEL and synchrotron radiation'
Leipziger Straße 23
D-09599 Freiberg
+49 3731 39 1524
friedrich [dot] roth [at] physik [dot] tu-freiberg [dot] de (friedrich[dot]roth[at]physik[dot]tu-freiberg[dot]de)
Winklerstraße 5, 09599 Freiberg
ZeHS, Rm. 3.115
RESEARCH PROFILE
From excitation to function
What determines whether a photoexcited electron survives long enough to perform useful work — to generate a photocurrent, activate a molecule or drive a catalytic reaction — rather than losing its energy as heat?
My research connects the electronic structure of surfaces and interfaces with their ultrafast response. I develop and apply time-resolved photoelectron and X-ray spectroscopy at synchrotrons and free-electron lasers to resolve where charge moves, how long it remains separated and how defects, screening and structural motion shape the outcome.
Ultrafast charge transfer
Femtosecond-to-picosecond views of charge injection, trapping and recombination
Functional interfaces
Molecular, semiconductor, 2D and nanostructured systems for energy conversion
Advanced X-ray methods
Element-, time-, energy-, and momentum-resolved spectroscopy at large facilities
METHODS & EXPERTISE
Measuring dynamics across time, energy, and momentum
Time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Optical-pump / X-ray-probe spectroscopy
In situ and near-ambient-pressure XPS and XAS
Momentum microscopy and multidimensional data analysis
PES, ARPES, UPS, HAXPES, and XAS
UHV sample preparation and thin-film growth
INVITED TALKS
SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGE
Lectures, seminars, and conference invitations
From facility workshops to international conferences, these talks trace the development of a research programme in ultrafast interface dynamics
UPCOMING - FORTHCOMING INVITED TALK
December 2026
Watching Solar Energy Conversion: A New High-Throughput Picosecond Time-Resolved XPS Capability at BESSY II
October 2026
From Sunlight to Energy Conversion: Time-Resolved X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy of Ultrafast Interfacial Dynamics
September 2026
Bridging Synchrotrons and Free-Electron Lasers: WESPE as a Multi-Facility Platform for Time-Resolved XPS
PUBLICATIONS
RESEARCH OUTPUT
Selected work and complete archive
2026
Femtosecond concerted rotation of molecules on a 2D material interface
2025
Recoil effects in high energy photoemission of solids − Revisited
2024
Insights into the laser-assisted photoelectric effect from solid-state surfaces
2024Dynamical nonlinear inversion of the surface photovoltage at Si(100)
2021
Direct observation of charge separation in an organic light harvesting system by femtosecond time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
2019
Efficient Charge Generation from Triplet Excitons in Metal-Organic Heterojunctions
All peer-reviewed publications
2026
73. Interfacial Hole Doping of Fullerenes Enabled by α-RuCl3
E. Tikhodeeva, D. Potorochin, O. Molodtsova, V. Aristov, A. Makarova, M. Stapf, M. Knupfer, A. Koitzsch, E. Vinokurova, S. Molodtsov, W. Eberhardt, and F. Roth
in preparation
72. Human hair keratin connection to evolutionary ancient spongin of marine keratosan sponges
H. Ehrlich, P. Simon, T. Buchwald, M. Szybowicz, J. Litowczenko, A. Voronkina, E. Borchert, U. Hentschel, A. Ereskovsky, K. Skieresz-Szewczyk, H. Jackowiak, A. Springer, F. Roth, D. Potorochin, F. Porzucek, M. Mańkowska, J. Dalibor Rybka, Ł. Marczak, M. Wozniak-Budych, H. Pietrykowska, M. Sypka, I. Jodłowska, A. M. Białkowska, E. Brendler, R. Galli, P. Paluch, T. Pawlak, M. J. Potrzebowski, Z. Buchwald, M. Sandomierski, A. Szczurek, M. V. Tsurkan, E. Sitkiewicz, C. Viehweger, C. Vogt, K. Tabachnik, T. Jesionowski, W. Lu, and M. J. Buehler
Nat. Commun., submitted
71. Quantized Multi-Electron Transfer in a Plasmonic Heterojunction
Z. Donnellan, C. Mora Perez, K. Fung Lai, S. D. Perera, L. Hoffmann, M. Stapf, D. Potorochin, D. M. Glenna, Y. Joseph, L. Wenthaus, D. Kutnyakhov, N. Wind, S. Dziarzhytski, F. Pressacco, D. M. Neumark, W. Eberhardt, S. Molodtsov, F. Roth, J. Qian, and O. Gessner
Science, submitted
70. Chlorine-Driven Modifications of TiO2 Layers: Effects of Chlorine Gas and Plasma Treatments on Morphology, Silicon Passivation, and Contact Performance
P. Häussermann, F. Roth, and D. Hiller
ACS Applied Energy Materials, submitted
69. Nanoarchitectonics of centimeter-sized 3D multiphase carbon constructs created via carbonization of the sustainable biomaterial spongin at 2200°C
M. Kotula, F. Roth, P. Simon, W. Carrillo-Cabrera, D. Potorochin, A. Makarova, R. Galli, E. Brendler, V. M. Gun’ko, I. Iatsunskyi, W. Kukułka, A. Martyła, R. Przekop, M. Kuznowicz, P. Krawczyk, A. Szczurek, D. Vyalikh, A. Springer, T. Jesionowski, and H. Ehrlich
68. Femtosecond concerted rotation of molecules on a 2D material interface
K. Baumgärtner, M. Nozaki, M. Reuner, N. Wind, M. Haniuda, C. Metzger, M. Heber, D. Kutnyakhov, F. Pressacco, L. Wenthaus, K. Hara, K. Chordiya, C.-H. Min, M. Beye, F. Reinert, F. Roth, S. K. Mahatha, A. Madsen, T. Wehling, K. Niki, D. Popova-Gorelova, K. Rossnagel, and M. Scholz
2025
67. Recoil effects in high energy photoemission of solids - revisited
F. Roth, D. Potorochin, A. Gloskovskii, C. Schlueter, L. Wenthaus, S. Molodtsov, W. Drube, and W. Eberhardt
66. Resource-efficient electrodes with metallized woven-glass-grid current collectors for lithium-ion batteries
Y.-M. Li, M. Momeni, H. N. D. Duc, S. von Bahder, F. Roth, W. Münchgesang, M. Danziger, W. Voitus, D. Nuss, C. Sennewald, and T. Leisegang
