Scientific Highlights
Switching Off the Surface Conductivity of Strontium Titanate by Non-Volatile Organic Adsorbates
Strontium titanate is a wide band gap semiconductor. Its surface can be rendered conductive by a mild annealing in vacuum. The present study reveals that by deposition of less than a monolayer of non-volatile organic molecules such as tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) this conductivity can be completely turned off. In view of the small size of TCNQ (ca. 1 nm) this could allow new pathways toward oxide-based electronics.
The secret life of an electromagnon
SwissFEL sheds light on how lattice and atomic spins jiggle together.
Hidden magnetism uncovered in a charge ordered bilayer kagome material ScV6Sn6
Charge ordered kagome lattices have been demonstrated to be intriguing platforms for studying the intertwining of topology, correlation, and magnetism. The recently discovered charge ordered kagome material ScV6Sn6 does not feature a magnetic groundstate or excitations, thus it is often regarded as a conventional paramagnet. Here, using advanced muon-spin rotation spectroscopy, we uncover an unexpected hidden magnetism of the charge order. We observe an enhancement ...
Microstructural control of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V
In-situ Selective Laser Heat treatment is applied to induce martensite decomposition in Ti-6Al-4V
Terbium-161: new radionuclide therapy hits the clinic
Highly targeted cancer treatment has the potential to eliminate ultra-small cancer lesions that cause disease recurrence.
Excitons coupling to octahedral tilts in Pb nano-perovskites
Excitons coupling to octahedral tilts in Pb nano-perovskites
Crystal field rules heavy fermion delocalization in SmCoIn5
Crystal field rules heavy fermion delocalization
"Core-shell" cathodes for high performance Li-ion batteries
“Li-rich Ni-rich” core-shell particles are engineered as layered cathode materials for high energy Li-Ion batteries, including a controllable outer "Li-rich Mn-rich" shell improving cyclability.
Kondo screening in a Majorana metal
Kondo impurities provide a nontrivial probe to unravel the character of the excitations of a quantum spin liquid. In the S = 1/2 Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice, Kondo impurities embedded in the spin-liquid host can be screened by itinerant Majorana fermions via gauge-flux binding. Here, we report experimental signatures of metallic-like Kondo screening at intermediate temperatures in the Kitaev honeycomb material α-RuCl3 with dilute Cr3+ (S = 3/2) impurities.
Sustainable Group-IV Active Photonics Research Sinergia Project granted
We are excited to announce that our joint Sinergia Project: Sustainable Group-IV Active Photonics Research (SUGAR) has been approved for funding by the SNSF and will start in the spring of 2024. SUGAR is an interdisciplinary project that aims to develop a more sustainable photonics platform, based on group IV elements (Si, Ge, Sn). The proposal emphasizes sustainability throughout the entire device life-cycle, incorporating life cycle assessment (LCA) from extraction to end-of-life.