NUM division - Publication Highlights

Datum
A practical guide to pulsed laser deposition

A practical guide to pulsed laser deposition

Nanoscale thin films are widely implemented across a plethora of technological and scientific areas, and form the basis for many advancements that have driven human progress, owing to the high degree of functional tunability based on the chemical composition. Pulsed laser deposition is one of the multiple physical vapour deposition routes to fabricate thin films, employing laser energy to eject material from a target in the form of a plasma ...

Read more
20230213_uniaxial-pressure-cell_t.jpg

How to squash things carefully

A new in situ uniaxial pressure cell at Paul Scherrer Institute PSI gives scientists unrivalled control to tweak quantum materials microscopically and tune their properties.

Read more
Cochran PRL

Visualizing Higher-Fold Topology in Chiral Crystals

Novel topological phases of matter are fruitful platforms for the discovery of unconventional electromagnetic phenomena. Higher-fold topology is one example, where the low-energy description goes beyond standard model analogs. Despite intensive experimental studies, conclusive evidence remains elusive for the multigap topological nature of higher-fold chiral fermions. In this Letter, we leverage a combination of fine-tuned chemical engineering and photoemission spectroscopy with photon energy contrast to discover the higher-fold topology of a chiral crystal.

 

Read more
von Arx et al

Fate of charge order in overdoped La-based cuprates

In high-temperature cuprate superconductors, stripe order refers broadly to a coupled spin and charge modulation with a commensuration of eight and four lattice units, respectively. How this stripe order evolves across optimal doping remains a controversial question. Here we present a systematic resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of weak charge correlations in La2−xSrxCuO4 and La1.8−xEu0.2SrxCuO4. Ultra high energy resolution experiments demonstrate the importance of the separation of inelastic and elastic scattering processes.

 

Read more
Crivelli and Prokscha

Making sense of the muon’s misdemeanours

An exotic atom called muonium could explain why muons won’t stick to the rules, believe researchers using the Swiss Muon Source at Paul Scherrer Institute PSI.

Read more