Scientific Highlights

We are happy to announce that Alex has been awarded the 2022 Nicholas Kurti Science prize. The prize recognises his work on non-linear effects in Josephson junctions for quantum information processing.

The kagome metals of the family AV₃Sb₅, featuring a unique structural motif, harbor an array of intriguing phenomena such as chiral charge order and superconductivity. CsV₃Sb₅ is of particular interest because it displays a double superconducting dome in the region of the temperature-pressure phase diagram where charge order is still present. However, the microscopic origin of such an unusual behavior remains an unsolved issue. Here, to address it, we combine high-pressure, low-temperature muon spin relaxation/rotation with first-principles calculations. We observe ....

We studied the magnetic excitations in the quasi-one-dimensional (q-1D) ladder subsystem of Sr_14−xCa_xCu₂₄O₄₁ (SCCO) using Cu L₃-edge resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS). By comparing momentum-resolved RIXS spectra with high (x = 12.2) and without (x = 0) Ca content, we track the evolution of the magnetic excitations from collective two-triplon (2 T) excitations (x = 0) to weakly- dispersive gapped modes at an energy of 280 meV (x = 12.2)...

A new incrementally extendable thermodynamic model, CASH+, was developed, aimed at accurately describing equilibrium composition, solubility, and elemental uptake of C-A-S-H gel-like phases at varying chemical conditions in cement systems. Cement is widely used as matrix and backfill for low and intermediate level waste. Calcium-Aluminum-Silicate Hydrates (C-A-S-H) are the most important binding phases in cement. They are also responsible for the initial entrapment of radionuclides via sorption or solid solution formation mechanisms. Therefore, the thermodynamic modelling of C-A-S-H stability, solubility and interaction with radionuclides in cement porewater is crucial for understanding hydration, blending, degradation of cement-based materials and for the performance assessment of cementitious repositories.

Water management is crucial to the successful cold-start in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The sudden freeze of supercooled water blocks the reactant gas in the cathode and causes rapid voltage failure. In this work, we statistically evaluated the effects of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) substrate, size, saturation, and the coating loads and methods of hydrophobic polymer on the freezing probability of supercooled water by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

We report on the first example of quantum coherence between the spins of muons and quadrupolar nuclei. We reveal that these entangled states are highly sensitive to a local charge environment and thus, can be deployed as a functional quantum sensor of that environment. The quantum coherence effect was observed in vanadium intermetallic compounds which adopt the A15 crystal structure, and whose members include all technologically pertinent superconductors. Furthermore ...