LIN: Laboratory for Neutron and Muon Instrumentation
Through a unique mix of technical and scientific staff the Laboratory for Neutron and Muon Instrumentation (LIN) is central to the operation and development of scientific instrumentation and methods for the SINQ and UCN neutron sources as well as the SμS muon source at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). These efforts enable both PSI researchers as well as the international scientific user community to carry out state-of-the-art experiments that employ neutron and muon particle beams to solve topical scientific issues in fields ranging from particle physics to solid state physics to materials science.
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News
High-performance detector for DMC enters hot commissioning phase
The cold neutron diffractometer DMC at SINQ is currently undergoing major upgrades. After the recent replacement of the cold neutron guide as part of the SINQ upgrade program, the installation of the new high-performance 2D position-sensitive detector successfully entered the hot commissioning phase.
The world’s most powerful neutron microscope
Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Villigen have delivered a key component for the ESTIA reflectometer at the European Spallation Source ESS based in Lund, Sweden. When it comes into service in 2026, ESS will be the world’s most powerful neutron source. Switzerland is making a vital contribution to the project. Scientists from across the globe will use ESS instruments to study processes and structures on the atomic scale, advancing materials research to a new level.
SINQ - performance of the new neutron guide system
In a recent open access article in "Neutron News" the performance of the new neutron delivery system after the SINQ upgrade has been described. Neutron flux gain factors between 2 and more than 10 have been measured at the various cold neutron instruments at SINQ.....
Scientific Highlights
Revealing Creep Motion of a Skyrmion Lattice at Ultra-Low Current Densities
Magnetic skyrmions are well-suited for encoding information because they are nano-sized, topologically stable, and only require ultra-low critical current densities jc to depin from the underlying atomic lattice. Above jc, skyrmions exhibit well-controlled motion, making them prime candidates for race-track memories. In thin films thermally-activated creep motion of isolated skyrmions was observed below jc as predicted by theory.
Using Uniaxial Stress to Probe the Relationship between Competing Superconducting States in a Cuprate with Spin-stripe Order
We report muon spin rotation and magnetic susceptibility experiments on in-plane stress effects on the static spin-stripe order and superconductivity in the cuprate system La2−xBaxCuO4 with x = 0.115. An extremely low uniaxial stress of ∼0.1 GPa induces a substantial decrease in the magnetic volume fraction and a dramatic rise in the onset of 3D superconductivity, from ∼10 to 32 K.
Colossal magnetoresistance in a nonsymmorphic antiferromagnetic insulator
Here we investigate antiferromagnetic Eu5In2Sb6, a nonsymmorphic Zintl phase. Our electrical transport data show that Eu5In2Sb6 is remarkably insulating and exhibits an exceptionally large negative magnetoresistance, which is consistent with the presence of magnetic polarons. From ab initio calculations, the paramagnetic state of Eu5In2Sb6 is a topologically nontrivial semimetal within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), whereas an insulating state with trivial topological indices is obtained using a modified Becke−Johnson potential.