Dr. Yingfang He has been honored with the Alavi-Mandell Award 2025
We congratulate Dr. Yingfang He for the excellent research work she did during her time at the Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences.
Correcting quantum errors with neutral-atom architectures
Wenchao Xu talks about the benefits and challenges of building quantum computers from neutral atoms.
Aluminium made visible
PSI researchers have for the first time determined the exact position of the aluminium atoms in zeolites, which make these materials such good catalysts.
Using AI to identify genetic perturbations from cell images
New AI identifies genetic perturbations in chromatin – a potential approach in diagnostics and drug development.
Nanostructure orientation in 3D with visible light by Tomographic Müller-Polarimetric Microscopy
We developed a new method, tomographic Müller-polarimetric microscopy (TMPM), that allows to retrieve at three-dimensional microscopic resolution the nanoscale structural information of the ultrastructure probed with polarized light in a non-destructive manner using a low cost and experimentally simple optical setup.
Spin density wave and van Hove singularity in the kagome metal CeTi3Bi4
Kagome metals with van Hove singularities near the Fermi level can host intriguing quantum phenomena such as chiral loop currents, electronic nematicity, and unconventional superconductivity. However, to our best knowledge, unconventional magnetic states driven by van Hove singularities–like spin-density waves–have not been observed experimentally in kagome metals. Here, we report ...
Primer on X-ray magnetic circular dichroism
X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) is a magneto-optical effect that describes the difference in absorption between left and right circularly polarized X-rays by a magnetized material. It has been widely applied to the study of magnetic systems and of magnetic phenomena and its unique capabilities make it a fundamental tool for the study of novel magnetic phenomena and new materials systems.
Advancing Biogas Quality: Tackling Siloxane Challenges for Smooth Energy Transition
Siloxanes, present in everyday items, can compromise the efficiency and durability of bioenergy systems, even at trace levels. Monitoring and quantifying these impurities are critical for improving biogas quality and expanding its role in renewable energy. However, sampling biogas and storing samples containing siloxanes for analysis remain a significant challenge.
World record attosecond measurement at SwissFEL
Scientists at SwissFEL can measure X-ray pulses with attosecond time resolution.
Correlating transmission electron and soft x-ray microscopy to bridge atomic- and mesoscales
Transmission electron and soft x-ray microscopy have contributed significantly to our understanding of phenomena in fields ranging from biology to materials science. In this review, we present recent developments in combining transmission electron and soft x-ray microscopy techniques, including progress in sample environment, and in situ and operando approaches and highlight the unique opportunities offered by fully correlative transmission electron and soft x-ray microscopy.
Antiferrodistortive and ferroeletric phase transitions in freestanding films of SrTiO3
Epitaxially grown thin films are commonly used to strain engineer electronic properties by the choice of a substrate, and therefore do not match bulk properties (leading to properties that deviate from the bulk material). Free standing ultrathin oxide films are expected to preserve the bulk-like properties due to the absence of substrate influence. However, we show that this expectation is not fulfilled with ultrathin free standing SrTiO3, as they get ferroelectric at 80K.
PSI Spin-off "novoMOF" secures 4.4 Million CHF for promising CO2 technology
The PSI spin-off novoMOF has successfully completed a funding round, raising 4.4 million CHF. With this support, the company will further develop and bring its groundbreaking CO2 capture technology to market.
A tiny golden object from Roman times
PSI’s David Mannes has used neutrons to unravel the mystery of a fascinating archaeological artefact.
Superconductivity and a van Hove singularity con ned to the surface of a topological semimetal
The interplay between topology and superconductivity generated great interest in condensed matter physics. Here, we unveil an unconventional two-dimensional superconducting state in the Dirac nodal line semimetal ZrAs2 which is exclusively con ned to the top and bottom surfaces within the crystal’s ab plane.
As a remarkable consequence ...
Momentum-resolved fingerprint of Mottness in layer-dimerized Nb3Br8
Crystalline solids can become band insulators due to fully lled bands, or Mott insulators due to strong electronic correlations. While Mott insulators can theoretically occur in systems with an even number of electrons per unit cell, distinguishing them from band insulators experimentally has remained a longstanding challenge.
In this work, we present ...
Promising Innovation in Cancer Diagnostics
What if modern medicine could select the most effective cancer treatment for each patient more precisely and faster?
Targeted funding of innovation for the energy transition
How do innovations arise and how can they be specifically encouraged for the energy transition? PSI researcher Michael Weinold has been looking into this question using LED lamps as an example.
Emergence of topological Hall effect from a fluctuation-based dynamic origin
The topological nature of the electronic bands or spin structure has direct manifestation in experimentally measured Hall conductivity. The extra topological (or geometrical) component to the Hall effect (THE) usually emerges due to multi-k structures, which inherently possess a finite static scalar spin chirality (SSC). Generating a THE in a single-k structure necessitates the consideration of the dynamical origin of SSC, the real material examples of such cases remain scarce to date.
Water gets in shape for VUV absorption
Nanometre‑thin, free‑flowing liquid sheets now let Swiss Light Source users record pristine VUV absorption spectra of water, and soon any solvent.
Zero-field Hall effect emerging from a non-Fermi liquid in a collinear antiferromagnet V1/3NbS2
Magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a versatile three-dimensional (3D) material platform to explore quantum phenomena and functionalities that emerge from an intricate interplay among magnetism, band structure, and electronic correlations.
Generation of Neutron Airy Beams
The Airy wave packet is a solution to the potential-free Schrödinger equation that exhibits remarkable properties such as self-acceleration, nondiffraction, and self-healing. Although Airy beams are now routinely realized ....
Texture analysis implementation at the neutron strain diffractometer POLDI
This study presents the implementation of a novel data analysis methodology to perform spatially resolved crystallographic texture analyses in bulk specimens at POLDI, the pulsed frame overlap diffractometer at SINQ, Paul Scherrer Institute. The method is based on the determination of several incomplete pole figures. To increase the angular resolution, the POLDI diffraction bank is split into several virtual units of smaller angular coverage. The diffraction data of each virtual unit can then be analyzed individually and used to create experimental pole figures from the Euler angles of the explored sample orientations. Additionally, to help the analyses, a new numerical tool was developed and implemented at POLDI to calculate neutron flight path of each virtual detector as a function of sample size, geometry, and orientation. Leveraging on the SALOME platform’s Geom module (open-source CAD modeler), the tool allows inserting CAD objects into a virtual detailed PODI geometry. This allows to automate sample positioning and orientation within the instrument frame and computes flight path intersections. It serves two main purposes: enhancing texture analysis through precise path calculations and aiding experimental design by visually evaluating orientation feasibility and estimating counting times. Finally, to complete the analysis path from the experiments to the results, the experimental and numerical evaluations are processed together with POLTex (MATLAB-based toolbox) to obtain the orientation distribution functions. To demonstrate the analysis routine, the crystallographic texture of an additively manufactured steel sample and Zircaloy-4 sample were characterized.
Mapping crystallite orientation in bulk polycrystals
A new experimental technique allows the orientation distribution of small-grained polycrystal materials to me mapped in 3D.
A faster route to green hydrogen
The pH value determines how easily hydrogen can be produced from water when cobalt is used as a catalyst. PSI researchers have now found out why.
Defect structure controls the thermal magnetic switching rate of nano-sized metallic particles.
Past experiments done at the Paul Scherrer Institut, probed the thermal switching properties of nano-sized metallic magnetic particles
PILATUS4 detector arrives at PXIII
On April 4, 2025, a Dectris Pilatus4 2M detector was successfully installed at beamline PXIII. In the coming weeks, this new detector will be used to measure the first macromolecular crystallography (MX) experiments using the SLS 2.0 machine.
Yielding behaviour of active particles in bulk and in confinement
We computationally investigate the transition from rigid to flowing states in dense assemblies of self-propelled particles. Such theoretical representations of biological assemblies have yielded tremendous insight into collective behaviour across many scales, from bird flocks, through bacterial colonies, tissue organisation and including sub-cellular assemblies such as the cytoskeleton. Of particular interest to us are observations of dramatic changes in the dynamics of chromatin within cell nuclei, understood to undelie changes in biological state and function. Dynamics in this context is controlled by the strength and temporal persistence of out-of-equilibrium mechanical perturbations, as well as the geometry of confinement. Evidence of a transition from rigid to flowing states across a critical perturbation strength, strongly reminiscent of yielding in externally deformed amorphous solids, motivates us to explore this analogy, and to investigate the role of persistence time and confinement geometry on the transition.
Dynamical transitions in dense packings
Biophysical modeling points to changes in collective dynamics under confinement as a key aspect of cell state transitions.
Vacancy-induced suppression of charge density wave order and its impact on magnetic order in kagome antiferromagnet FeGe
Two-dimensional (2D) kagome lattice metals are interesting because their corner sharing triangle structure enables a wide array of electronic and magnetic phenomena. Recently, post-growth annealing is shown to both suppress charge density wave (CDW) order and establish long-range CDW with the ability to cycle between states repeatedly in the kagome antiferromagnet FeGe.
Here we perform ...
Rethinking 3D Printing for ceramics
Using a powerful combination of in-situ X-ray imaging and high-fidelity simulations, researchers uncover how alumina behaves under laser-based 3D printing—paving the way for more reliable ceramic additive manufacturing.
Net zero: Taking raw materials into account
A new calculation model from PSI illustrates the complex interdependencies between technology, demand for critical raw materials, and environmental impacts on the road to climate neutrality.
Creating circuit diagrams of the brain
Using brain circuit diagrams to understand Alzheimer's.
Anomalous Hall Effect due to Magnetic Fluctuations in a Ferromagnetic Weyl Semimetal
The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) has emerged as a key indicator of time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) and topological features in electronic band structures. Absent of a magnetic field, the AHE requires spontaneous TRSB but has proven hard to probe due to averaging over domains. The anomalous component of the Hall effect is thus frequently derived from extrapolating the magnetic field dependence of the Hall response. We show ....
Pollutants often originate in the air
In the CLOUD experiment at CERN, PSI researchers have measured with unprecedented precision how harmful organic air pollutants are formed and dispersed.
Rhodium recovery from acidic wastewater using radiografted chelating adsorbents
Platinum group metals (PGMs), particularly rhodium (Rh), are rare and vital for industrial applications, with Rh being scarcer (≈ 20 t/y) than platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd). Its high cost and limited supply emphasize the need for efficient recovery from industrial waste. New radiografted chelating adsorbents, created through irradiation, offer a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to existing extraction methods. They exhibit high efficiency, selectivity, and reusability, making them ideal for recovering and recycling Rh from industrial wastewater.
Two Characteristic Contributions to the Superconducting State of 2H-NbSe2
Multiband superconductivity arises when multiple electronic bands contribute to the formation of the superconducting state, allowing distinct pairing interactions and gap structures. Here, we present field- and temperature-dependent data ...
A superlative milestone
PSI spin-off Araris Biotech AG achieves valuation at unicorn-level!
Observation of the spiral spin liquid in a triangular-lattice material
The spiral spin liquid (SSL) is a highly degenerate state characterized by a continuous contour or surface in reciprocal space spanned by a spiral propagation vector. Although the SSL state has been predicted in a number of various theoretical models, very few materials are so far experimentally identified to host such a state. Via combined single-crystal wide-angle and small-angle neutron scattering, we report observation ...
Unlocking Entrepreneurship at PSI
Last Friday, the annual PSI "Entrepreneurship Kick-off Event" took place – an inspiring afternoon designed to encourage talented scientists at PSI to explore their entrepreneurial potential.
Generating a highly uniform magnetic field inside the magnetically shielded room of the n2EDM experiment
The central magnetic field of the n2EDM experiment based at PSI is of paramount importance for achieving the sensitivity goal. The necessary field homogeneity was recently demonstrated, as described here.
“Even more cancer patients could benefit from proton therapy”
A newly published book describes how life-saving proton therapy was developed at PSI. Damien Weber explains why the full potential of the method has not yet been exploited.
Doping dependence of the dipolar correlation length scale in metallic SrTiO3
Superconducting domes, ubiquitous across a variety of quantum materials, are often understood as a window in which pairing is favored, opened by the fluctuations of competing orders. Yet, the understanding of how such a window closes is missing. Here, we show that inelastic neutron scattering ...
Netzwerkanlass & Zweiter ForMe Call
Ziel ist es, die Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Spitälern im Kanton Aargau und der Forschung im ETH Bereich fördern.
Key reaction steps in the simultaneous conversion of nitrous and nitric oxides on Fe-ZSM-5
After proposing the reaction mechanism of the N2O-NO-SCR reaction on Fe-FER, here we attempted at controlling the Fe speciation on ZSM-5 and at generalizing the result obtained on FER.
Confining surface oxygen redox in double perovskites for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction activity
Nickel-based double perovskites AA’BB’O6 are an underexplored class of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. In particular, BaSrNiWO6 exhibits high oxygen evolution activity, attributed to the evolution of a highly OER active surface phase. The redox transformation of Ni2+(3d8) to Ni3+(3d7) combined with partial W dissolution into the electrolyte drives an in-situ reconstruction of the surface to an amorphized, NiO-like layer, promoting oxygen redox in the OER mechanism.
With pad, pencil, and algorithms
Physicist Dominik Sidler is developing fundamental theories for previously inexplicable phenomena.
SLS 2.0: How to start up a particle accelerator
The electrons are back: after its upgrade, the Swiss Light Source SLS is starting up again, step by step.
Prestigious funding for research at PSI
Concrete, chemical catalysis and the search for new physics – three PSI researchers have each received a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation for these areas of research.