Photon Science Division (PSD)
The Paul Scherrer Institut also researches the composition of materials and surface structures for use in fuel cells and innovative types of batteries. In addition, synchrotron light will provide insights into microscopic damage to materials and into the complex structure of bio-molecules which will, for example, make the targeted manufacture of new pharmaceuticals possible.
Objects with dimensions of thousandths of millionths of a meter are known as nanostructures. This minuteness will revolutionise every area of our technological world, whether in information transfer and data storage, or in sensors for biology, medicine and ecology. For example, specialists at PSI are working together on interdisciplinary projects to develop biosensors, artificial noses and optical electronics.
Latest News
2018 Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation
The Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2018 went to Dr. Christian David, also from the Paul Scherrer Institute, and to Prof. Alexei Erko, who recently moved from the HZB to the Institute for Applied Photonics (IAP) in Berlin-Adlershof.
Helping chemists to understand degradation and stabilization of catalytic nanoporous gold structures
It is difficult for X-rays to compete in spatial resolution with electrons, but they can probe relatively large bulk sample volumes at atmospheric pressure in a non-destructive manner. This makes X-ray tomography a promising tool to investigate catalytic nanoporous materials under real operating conditions. In this work researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Bremen in Germany compared X-ray ptychographic tomography, electron tomography and focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy performed on a nanoporous sponge-like gold material with numerous applications, including selective oxidation and sustainable production of chemicals. As it turns out, the X-ray based method is the most suitable for in situ or sequential post-mortem analysis of volumes after thermal annealing, which researchers want to pursue in the future.
Claire Donnelly dissertation research awards
Claire Donnelly, Mesoscopic Systems (ETH Zurich - PSI), was awarded the COMSOL SPS Award in Computational Physics, the Werner Meyer-Ilse Memorial Award, the ETH Medal for an outstanding doctoral thesis, and the American Physical Society Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award. These awards recognize the exceptional quality and importance of her dissertation on “Hard X-ray Tomography of Three Dimensional Magnetic Structures”, carried out in collaboration with Sebastian Gliga, the CXS group, and the OMNY project. Experiments have been carried out at the cSAXS beamline. She will continue her research at the University of Cambridge with a Leverhulme Fellowship supported by the Newton Trust. We wish her every success! - Image courtesy of the APS.
LEAPS join forces with the European Commission to strengthen Europe’s leading role in science
“A world where European science is a catalyst for solving global challenges, a key driver for competitiveness and a compelling force for closer integration and peace through scientific collaboration.” This is the vision of LEAPS, League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources, on which the LEAPS Strategy 2030 is based. Director Jean-David Malo, DG Research and Innovation, received the strategy today at the Bulgarian Presidency Flagship Conference on Research Infrastructures.
HERCULES at the Swiss Light Source
In the week of March 18-23 PSI welcomes 20 PhD students and postdocs taking part in
the HERCULES 2018 school on Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation. They will attend
lectures and perform two days of practical courses at several beam lines of the Swiss
Light Source.
