Scientific Highlights
Combating antimicrobial resistance
In a study addressing the global health threat of drug resistance, researchers at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, have revealed how a new antibiotic, Darobactin, binds to the external membrane of gram-negative bacteria.
X-ray ptychographic topography: A robust nondestructive tool for strain imaging
We present x-ray ptychographic topography, a method for strain imaging, and demonstrate its use on an InSb micropillar after microcompression, where the strained region is visualized with a spatial resolution of 30 nm.
Deep evolutionary origins of the human smile
Detailed characterization of the tooth and jaw structure and development among shark ancestors by synchrotron based X-ray tomographic microscopy at TOMCAT led an international team of researchers from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and the University of Bristol to the discovery that while teeth evolved once, complex dentitions have been gained and lost many times in evolutionary history.
New record photon pulse energies at SwissFEL
The very large number of coherent photons produced by free-electron lasers is one of the key qualities of such facilities, attracting users from numerous research fields including chemistry, biology and materials science. Recently, the two branches of PSI's free-electron laser SwissFEL each have reached new record pulse energies, packing more photons than ever before into ultrashort X-ray pulses delivered at rates of 100 Hz to the users of both beamlines.
Charge Condensation and Lattice Coupling Drives Stripe Formation in Nickelates
Revealing the predominant driving force behind symmetry breaking in correlated materials is sometimes a formidable task due to the intertwined nature of different degrees of freedom. This is the case for La2−xSrxNiO4+δ, in which coupled incommensurate charge and spin stripes form at low temperatures. Here, we use resonant x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy to study the temporal stability and domain memory of the charge and spin stripes in La2−xSrxNiO4+δ.
Frustration-driven magnetic fluctuations as the origin of the low-temperature skyrmion phase in Co7Zn7Mn6
Magnetic skyrmions in chiral cubic helimagnets, are stabilized by thermal fluctuations over a narrow region directly below the magnetic ordering temperature. Due to often being touted for use in applications, there is high demand to identify new mechanism that can expand the equilibrium skyrmion phases where these topological vortices may display an enhanced robustness against external perturbations, such as magnetic fields, due to a larger magnetic order parameter.
Impact of micro-porous layers (MPL) on two-phase flow in electrolyzers
Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzers (PEWE), due to their excellent dynamic characteristics, can provide an economical solution to the intermittent nature of new renewable sources, by converting the excess electricity into hydrogen. However, improvements in efficiency and in capital cost are still required for the large-scale deployment of this solution. In this context, we studied whether the efficiency improvements observed when using porous structures featuring a micro-porous layer (MPL) can be attributed to a better distribution of the water.
A time-domain phase diagram of metastable quantum states
Our collaborators at the Jozef Stefan Institute – the leading author, Jan Ravnik, is now a PSI Fellow at LMN – report a ‘dynamical’ phase diagram of metastable quantum states generated via photoexcitation of the prototypical dichalcogenide material 1T-TaS2.
Probing the superconducting gap structure in the noncentrosymmetric topological superconductor ZrRuAs
The superconducting gap structure of the topological superconductor candidate ZrRuAs with a noncen- trosymmetric crystal structure has been investigated using muon-spin rotation/relaxation (μSR) measurements in transverse-field (TF) and zero-field (ZF) geometries. Magnetization, electrical resistivity, and heat capacity measurements reveal bulk superconductivity below a superconducting transition temperature Tc = 7.9(1) K.
Hindering the magnetic dead layer in manganites
The authors demonstrate the stability of ferromagnetic order of one unit cell thick optimally doped manganite (La0.7Ba0.3MnO3, LBMO) epitaxially grown between two layers of SrRuO3 (SRO). LBMO shows ferromagnetism even above SRO Tc. Density Functional Theory calculations help understand the reasons behind this interesting result.