SμS: Swiss Muon Source
µSR - Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation or Resonance: A research tool using muons as sensitive local magnetic probes in matter.
Research at the LMU focuses mainly on magnetic properties of materials and on positive muons or muonium (bound state of a positive muon and an electron) as light protons or hydrogen substitutes in matter.
Worldwide unique: The Low-Energy Muon Beam and µSR Spectrometer for the study of thin films, layers and surfaces, the possibility to perform high-field µSR with a field up to 9.5 Tesla, and the Extraction of Muons On Request for high frequency resolution and slow relaxation measurements.
06 July 2020
Information for SµS users
Due to the Corona crisis and technical problems the restart of operation of the PSI high intensity proton accelerator (HIPA) has been delayed and is expected earliest for the 27th of July. The pandemic team of PSI approved in-house research at the SµS from this date on. According to today's situation, external/foreign users at the SµS will be allowed as of September 1st.
We have prepared a new experimental schedule that you can find here.
We have shifted the approved experiments of foreign users to a date as late as possible in the year and we assume that you will be able to conduct your experiments at PSI. However, for all experiments foreign travel restrictions and entry requirements into Switzerland and PSI need to be carefully considered. Up to date information about travel restrictions for Switzerland can be found here.
Some experiments (especially for Dolly) had to be scheduled before September 1st. For these experiments and for those experiments where travel restrictions do not allow traveling to PSI, the PSI team offers to conduct the experiments for the users. In such a case, the samples will have to be sent to the instrument scientist in time and an experimental plan can be submitted once per day. Please note that only one sample change per day will be possible in this operation mode. Please get in contact with the instrument scientists for the planning of your experiment and to inform us about the shipment of your samples. For experiments that can not be conducted in this way, it might be possible to shift the beamtime to the next year.
Latest scientific SμS highlights:
Re(1−x)Mox as an ideal test case of time-reversal symmetry breaking in unconventional superconductors
Non-centrosymmetric superconductors (NCSCs) are promising candidates in the search for unconventional and topological superconductivity. The α-Mn-type rhenium-based alloys represent excellent examples of NCSCs, where spontaneous magneticfields, peculiar to time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking, have been shown to develop in the superconducting phase. By converse, TRS is preserved in many other isostructural NCSCs, thus leaving the key question about its origin fully open. Here, we consider ...
From magnetic order to quantum disorder in the Zn-barlowite series of S = 1/2 kagomé antiferromagnets
We report a comprehensive muon spectroscopy study of the Zn-barlowite series of S=1/2 kagomé antiferromagnets, ZnxCu4−x(OH)6FBr, for x = 0.00 to 0.99(1). By combining muon spin relaxation and rotation measurements with state-of-the-art density-functional theory muon-site calculations, we observe the formation of both μ–F and μ–OH complexes in Zn-barlowite. From these stopping sites, implanted muon spins reveal the suppression of long-range magnetic order into a possible quantum spin liquid state upon the increasing concentration of Zn-substitution.
Front passivation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells using Al2O3: Culprits and benefits
In the past years, the strategies used to break the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) light to power conversion effi- ciency world record value were based on improvements of the absorber optoelectronic and crystalline properties, mainly using complex post-deposition treatments. To reach even higher efficiency values, fur- ther advances in the solar cell architecture are needed, in particular, with respect to the CIGS interfaces. In this study, we evaluate the structural, morphological and optoelectronic impact of an Al2O3 layer as a potential front passivation layer on the CIGS properties, as well as an Al2O3 tunneling layer between CIGS and CdS.