
Welcome to the Bernina Group
The Bernina group works on experimental studies of beyond-equilirium ultrafast phenomena in condensed matter. It develops and operates the Bernina Instrument of SwissFEL, which is presently under commissioning and performing first experiments. The group arises from the FEMTO group at the Swiss Light Source.
Scientific Highlights and News
Ultrafast calorimetry of deeply supercooled water
FEL-based ultrafast calorimetry measurements show enhancement and maximum in the isobaric specific-heat.
Ultrafast diffuse x-ray scattering of a hybrid perovskite crystal
Organic–inorganic ‘hybrid’ perovskites have recently gained attention as a low-cost alternative to silicon solar cells. However, many properties of these materials are still poorly understood. In particular, how imperfections in the crystals, which can be both static or dynamic, affect energy transport remains unclear.
Bernina status first summer shutdown
The summer shutdown was used to install more missing hardware. With the new components the Bernina instrument will be already very close to the full design capabilities when the exciting time of user experiments will begin in 2019.