Scientific Highlights

3d transition metals often exhibit a quenched orbital moment when in a solid state system. Therefore, the proposition of a large unquenched orbital moment for V in VI₃ caused some surprise and discussion in the scientific community. Experimental and theoretical works diverge on the fact of whether the orbital moment is quenched or not. In our work we have been able to give an answer this open issue, proposing also a model for the ground state of VI₃.

Rare ferrimagnet states in a phase competing antiferromagnet.

A novel approach to controlling the speed of magnetic processes has been found through resonant magnetic scattering in an antiferromagnetic Lanthanide intermetallics.

Lithium fluoride is an important material which is technologically exploited in spintronics and organic light emitting devices. It turns out that there is a vast difference between the morphologies of ultrathin lithium fluoride grown on the (100) facet of a silver single crystal.  At room temperature dendrites are obtained while at elevated temperature lithium fluoride forms square islands. The system is an interesting model to study the crossover between diffusion limited aggregates and island growth.

A team of the Leibniz Institute for Solid State Research (IFW) from Dresden, Germany, led by Dr Alexey Popov has now demonstrated a record blocking temperature of 28 Kelvin at which the magnetic bistability still survives in a submonolayer of a chemically functionalized species of endofullerenes. In this research, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements at low temperatures and high magnetic field at the X-Treme beam line are crucial. The results pave the way toward using such single-molecule magnets as information carriers or magnetic bits.

This experiment performed at SwissFEL shows how fast we can localize electrons out of an electron gas into correlated, well localized states of a material. It is based on a combined ultrafast x-ray absorption and diffraction experiment on an intermetallic system.

Within this synergetic collaboration, PSI scientists have investigated the correlation between magnetic and electronic ordering in NdNiO3 by tuning its properties through proximity to a ferromagnetic manganite layer. The main outcome is that the stray magnetic field from the manganite layer causes a novel ferromagnetic-metallic (FM-M) phase in NNO. This work demonstrates the utilization of heterostructure engineering for creating novel quantum phases.