PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences

The PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences uses neutrons and muons to explore and understand matter and materials.

Ahl et al

Hydration- and Temperature-Dependent Rotational Dynamics and Water Diffusion in Nanocellulose

Nanocellulose is a promising alternative to fossil-derived materials, but its development is hindered by a limited understanding of cellulose–water interactions. Herein, quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) is used to investigate how hydration and temperature affect the localized rotations in cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and the diffusion of mobile water. QENS reveals ...

Bhardwaj et al

Bright Monocompound Metal Halide Scintillator for Fast Neutron Radiography

Fast neutron imaging is a promising technique for visualizing objects containing dense, mixed light-and-heavy-elements materials, such as combustion engines, nuclear fuel assemblies, and fossils, where X-rays and thermal neutrons are ineffectiv. However, the limited efficiency of current detection technologies hinders their widespread adoption. Recoil proton detection ...

Guguchia

A New Quantum Landscape: Coexisting High-Tc Superconductivity, Magnetism, and Complex Charge Order in LaRu3Si2.

Despite intense research on kagome superconductors, many fundamental questions remain—especially regarding the unconventional nature of their charge order and superconducting phases. These materials are rich in complexity, and to truly unravel their behavior, a broad and integrated approach is essential. In our study ...

Boraley et al

Microscopic Origin of Reduced Magnetic Order in a Frustrated Metal

Although magnetic frustration in metals provides a promising avenue for novel quantum phenomena, their microscopic interpretation is often challenging. Here, we use the face-centered cubic intermetallic HoInCu4 as model material to show that Hamiltonians neglecting the charge degree of freedom are appropriate for frustrated metals possessing low density of states at the Fermi surface ...

Betet et al

Understanding and Addressing the Performance Asymmetry Issue in Semitransparent Laminated Organic Photovoltaic Devices

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) offer a promising solution for indoor energy harvesting. However, fundamental investigations to understand and optimize industrial processes such as roll-to-roll lamination for upscaling remain limited. This study investigates a critical failure mode in the upscaling of OPVs. 

One major challenge ...

Morano et al

Absence of Altermagnetic Magnon Band Splitting in MnF2

Altermagnets are collinear compensated magnets in which the magnetic sublattices are related by rotation rather than translation or inversion. One of the quintessential properties of altermagnets is the presence of split chiral magnon modes. Recently, such modes have been predicted in MnF2

Here, we report inelastic neutron scattering results ...

  • Meng J, Yang H, Shen Y, Zheng K, Wang H, Wang Y, et al.
    Large unconventional anomalous Hall effect far above room temperature in epitaxial Fe3Ga4 films
    npj Quantum Materials. 2025; 10: 79 (10 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-025-00802-2
    DORA PSI
  • Bison G, Grössle R, Kirch K, Lauss B, Priester F, Rienäcker I, et al.
    Temperature-dependent ultracold neutron transmission in 2H2 gas: a test of the Young-Koppel model
    Physical Review C: Nuclear Physics. 2025; 112: 014007 (8 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1103/1r5v-6h9p
    DORA PSI
  • Bhardwaj A, Sakhatskyi K, Sakhatska A, Trtik P, Wu Y, Padniuk Y, et al.
    Bright monocompound metal halide scintillator for fast neutron radiography
    Advanced Functional Materials. 2025: e09757 (10 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202509757
    DORA PSI
  • Doll A, Wang C, Prokscha T, Dreiser J, Salman Z
    Coherent microwave control of coupled electron-muon centers
    Physical Review Research. 2025; 7(3): 033059 (21 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1103/zgj6-sx4h
    DORA PSI

300

The CNM center hosts 300 members of staff, in addition 40 PhD students perform their thesis work within CNM

5+1

The center is organized in 5 laboratories and 1 staff group.

3/30

CNM operates 3 of the 5 large scale user facilities: the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ, the Swiss Muon Source SμS and the facilities for particle physics CHIRSP with approximately 30 experimental stations open for users.

1700

The facilities in the CNM center are open to international access — with approximately 1700 annual user visits the associated user program is a key activity for the center and for PSI as a whole.

Postal address
Paul Scherrer Institut
Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences CNM

WHGA/345
5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland