SINQ – Swiss Spallation Neutron Source

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Neutron scattering techniques are highly versatile and powerful tools for studying the structure and dynamics of condensed matter. A wide scope of problems, ranging from fundamental to solid state physics and chemistry, and from materials science to biology, medicine and environmental science, can be investigated with neutrons. In addition to scattering, non-diffractive methods like imaging techniques allows for non-destructive inspection of materials and components, providing information on their internal structure, composition, and integrity with growing relevance also for industrial applications.

The spallation neutron source SINQ is a continuous source - the first and only one of its kind in the world - with a flux of about 1014 n/cm2/s. Beside thermal neutrons, a cold moderator of liquid deuterium (cold source) slows neutrons down and shifts their spectrum to lower energies. These neutrons have proved to be particularly valuable in materials research and in the investigation of biological substances. 

SINQ operates as a user facility, meaning that scientists and research groups from around the world can apply for beamtime to conduct experiments using its various neutron instruments.

The recent proposal deadline passed on 15 May 2025. The results of the evaluation may be expected in late July. 

The next call is planned for fall with a submission deadline on 15 November 2025.

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 ...

Graham et al

Tailoring the Normal and Superconducting State Properties of Ternary Scandium Tellurides, Sc6MTe2 (M = Fe, Ru, and Ir) Through Chemical Substitution

The pursuit of a unifying theory for non-BCS superconductivity has faced significant challenges. One approach to overcome such challenges is to perform systematic investigations into superconductors containing d-electron metals in order to elucidate their underlying mechanisms. Recently, the Sc6MTe2 (M = d-electron metal) family has emerged as a unique series of isostructural compounds exhibiting superconductivity across a range of 3d, 4d, and 5d electron systems. 

In this study, muon spin rotation, neutron diffraction, and magnetization techniques are employed to probe ...

Wang et al

Achieving Uniform Phase Structure for Layer-by-Layer Processed Binary Organic Solar Cells with 20.2% Efficiency

Layer-by-layer (LBL) deposition has become a facile and promising method to fabricate highly efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). However, characterization and optimization of 3D morphology remain a grand challenge for LBL- processed active layers, and their correlation with photovoltaic properties of OSC devices is not clear to date. 

Here, to address this issue, ...

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