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Ce contenu n'est pas disponible en français.News & Scientific Highlights
HERCULES at the Swiss Light Source
In the week of March 18-23 PSI welcomes 20 PhD students and postdocs taking part in the HERCULES 2018 school on Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation. They will attend lectures and perform two days of practical courses at several beam lines of the Swiss Light Source.
Making the world go round - a look into the structure of a prominent heterogeneous catalyst
Fluid catalytic cracking catalysts, which are composite particles of hierarchical porosity, were examined using ptychographic X-ray tomography. These particles are essential to the conversion of crude oil into gasoline. Examination of catalysts at decreasing levels of catalytic conversion efficacy allowed the detection of possible deactivation causes.
Swiss Neutron Scattering Prize
Viviane Lutz-Bueno was awarded the Swiss Neutron Scattering Prize of the Swiss Neutron Scattering Society, at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Swiss and Austrian Physical Society, for her PhD thesis Effects of formulation and flow on the structure of micellar aggregates carried out at ETH Zürich. Viviane is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the CXS group at PSI, developing scanning SAXS analysis methods.
Plongée dans un aimant
Pour la première fois, des chercheurs ont réussi à visualiser les directions de l'aimantation dans un objet magnétique tridimensionnel. Les plus petits détails de leur visualisation mesuraient moins d'un dixième de millième de millimètre. Un type de motif exceptionnel est ressorti dans la structure qu'ils ont fait apparaître: des singularités magnétiques appelées points de Bloch, jusque-là connues uniquement en théorie.
Photonic structure of white beetle wing scales: optimized by evolution
A very thin layer on this beetle’s wings exhibits a complicated structure on the nanoscale that gives them a bright white color. X-ray nanotomography acquired at the Swiss Light Source provides a faithful image of this structure in three dimensions with which scientists can confirm its evolutionary optimization: just enough material for an efficient reflection of white light.
European NESY Winterschool Young Scientist Best Poster Prize
Klaus Wakonig was awarded the "Young Scientist Best Poster Prize" along with a cash prize at the 10th European NESY Winterschool & Symposium on Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation. Klaus is a PhD student at the coherent X-ray scattering group (CXS) in PSI. His poster, entitled "X-ray Fourier ptychography," details his latest results in the implementation of Fourier ptychography at X-ray wavelengths for nanoimaging. Image credit ©NESY/Montanuniversitaet Leoben
La radiographie en 3D permet de visualiser les moindres détails d’une puce informatique
Des chercheurs de l’Institut Paul Scherrer PSI ont réalisé des radiographies détaillées en 3D d’une puce informatique usuelle. Dans le cadre de leur expérience, ils ont analysé une petite portion de puce qu’ils avaient préalablement découpée. Durant la mesure, cet échantillon est resté intact. Pour les fabricants, déterminer si la structure de leurs puces est conforme aux normes représente un défi. Ces résultats constituent donc une possibilité d’application importante pour un procédé spécifique de tomographie à rayons X que les chercheurs du PSI développent depuis quelques années.
Interlaced zone plates push the resolution limit in x-ray microscopy
A novel type of diffractive lenses based on interlaced structures enable x-ray imaging at resolutions below 10 nm. The fabrication method and the test results of these novel x-ray lenses have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
How does food look like on the nanoscale?
The answer to this question could save food industry a lot of money and reduce food waste caused by faulty production. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Paul Scherrer Institut have obtained a 3D image of food on the nanoscale using ptychographic X-ray computed tomography. This work paves the way towards a more detailed knowledge of the structure of complex food systems.