The PSI Laboratory for Multiscale Materials Experiments focusses on designing novel functional materials in poly- and single crystalline form, as thin films and as multilayers.
Lab News
ETH CoLab Award for Mohammadhossein Montazerian
Mohammadhossein Montazerian was part of the winning team to secure an ETH CoLab Award. It is an award to help entrepreneurial research to make a first step towards business.
Laser draws made-to-order magnetic landscapes
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, have for the first time succeeded in using existing laser technology to continuously vary the magnetic properties of two-dimensional materials. This simple and fast method should make a large number of applications possible, including techniques for data storage and processing.
Photo: © Paul Scherrer Institute PSI / Mahir Dzambegovic
The Charpak-Ritz Prize 2026 is awarded to Laura Heyderman
Since 2016, the Charpak-Ritz Prize has been jointly awarded by the French Physical Society and the Swiss Physical Society to a physicist or a team for outstanding contributions to physics or its advancement.
& Scientific Highlights
Oxygen-isotope effect on the density wave transitions in La3Ni2O7
The isotope effect is a powerful probe of electron-phonon interactions in solid-state systems, offering key insights into how atomic mass influences emergent quantum states. Here, the impact of oxygen-isotope substitution (16O→18O) on charge- and spin-density wave (CDW and SDW) transitions in the double-layer Ruddlesden-Popper nickelate La3Ni2O7 is investigated ...
Pressure and oxygen-isotope substitution on density-wave transitions in La4Ni3O10
Understanding the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity in nickelate systems is a key objective in condensed matter physics. Gaining microscopic insights into magnetism—particularly as it emerges near superconductivity—requires a synergistic approach that combines complementary experimental techniques with controlled tuning of external parameters. In this paper, we present ...
Realizing Blume-Capel Degrees of Freedom with Toroidal Moments in a Ruby Artificial Spin Ice
Realizing exotic Hamiltonians beyond the Ising model is a key pursuit in experimental statistical physics. Onesuch example is the Blume-Capel model, a three-state spin model, whose phase diagram features a tricritical point where second-order and first-order transition lines converge, leading to a coexistence of paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, and disordered phases. Here, we realize ...
Fun Facts about Magnetism
The video is from the Visitor Centre psi forum of the Paul Scherrer Institute, where a cartoon avatar of Rhea Stewart, who was a Postdoc in Mesoscopic Systems, explains about our research to science enthusiasts.
Upcoming Seminars
Information to visitors: The seminars of the group are open to members of PSI and Project Partners, while the group meeting following the seminar is for group members only.
Recent publications
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Kurenkov A, Maes J, Pac A, Macauley GM, Van Waeyenberge B, Hrabec A, et al.
Perpendicular-anisotropy artificial spin ice with spontaneous ordering: a platform for reservoir computing with flexible timescales
Communications Engineering. 2025; 4: 183 (11 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00499-y
DORA PSI -
Pomjakushin V, Podlesnyak A, Puphal P, Shin S, White JS, Pomjakushina E
Magnetic contribution of itinerant electrons to neutron diffraction in the topological antiferromagnet CeAlGe
Physical Review B. 2025; 112(9): 094457 (13 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1103/xrmt-jfl8
DORA PSI -
Naamneh M, O’Quinn EC, Paris E, McNally D, Tseng Y, Pudełko WR, et al.
Persistence of small polarons into the superconducting doping range of Ba1−xKxBiO3
Physical Review Research. 2025; 7(4): 043082 (15 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1103/s3p1-cy1s
DORA PSI -
Aegerter D, Fabbri E, Novotny Z, Borlaf M, Yüzbasi NS, Comini N, et al.
Evaluation of dip-and-pull ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for investigating oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts
ACS Applied Energy Materials. 2025; 8(19): 14554-14567. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.5c02252
DORA PSI