International Conference in Neutron Scattering: HZB-contributions awarded
Dr. Anup Kumar Bera from the department of Quantum Phenomena in Novel Materials convinced the committee with his poster about ‘Haldane chains’.
More than 800 participants had gathered for the International Conference in Neutron Scattering, held during 8-12 July 2013 in Edinburgh, to discuss advances in neutron research and the advancement of the neutron scattering instruments and techniques. A committee selected sixteen outstanding posters from the 650 poster presentations, two of these from HZB scientists.
Dr. Anup Kumar Bera from the department of Quantum Phenomena in Novel Materials convinced the committee with his poster about quantum magnetic properties in a one dimensional spin-1 chain magnet known as ‘Haldane chain’. When cooled down to low temperature, this material hosts a fascinating state of matter called a “quantum spin-liquid”.
Matthew Barrett received a poster prize for the best student poster contribution. He is a PhD-student at F-ISFM and works as well in the department fpr sample environment, where he optimizes humid environment cells for biological samples.
Dr. Elisa Wheeler received the Young Scientist Award from the International Union of Cristallography. The jury awarded her research work, which she completed as a postdoctoral student with Prof. Bella Lake and Dr. Nazmul Islam at the HZB. Elisa Wheeler is now a scientist at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, Frankreich.
- Spin waves inside a nano-oscillator imaged for the first timeFor the first time, researchers have directly imaged the magnetisation dynamics inside a spin Hall nano-oscillator — a nanoscale device that converts direct current into tunable microwave signals and is a promising building block for energy-efficient wireless communication and brain-inspired computing. A Swedish–German team led by the University of Gothenburg and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) achieved this using time-resolved scanning transmission X-ray microscopy at the MAXYMUS instrument at BESSY II. The results, now published in Advanced Materials, reveal spin-wave features that had escaped previous, indirect measurement techniques.
- BESSY II: High-resolution insights into individual biomolecules and catalystsVery small biological samples and even individual biomolecules can now be examined under near-physiological conditions with high confidence at the BESSY II infrared beamline with a newly validated and improved technique: The nanoscale infrared spectroscopy (s-SNOM) with ultra-thin silicon-based membranes. An international team demonstrated after an initial proof of concept, that high-resolution (a few tens of nanometres) nano-IR measurements reliably match expected far-field IR spectra in an aqueous environment. This methodological advance provides a solid foundation for studying biomaterials or observing catalytic processes in a liquid environment.
- 3D magnetic field experiment at BESSY II takes spintronics a step further(Fe0.63Ni0.3Pd0.07)3P or FNPP is a magnetic material that exhibits complex magnetic structures even at room temperature. This makes the material of interest for spintronics, a field that could enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. One potential application is novel magnetic memory devices. However, generating and modifying the desired structures in a controlled manner remains a challenge to date. A new study led by HZB has now taken a step forward in this regard. They demonstrated at the worldwide unique VEKMAG-Station at BESSY II, that a tiny external B-field in the plane of the magnetic patterns is sufficient to change them.