Leading scientists on topological insulators met in Berlin
Outstanding researchers took part in the “New Trends in Topological Insulators 2014” - workshop.
From July 7-10, 150 researchers met in Berlin to discuss recent findings in the field of topological insulators.
Topological insulators are a rather new form of quantum matter with an insulating bulk and a metallic surface created by topologically protected and spin polarized electronic states.
Outstanding researchers took part in the “New Trends in Topological Insulators 2014” - workshop, organized by Gustav Bihlmayer (Forschungszentrum Jülich) and Saskia Fischer (Humboldt University and Oliver Rader of HZB. 20 speakers had been invited for presentations, the 2012 Buckley Prize winners Shoucheng Zhang and Laurens W. Molenkamp (also Leibniz Prize 2014), Zhi-Xun Shen (Buckley prize 2011) and Yoichi Ando (2014 Inoue Prize for Science) being among them.
Breakthrough results were delivered on topics such as optical excitation, electron-photon entangled states, the role of electron correlation as well as imaging of helical edge states and Majorana fermions.
The event took place on the premises of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. It has been generously supported by DFG as well as HZB.
- The future of corals – what X-rays can tell usThis summer, it was all over the media. Driven by the climate crisis, the oceans have now also passed a critical point, the absorption of CO2 is making the oceans increasingly acidic. The shells of certain sea snails are already showing the first signs of damage. But also the skeleton structures of coral reefs are deteriorating in more acidic conditions. This is especially concerning given that corals are already suffering from marine heatwaves and pollution, which are leading to bleaching and finally to the death of entire reefs worldwide. But how exactly does ocean acidification affect reef structures?
Prof. Dr. Tali Mass, a marine biologist from the University of Haifa, Israel, is an expert on stony corals. Together with Prof. Dr. Paul Zaslansky, X-ray imaging expert from Charité Berlin, she investigated at BESSY II the skeleton formation in baby corals, raised under different pH conditions. Antonia Rötger spoke online with the two experts about the results of their recent study and the future of coral reefs.
- Susanne Nies appointed to EU advisory group on Green DealDr. Susanne Nies heads the Green Deal Ukraina project at HZB, which aims to support the development of a sustainable energy system in Ukraine. The energy expert has now also been appointed to the European Commission's scientific advisory group to comment on regulatory burdens in connection with the net-zero target (DG GROW).
- Long-term stability for perovskite solar cells: a big step forwardPerovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce and generate a high amount of electric power per surface area. However, they are not yet stable enough, losing efficiency more rapidly than the silicon market standard. Now, an international team led by Prof. Dr. Antonio Abate has dramatically increased their stability by applying a novel coating to the interface between the surface of the perovskite and the top contact layer. This has even boosted efficiency to almost 27%, which represents the state-of-the-art. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation under standard illumination, no decrease in efficiency was observed. The study involved research teams from China, Italy, Switzerland and Germany and has been published in Nature Photonics.