NEAT: The chamber from Spain - HZB future log's latest addition
At first, the various parts are carefully unloaded so that they can be lifted quickly into the building through the roof of the NEAT building's newest addition.
© Stefanie Kodalle
Since the HZB future log (#HZBzlog) went live in March of this year, there have been a total of 15 episodes on building and developing our future projects. The focus has been on three projects in particular: high field magnet (for a total of seven episodes), EMIL (five episodes), and BESSY-VSR (three episodes). Next, the NEAT project team is taking the #HZBzlog stage.
The first episode entitled "The chamber from Spain" lets those watching and reading trace the detector chamber's course. Constructed in Spain, the chamber is slated to arrive at the HZB within the next couple of days. Witnessing the chamber's spectacular lift into the neutron conductor hall through the building's ceiling will be one of the episode's highlights.
The first NEAT episode will pick up where the current high field magnet (HFM) episode "Stairway to Heaven" left off. The episode's title, which is loosely based on the Led Zeppelin rock ballad of the same name, is no accident. Because if the electricity tests turn out successful, the HFM team will indeed feel fairly heavenly, meaning not much will stand in the way of successfully starting operation of the magnet.
As always, we will also be letting you know about stuff to know about current topics that are part of the team's research activities. In the case of "Stairway to Heaven," it might look something like this: Hartmut Ehmler talks about how the team gradually increases the electric current's strength that is being sent through the magnet. He tells of unexpected rises in temperature and of the team's response to them. Right after, Jonas Böhm explains facts to know about helium, the coolant of extremes. And Antonia Rötger will be speaking on the topic of quenching.
The NEAT episode will also provide interesting tidbits and special features on the topic of the construction work including a piece on the "travel window." Not sure what we're talking about? Just drop by and stay tuned to #hzbzlog (www.hzbzlog.com). You're of course invited to comment or ask questions. For HZB staff, that bit will be a piece of cake. All they have to do is click the "comment" button and register using their HZB email address.
- Imaging Ellipsometry for Process Control of Thin-Film DevicesA German–Israeli research team led by Dr. Andreas Furchner has demonstrated how imaging ellipsometry enables non-destructive characterisation and quality control of microstructured MXene thin films during device fabrication. The authors used two complementary ellipsometry approaches for precise, multi-scale access to key material properties. The work positions imaging ellipsometry as a powerful platform for monitoring thin-film uniformity, device integrity, and functionality throughout processing, including critical lithographic steps. The study was published in Applied Physics Letters and selected as an Editor’s Pick.
- Spintronics at BESSY II: Real-time analysis of magnetic bilayer systemsSpintronic devices enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. They are based on the interaction between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers. Now, a team from Freie Universität Berlin, HZB and Uppsala University has succeeded in tracking, for each layer separately, how the magnetic order changes after a short laser pulse has excited the system. They were also able to identify the main cause of the loss of antiferromagnetic order in the oxide layer: the excitation is transported from the hot electrons in the ferromagnetic metal to the spins in the antiferromagnet.
- Electrocatalysts: New model for charge separation at the solid-liquid interfaceHydrogen is at the heart of the transition to carbon neutrality, as both an energy carrier and a reagent for green chemistry. However, large-scale production of hydrogen via electrolysis, as well as the production of many other chemical products, requires significantly cheaper and more efficient catalysts. A precise understanding of the electrochemical processes that take place at the interface between the solid catalyst and the liquid medium is highly useful for developing better electrocatalysts. In the journal Nature Communications, an European team has now presented a powerful model that determines charge separation at the interface, the formation of the electric double layer and local electric potential variations, and the resulting influence on the catalytic activity.