Carl-Ramsauer-Award for excellent dissertation
Dr. Raphael Jay has received this year's Carl-Ramsauer-Prize of the German Physical Society of Berlin. © Max Threlfall
Dr. Raphael Jay has received this year's Carl-Ramsauer-Prize of the German Physical Society of Berlin (DPGzB). The prize honours outstanding dissertations in physics and related fields and will be awarded during a festive colloquium on 18 November 2020 in the Magnus-Haus.
Dr. Raphael Jay studied ultrafast charge transfer dynamics in iron complexes during his doctorate at the University of Potsdam under the supervision of Prof. Alexander Föhlisch. In the context of the EDAX project at BESSY II, he carried out measurements with ultra-short X-ray pulses, whereby the experimental infrastructure was also used for measurements at the Free Electron Laser LCLS in Stanford.
The complex measurement results were analysed within the HZB Virtual Institute "Dynamic Pathways in multimensional Landscapes" in collaboration with Stockholm University. In future, this type of experiment will also be possible at the European XFEL in Hamburg, which was developed in parallel within the EDAX project. Raphael Jay is now continuing his scientific work at the University of Uppsala.
- Energy of charge carrier pairs in cuprate compoundsHigh-temperature superconductivity is still not fully understood. Now, an international research team at BESSY II has measured the energy of charge carrier pairs in undoped La₂CuO₄. Their findings revealed that the interaction energies within the potentially superconducting copper oxide layers are significantly lower than those in the insulating lanthanum oxide layers. These results contribute to a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity and could also be relevant for research into other functional materials.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.
- Two precision mechanics from HZB are Berlin's best traineesTwo former apprentices from the HZB workshop have achieved something remarkable: Fiete Buchin and Edgar Lunk completed their training as precision mechanics, taking first and second place in all of Berlin. In this interview, they share what it took to reach the top, what makes their training special, and the advice they would give to future apprentices.