Another innovative EU project with HZB participation kicked off
Symbol picture for BIPV (University of Zurich (Zh) - 100 kWp) © Planeco GmbH
The CUSTOM-ART consortium consists of 17 academic and industrial partners, involving world leading groups and main European actors involved in the development of kesterite technologies. It leads an ambitious and disruptive project for the development and demonstration of the next generation of building and product integrated photovoltaic modules (BIPV and PIPV) based on abundant thin-film materials. The project started September, 1st 2020 and will run for 3.5 years.
HZB contributes to the technology development by systematically investigating the structure-function relationship of kesterite-type materials as one of quaternary chalcogenide compound semiconductors. HZB will study the influence of alkali doping on the point defect scenario and level of structural disorder. These studies will rely on detailed structural investigations of kesterite-type monograins (based on neutron diffraction and multiple energy anomalous X-ray diffraction). Also HZB will contribute with combinatorial high-throughput materials optimization applying especially advanced optoelectronic analytics. HZB has a share of 550 TEUR out of the total funding based on budgeted total costs of 8M€.
- BESSY II: Phosphorous chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties of a material through a highly refined experimental process. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.
- Did marine life in the palaeocene use a compass?Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and navigate across the ocean. The method offers a powerful tool for magnetically testing whether putative biological iron oxide particles in Mars samples have a biogenic origin.
- What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biologyInfrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.