HZB Newsroom

  • Neutron experiment at BER II reveals new spin phase in quantum materials
    Science Highlight
    18.03.2024
    Neutron experiment at BER II reveals new spin phase in quantum materials
    New states of order can arise in quantum magnetic materials under magnetic fields. An international team has now gained new insights into these special states of matter through experiments at the Berlin neutron source BER II and its High-Field Magnet. BER II served science until the end of 2019 and has since been shut down. Results from data at BER II are still being published.

  • Sebastian Keckert wins Young Scientist Award for Accelerator Physics
    News
    21.03.2024
    Sebastian Keckert wins Young Scientist Award for Accelerator Physics
    Dr Sebastian Keckert has been awarded the Young Scientist Award for Accelerator Physics of the German Physical Society (DPG). The prize is endowed with 5000 euros and was presented to him on 21.03. during the spring conference in Berlin. It honours the physicist's outstanding achievements in the development of new superconducting thin-film material systems for cavities.

  • Best Innovator Award 2023 for Artem Musiienko
    News
    22.03.2024
    Best Innovator Award 2023 for Artem Musiienko
    Dr. Artem Musiienko has been awarded a special prize for his groundbreaking new method for characterising semiconductors. At the recent annual conference of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) in Milan, Italy, he received the MCAA Award for the best innovation. Since 2023, Musiienko has been carrying out his research project with a postdoctoral fellowship from the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions in Antonio Abate's department, Novel Materials and Interfaces for Photovoltaic Solar Cells (SE-AMIP).
  • The future of BESSY
    News
    07.03.2024
    The future of BESSY
    At the end of February 2024, a team at HZB published an article in Synchrotron Radiation News (SRN). They describe the next development goals for the light source as well as the BESSY II+ upgrade programme and the successor source BESSY III.

  • Fertilisation under the X-ray beam
    Science Highlight
    19.03.2024
    Fertilisation under the X-ray beam
    After the egg has been fertilized by a sperm, the surrounding egg coat tightens, mechanically preventing the entry of additional sperm and the ensuing death of the embryo. A team from the Karolinska Institutet has now gained this new insight through measurements at the X-ray light sources BESSY II, DLS and ESRF. 
  • Where quantum computers can score
    Science Highlight
    15.03.2024
    Where quantum computers can score
    The travelling salesman problem is considered a prime example of a combinatorial optimisation problem. Now a Berlin team led by theoretical physicist Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert of Freie Universität Berlin and HZB has shown that a certain class of such problems can actually be solved better and much faster with quantum computers than with conventional methods.
  • ERC Consolidator Grant for HZB researcher Robert Seidel
    News
    04.03.2024
    ERC Consolidator Grant for HZB researcher Robert Seidel
    Physicist Dr Robert Seidel has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). Over the next five years, he will receive a total of two million euros for his research project WATER-X. Seidel will use state-of-the-art X-ray techniques at BESSY II to study nanoparticles in aqueous solution for the photocatalytic production of "green" hydrogen.
  • Unconventional piezoelectricity in ferroelectric hafnia
    Science Highlight
    26.02.2024
    Unconventional piezoelectricity in ferroelectric hafnia
    Hafnium oxide thin films are a fascinating class of materials with robust ferroelectric properties in the nanometre range. While their ferroelectric behaviour is extensively studied, results on piezoelectric effects have so far remained mysterious. A new study now shows that the piezoelectricity in ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films can be dynamically changed by electric field cycling. Another ground-breaking result is a possible occurrence of an intrinsic non-piezoelectric ferroelectric compound. These unconventional features in hafnia offer new options for use in microelectronics and information technology.
  • 14 parameters in one go: New instrument for optoelectronics
    Science Highlight
    21.02.2024
    14 parameters in one go: New instrument for optoelectronics
    An HZB physicist has developed a new method for the comprehensive characterisation of semiconductors in a single measurement. The "Constant Light-Induced Magneto-Transport (CLIMAT)" is based on the Hall effect and allows to record 14 different parameters of transport properties of negative and positive charge carriers. The method was tested now on twelve different semiconductor materials and will save valuable time in assessing new materials for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells.
  • Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin is a bicycle-friendly employer
    News
    21.02.2024
    Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin is a bicycle-friendly employer
    Since 2017, the German Cyclists' Federation (ADFC) has been awarding the EU-wide "Bicycle-Friendly Employer" certification. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has now been awarded the coveted silver seal. With this, the HZB wants to be even more attractive as an employer, especially for international applicants.

  • Sodium-ion batteries: How doping works
    Science Highlight
    20.02.2024
    Sodium-ion batteries: How doping works
    Sodium-ion batteries still have a number of weaknesses that could be remedied by optimising the battery materials. One possibility is to dope the cathode material with foreign elements. A team from HZB and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has now investigated the effects of doping with Scandium and Magnesium. The scientists collected data at the X-ray sources BESSY II, PETRA III, and SOLARIS to get a complete picture and uncovered two competing mechanisms that determine the stability of the cathodes.
  • New HZB magazine lichtblick is out
    News
    16.02.2024
    New HZB magazine lichtblick is out
    The new HZB magazine lichtblick is out! Topics are: green hydrogen, construction projects and green construction for Ukraine, ... We invite you to browse through the online edition.

  • BESSY II: Molecular orbitals determine stability
    Science Highlight
    07.02.2024
    BESSY II: Molecular orbitals determine stability
    Carboxylic acid dianions (fumarate, maleate and succinate) play a role in coordination chemistry and to some extent also in the biochemistry of body cells. An HZB team at BESSY II has now analysed their electronic structures using RIXS in combination with DFT simulations. The results provide information not only on electronic structures but also on the relative stability of these molecules which can influence an industry's choice of carboxylate dianions, optimizing both the stability and geometry of coordination polymers.
  • Against anti-democratic endeavours
    News
    05.02.2024
    Against anti-democratic endeavours
    The Alliance of German Science Organisations, to which the Helmholtz Association also belongs, emphatically condemns any kind of anti-democratic and inhuman endeavours.

  • BESSY II: Local variations in the structure of High-Entropy Alloys
    Science Highlight
    30.01.2024
    BESSY II: Local variations in the structure of High-Entropy Alloys
    High-entropy alloys can withstand extreme heat and stress, making them suitable for a variety of specific applications. A new study at the X-ray synchrotron radiation source BESSY II has now provided deeper insights into the ordering processes and diffusion phenomena in these materials. The study involved teams from HZB, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, the University of Latvia and the University of Münster.
  • Higher measurement accuracy opens new window to the quantum world
    Science Highlight
    17.01.2024
    Higher measurement accuracy opens new window to the quantum world
    A team at HZB has developed a new measurement method that, for the first time, accurately detects tiny temperature differences in the range of 100 microkelvin in the thermal Hall effect. Previously, these temperature differences could not be measured quantitatively due to thermal noise. Using the well-known terbium titanate as an example, the team demonstrated that the method delivers highly reliable results. The thermal Hall effect provides information about coherent multi-particle states in quantum materials, based on their interaction with lattice vibrations (phonons).
  • Nachruf: Wir trauern um Hans-Anton Graf
    Nachricht
    15.01.2024
    Nachruf: Wir trauern um Hans-Anton Graf
    Wir trauern um unseren ehemaligen Kollegen und Leiter des BENSC-Nutzerbüros am damaligen Hahn-Meitner-Institut (HMI, später HZB Nutzerbüro Neutronen) Dr. Hans-Anton Graf. Er verstarb nach einem ereignisreichen Leben und längerer Krankheit am 30. Dezember 2023 im Alter von 78 Jahren. Hans-Anton Graf war 1977 bis 2010 in der Neutronenforschung am HMI/HZB tätig.
  • Prof. Dr. Yan Lu: Developing new types of batteries sustainably
    News
    12.01.2024
    Prof. Dr. Yan Lu: Developing new types of batteries sustainably
    Yan Lu is appointed new Professor of Hybrid Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion at Friedrich Schiller University Jena together with HZB. Congratulations!
  • Focused ion beam technology: a single tool for a wide range of applications
    Science Highlight
    11.01.2024
    Focused ion beam technology: a single tool for a wide range of applications
    Processing materials on the nanoscale, producing prototypes for microelectronics or analysing biological samples: The range of applications for finely focused ion beams is huge. Experts from the EU collaboration FIT4NANO have now reviewed the many options and developed a roadmap for the future. The article, published in “Applied Physics Review”, is aimed at students, users from industry and science as well as research policy makers.
  • Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum 90. Geburtstag, Professor Eichler!
    Nachricht
    01.01.2024
    Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum 90. Geburtstag, Professor Eichler!
    Prof. Jörg Eichler war von 1971 bis 1973 wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des Hahn-Meitner-Instituts (HMI), aus dem später zusammen mit BESSY das HZB entstanden ist.  Am 1. Januar 2024 feierte Prof. Jörg Eichler nun seinen 90sten Geburtstag. Das HZB sendet herzliche Glückwünsche.

  • Green hydrogen: Perovskite oxide catalysts analysed in an X-ray beam
    Science Highlight
    21.12.2023
    Green hydrogen: Perovskite oxide catalysts analysed in an X-ray beam
    The production of green hydrogen requires catalysts that control the process of splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. However, the structure of the catalyst changes under electrical tension, which also influences the catalytic activity. A team from the universities of Duisburg-Essen and Twente has investigated at BESSY II and elsewhere how the transformation of surfaces in perovskite oxide catalysts controls the activity of the oxygen evolution reaction. 
  • Green hydrogen: Improving iridium catalysts with titanium oxides
    Science Highlight
    13.12.2023
    Green hydrogen: Improving iridium catalysts with titanium oxides
    Anodes for the electrolytic splitting of water are usually iridium-based materials. In order to increase the stability of the iridium catalyst, a team at HZB and a group at HI-ERN have now produced a so-called material library: a sample in which the concentration of iridium and titanium oxides is systematically varied. Analyses of the individual sample segments at BESSY II in the EMIL laboratory showed that the presence of titanium oxides can increase the stability of the iridium catalyst significantly.
  • HZB-Highlights 2022 published
    News
    12.12.2023
    HZB-Highlights 2022 published
    The Highlights 2022 report on a selection of the most important research results and events at HZB.
  • Collaborative Research Centre “Nanoscale Metals” raises 11 million euros
    News
    07.12.2023
    Collaborative Research Centre “Nanoscale Metals” raises 11 million euros
    Several HZB research teams are participating in the new SFB 1636 "Elementary processes of light-driven reactions on nanoscale metals".
  • Boosting PET recycling with higher standards for laboratory experiments
    Science Highlight
    24.11.2023
    Boosting PET recycling with higher standards for laboratory experiments
    Many enzymes promise to break down plastic. But what works well in the lab often fails on a large scale. Now a new study by Gert Weber, HZB, Uwe Bornscheuer, University of Greifswald, and Alain Marty, Chief Scientific Officer of Carbios, shows how raising the bar for laboratory experiments could help identify promising approaches more quickly. The team demonstrated the new standards on four newly discovered enzymes.
  • Microplastics in soil: Tomography shows where the particles are build in
    Science Highlight
    17.11.2023
    Microplastics in soil: Tomography shows where the particles are build in
    It really is a problem: Microplastics are everywhere. Now, an HZB and University Potsdam team developed a method that for the first time enables us to precisely localise microplastics in soil. The combined 3D tomographies by neutrons and X-rays show exactly the location of particles and structural changes that can affect water flows and soil properties.
  • Steve Albrecht is one of the “Highly Cited Researchers 2023”
    News
    15.11.2023
    Steve Albrecht is one of the “Highly Cited Researchers 2023”
    Every year, countless articles are published in specialist journals. The information service provider Clarivate uses a recognised method to measure the influence of the published articles on the respective subject area. According to this year's evaluation, HZB researcher Steve Albrecht is one of the most "highly cited researchers" having a significant influence on his field. Albrecht and his team have been involved in several world records for tandem solar cells in recent years and have published the results in high-ranking scientific journals. 
  • With a verified greenhouse gas balance: HZB aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2035
    News
    08.11.2023
    With a verified greenhouse gas balance: HZB aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2035
    HZB is aware of its social responsibility. Now, HZB’s Greenhouse Gas Report is here, after being externally verified, and identifies the main sources of emissions. The report provides the basis for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • BESSY II: Neutralising electronic inhomogeneity in cleaved bulk MoS₂
    Science Highlight
    30.10.2023
    BESSY II: Neutralising electronic inhomogeneity in cleaved bulk MoS₂
    Molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) is a highly versatile material that can function, for example, as a gas sensor or as a photocatalyst in green hydrogen production. Although the understanding of a material usually starts from investigating its bulk crystalline form, for MoS₂ much more studies have been devoted to mono and few layer nanosheets. The few studies conducted thus far show diverse and irreproducible results for the electronic properties of cleaved bulk MoS₂ surfaces, highlighting the need for a more systematic study.
  • Curious Mind Award for Michelle Browne
    News
    23.10.2023
    Curious Mind Award for Michelle Browne
    On Thursday, 12 October 2023, Michelle Browne received a prestigious award in Hamburg: The "Curious Mind Award" in the category "Mobility, Energy and Sustainable Business" by manager magazin. 
  • Special conference of the East German Minister-Presidents as guests at HZB
    News
    19.10.2023
    Special conference of the East German Minister-Presidents as guests at HZB
    With a strong commitment to further investment in research and innovation, the special conference of the East German Minister-Presidents came to an end on 19 October 2023. The special conference, chaired by Saxony's Minister-President Michael Kretschmer, was also attended by Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and the Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany, Carsten Schneider.
    The special conference was hosted by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, based in Berlin-Adlershof with BESSY II light source and its energy research.

  • Solidarity with Israel
    News
    10.10.2023
    Solidarity with Israel
    With great concern, we are following the news from Israel. We are stunned by the massive terrorist violence causing many victims and unbearable human suffering. We condemn the attacks by Hamas on Israel and its citizen in the strongest possible terms.
  • Green Deal Ukraina: Energy and Climate Agenda for Ukraine’s way towards EU
    News
    10.10.2023
    Green Deal Ukraina: Energy and Climate Agenda for Ukraine’s way towards EU
    The first high-level event of the Green Deal Ukraina (GDU) project took place in October in Kyiv, Ukraine, attended by more than 150 participants. This first gathering and formal launch took place at an important moment: EU will share a new report on the countries progress towards EU and Ukraine will respond by sharing its own analysis, called pre-screening.
  • Green hydrogen could reach economic viability by co-production of valuable chemicals
    Science Highlight
    09.10.2023
    Green hydrogen could reach economic viability by co-production of valuable chemicals
    It already works: there are several approaches to using solar energy to split water and produce hydrogen. Unfortunately, this green hydrogen has so far been more expensive than grey hydrogen from natural gas. A study by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Technische Universität Berlin now shows how green hydrogen from sunlight can become profitable.
  • Diamond materials as solar-powered electrodes – spectroscopy shows what’s important
    Science Highlight
    08.10.2023
    Diamond materials as solar-powered electrodes – spectroscopy shows what’s important
    It sounds like magic: photoelectrodes could convert the greenhouse gas CO₂ back into methanol or N2 molecules into valuable fertiliser – using only the energy of sunlight. An HZB study has now shown that diamond materials are in principle suitable for such photoelectrodes. By combining X-ray spectroscopic techniques at BESSY II with other measurement methods, Tristan Petit’s team has succeeded for the first time in precisely tracking which processes are excited by light as well as the crucial role of the surface of the diamond materials.
  • Technology Transfer Prize: Tandem solar cells step closer to industrial pilot production
    News
    08.10.2023
    Technology Transfer Prize: Tandem solar cells step closer to industrial pilot production
    Tandem solar cells achieve high efficiencies: by combining two different types of solar cells, more sunlight is converted into electricity. PV manufacturer Qcells and a HZB team led by Dr. Kári Sveinbjörnsson and Bor Li have developed the technology to an extent, that Qcells invested in setting up a pilot line for the development of tandem cells in Saxony-Anhalt. For this successful transfer into industrial application, both researchers received the Technology Transfer Prize of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin worth 5,000 euros, on 4. October 2023.
  • Revolutionary material science: Helmholtz High Impact Award for Novel Tandem Solar Cells
    News
    29.09.2023
    Revolutionary material science: Helmholtz High Impact Award for Novel Tandem Solar Cells
    A multidisciplinary team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) is researching and improving novel tandem solar cells in order to bring them into application. For their approach and research achievements, Steve Albrecht, Antonio Abate and Eva Unger from HZB and Michael Saliba from FZJ received the High Impact Award on 27 September 2023. With the award, which comes with 50,000 euros in prize money, the Helmholtz Association and the Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany honour innovative approaches that have the potential to act as game-changers.
  • Structure formation during freeze casting filmed
    Science Highlight
    06.09.2023
    Structure formation during freeze casting filmed
    Freeze casting processes can be used to produce highly porous and hierarchically structured materials that have a large surface area. They are suitable for a wide variety of applications, as electrodes for batteries, catalyst materials or in biomedicine. A team led by Prof. Ulrike G. K. Wegst, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA and Dr. Francisco García Moreno from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have used the newly developed X-ray tomoscopy technique. At the Swiss Light Source of the Paul Scherrer Institute they observed in real time and at high resolution how the process of structure formation takes place during freezing. A sugar solution served as the model system.
  • Quantum computing: Benchmarking performance by random data
    Science Highlight
    29.08.2023
    Quantum computing: Benchmarking performance by random data
    With increasing size and complexity, quantum computers become a sort of black box. Using methods from mathematical physics, a team has now succeeded in deriving concrete numbers from random, data sequences that can serve as a benchmark for the performance of a quantum computer system. Experts from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Qusoft Research Centre Amsterdam, the University of Copenhagen and the Technology Innovation Institute Abu Dhabi were involved in the work, which has now been published in Nature Communications.
  • Spintronics: X-ray microscopy unravels the nature of domain walls
    Science Highlight
    28.08.2023
    Spintronics: X-ray microscopy unravels the nature of domain walls
    Magnetic skyrmions are tiny vortices of magnetic spin textures. In principle, materials with skyrmions could be used as spintronic devices, for example as very fast and energy-efficient data storage devices. But at the moment it is still difficult to control and manipulate skyrmions at room temperature. A new study at BESSY II analyses the formation of skyrmions in ferrimagnetic thin films of dysprosium and cobalt in real time and with high spatial resolution. This is an important step towards characterising suitable materials with skyrmions more precisely in the future.
  • BESSY II: Surface analysis of catalyst particles in aqueous solutions
    Science Highlight
    21.07.2023
    BESSY II: Surface analysis of catalyst particles in aqueous solutions
    In a special issue on the liquid jet method, a team reports on reactions of water molecules on the surfaces of metal oxide particles. The results are relevant for the development of efficient photoelectrodes for the production of green hydrogen.
  • Quantitative analysis of cell organelles with artificial intelligence
    Science Highlight
    18.07.2023
    Quantitative analysis of cell organelles with artificial intelligence
    X-ray microscopy (cryo-SXT) enables high-resolution insights into cells and cell organelles - in three dimensions. Until now, the 3D data sets have been analysed manually, which is very time-consuming. A team from Freie Universität Berlin has now developed a self-learning algorithm based on a convolutional neural network. In collaboration with experts in cell biology (FU Berlin) and X-ray microscopy at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, this algorithm has now been used for the first time to analyse cell components in cryo-SXT data sets. It identified cell organelles and produced highly detailed, complex 3D images within a few minutes.
  • Solar hydrogen: Barriers for charge transport in metal oxides
    Science Highlight
    12.07.2023
    Solar hydrogen: Barriers for charge transport in metal oxides
    In theory, metal oxides are ideally suited as photoelectrodes for the direct generation of hydrogen with sunlight. Now, for the first time, a team at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has succeeded in determining the transport properties of the charge carriers in different metal oxides over a time range of nine orders of magnitude.
  • Record-breaking tandem solar cell now with precise scientific explanations
    Science Highlight
    06.07.2023
    Record-breaking tandem solar cell now with precise scientific explanations
    The world's best tandem solar cells, consisting of a silicon bottom cell and a perovskite top cell, can today convert around one-third of incident solar radiation into electrical energy. These are record values, especially for a potentially very low-cost technology. A team at HZB is now providing the scientific data for the first time and describing how this development was achieved in the renowned journal Science. 
  • BESSY II: What drives ions through polymer membranes
    Science Highlight
    05.07.2023
    BESSY II: What drives ions through polymer membranes
    Photoelectrolysers and electrolysis cells can produce green hydrogen or fossil-free carbon compounds – but they require ion-exchange membranes. An HZB team has now studied the transport of ions through the membrane in a hybrid liquid gas electrolyzer at the X-ray source BESSY II. Contrary to expectations, however, concentration differences hardly drive electric field ions. Diffusion is therefore the decisive process. This finding could help in the development of highly efficient and significantly more environmentally friendly membrane materials.
  • HZB and University of Jena establish Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications
    News
    23.06.2023
    HZB and University of Jena establish Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications
    Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy, HZB) will jointly establish the "Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications" (HIPOLE) on 1 July 2023. The aim of HIPOLE is to develop sustainable polymer materials for energy technologies that can be rapidly brought into application, in particular polymer-based batteries and perovskite solar cells with polymer additives. HIPOLE will be funded with up to 5.5 million euros per year by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 90%) and the Free State of Thuringia (10%). In the start-up phase until 2028, the Free State of Thuringia will additionally fund the new institute with more than ten million euros and take over the financing of the construction costs for the laboratories and offices.
  • BESSY II: Experimental verification of an exotic quantum phase in Au2Pb
    Science Highlight
    15.06.2023
    BESSY II: Experimental verification of an exotic quantum phase in Au2Pb
    A team of HZB has investigated the electronic structure of  Au2Pb at BESSY II by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy across a wide temperature range: The results are in accordance with the electronic structure of a three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetal, in agreement with theoretical calculations.
  • Come to the Long Night of the Sciences in Wannsee: 17.06. from 5-0 p.m.
    News
    13.06.2023
    Come to the Long Night of the Sciences in Wannsee: 17.06. from 5-0 p.m.
    e will open our doors for the Long Night of the Sciences. Get exciting insights into our energy research, visit laboratories and ask us your questions about the energy transition. Our school lab invites you to take part in hands-on experiments - and a science show will keep you pumped up and amazed! Please bring your identity card!     

  • Nachruf für Prof. Hans Ackermann
    Nachricht
    13.06.2023
    Nachruf für Prof. Hans Ackermann
    Nach längerer Krankheit starb Prof. Dr. Hans Ackermann am 25. März 2023 im Alter von 87 Jahren. Hans Ackermann war in vielen Funktionen für das Hahn-Meitner-Institut in den 1980er und 1990er Jahren tätig. In dieser Zeit war er einer der führenden Forscher auf dem Gebiet der nuklearen Festkörperphysik, der sich prägend und intensiv für diese Forschungsrichtung und ihre Förderung eingesetzt hat.

  • Happy Birthday, Wolfgang Gudat!
    News
    11.06.2023
    Happy Birthday, Wolfgang Gudat!
    On 11 June 2023, Professor Dr Wolfgang Gudat will turn 80. From 1989 to 2000, Wolfgang Gudat was scientific director of BESSY. Under his leadership, the BESSY II project was approved and the storage ring in Adlershof was built and equipped with state-of-the-art instruments. He founded the Friends of HZB and is honorary chairman of the association. On his birthday, his colleagues and the HZB management wish him all the best!
  • Green Deal Ukraina: HZB launches an Energy & Climate Project
    News
    07.06.2023
    Green Deal Ukraina: HZB launches an Energy & Climate Project
    Green Deal Ukraina, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is working with partner institutions in Ukraine and Poland to establish an energy and climate think tank in the capital, Kiev. The aim is to provide independent and evidence-based advice on rebuilding a sustainable energy system in Ukraine. After all, the implementation of energy and climate legislation is a prerequisite for Ukraine's accession to the EU. The project started on 1 June 2023 and will run for four years.
  • Bernd Rech elected Member of the Slovenian Academy
    News
    07.06.2023
    Bernd Rech elected Member of the Slovenian Academy
    In February 2023, the Scientific Director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin was elected Corresponding Member of the Slovenian Academy of Engineering (IAS).

  • Spintronics at BESSY II: Domain walls in magnetic nanowires
    Science Highlight
    02.06.2023
    Spintronics at BESSY II: Domain walls in magnetic nanowires
    Magnetic domains walls are known to be a source of electrical resistance due to the difficulty for transport electron spins to follow their magnetic texture. This phenomenon holds potential for utilization in spintronic devices, where the electrical resistance can vary based on the presence or absence of a domain wall. A particularly intriguing class of materials are half metals such as La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 (LSMO) which present full spin polarization, allowing their exploitation in spintronic devices. Still the resistance of a single domain wall in half metals remained unknown. Now a team from Spain, France and Germany has generated a single domain wall on a LSMO nanowire and measured resistance changes 20 times larger than for a normal ferromagnet such as Cobalt.
  • Fractons as information storage: Not yet quite tangible, but close
    Science Highlight
    26.05.2023
    Fractons as information storage: Not yet quite tangible, but close
    A new quasiparticle with interesting properties has appeared in solid-state physics - but so far only in the theoretical modelling of solids with certain magnetic properties. An international team from HZB and Freie Universität Berlin has now shown that, contrary to expectations, quantum fluctuations do not make the quasiparticle appear more clearly, but rather blur its signature.
  • Graphene on titanium carbide triggers a novel phase transition
    Science Highlight
    25.05.2023
    Graphene on titanium carbide triggers a novel phase transition
    Researchers have discovered a Lifshitz-transition in TiC, driven by a graphene overlayer, at the photon source BESSY II. Their study sheds light on the exciting potential of 2D materials such as graphene and the effects they can have on neighboring materials through proximity interactions.
  • Girls on Tour at the Long Night of Science: Be there!
    News
    17.05.2023
    Girls on Tour at the Long Night of Science: Be there!
    Are you a 10th to 13th grade student interested in mathematics and science? Then secure your free VIP ticket for a tour with exciting experiments and insights during the Long Night of Science! Meet female scientists who are passionate about making our world a better place! 17.06. , from 5.30 pm, Adlershof Research Campus.
  • “Jugend-forscht” winners at HZB (Update)
    News
    17.05.2023
    “Jugend-forscht” winners at HZB (Update)
    Charlotte Klar and Katharina Austermann (both 18) have already come a long way: With their experiments on pyrolytic graphite, they are trying to solve a puzzle they found in the technical literature on diamagnetism. With their work, they convinced both the Jugend-forscht-Jury at the Berlin South Regional Competition and the Berlin Competition. Now, they will join the national competition which will take place from 18 to 21 May in Bremen.

  • Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Grant for Dr. Jie Wei
    News
    16.05.2023
    Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Grant for Dr. Jie Wei
    In April, Dr. Jie Wei started his research work in the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Nanoscale Operando CO2 Photo-Electrocatalysis at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society. Wei received one of the highly competitive Humboldt postdoctoral research fellowships and will pursue his two-year project under the guidance of the academic hosts Dr. Christopher Kley and Prof. Dr. Beatriz Roldan Cuenya.
  • Calculating the carbon footprint of publications
    Interview
    15.05.2023
    Calculating the carbon footprint of publications
    Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert heads the Quantum Computation and Simulation research group, which is jointly funded by Freie Universität Berlin and HZB. The theoretical physicist recently received an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council ERC for his research project "DebuQC". But Eisert is not only an award-winning scientist, he is also concerned about global warming. Last year, on the initiative of Ryan Sweke, he and his team published a proposal that deserves attention: scientific publications on theoretical physics or chemistry could include a simple table listing the greenhouse gases emitted during the research. This would raise awareness of the fact that research is not climate neutral.
  • Humboldt Fellow joins HZB for battery research
    News
    02.05.2023
    Humboldt Fellow joins HZB for battery research
    Dr. Wenxi Wang is working in the team of Prof. Yan Lu as Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral fellow. He studied at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, and completed his doctorate at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. He specialises in the precise design of organic electrodes for lithium-sulfur and zinc-ion batteries and the investigation of the interactions between ions and active materials.
  • Bauwerkintegrierte Photovoltaik: HZB bei den Berliner Energietagen am 23.05.
    Nachricht
    01.05.2023
    Bauwerkintegrierte Photovoltaik: HZB bei den Berliner Energietagen am 23.05.
    In diesem Jahr fokussiert die Veranstaltung des Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie die Bauwerkintegrierte Photovoltaik (BIPV). Dabei betrachten wir das Material, die Technologie, den Baustoff sowie Entwurfsparameter und den Bauablauf. Begleitet wird die Veranstaltung von Materialproben und Vorträgen.

  • CO2 recycling: What is the role of the electrolyte?
    Science Highlight
    25.04.2023
    CO2 recycling: What is the role of the electrolyte?
    The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide can be converted into useful hydrocarbons by electrolysis. The design of the electrolysis cell is crucial in this process. The so-called zero-gap cell is particularly suitable for industrial processes. But there are still problems: The cathodes clog up quickly. At the HZB, Matthew Mayer and his team has now investigated what causes this and how this undesirable process can be prevented.
  • Visit from the Czech Republic regarding Apprenticeship
    News
    17.04.2023
    Visit from the Czech Republic regarding Apprenticeship
    End of March, a delegation from the Czech Republic visited HZB at the Wannsee campus. The programme included a visit to the apprentices’ workshop and exchanges regarding opportunities for apprenticeships and upskilling at HZB.

  • “We are currently in a decisive phase for photovoltaics”
    Interview
    14.04.2023
    “We are currently in a decisive phase for photovoltaics”
    The HZB researcher Rutger Schlatmann has been elected as the new Chair of the platform ETIP-PV, which brings together representatives of science, industry and politics from all over Europe. We interviewed him about the current boom – and about why the photovoltaics ship has not yet sailed for the EU.

  • Fast and flexible solar energy from the printer
    News
    12.04.2023
    Fast and flexible solar energy from the printer
    Lighter, more flexible and adaptable – the innovation platform Solar TAP develops innovative solutions for photovoltaic applications. The aim is to make surfaces already used in agriculture, the building sector and transport additionally usable for the expansion of solar energy with printed solar cells.
  • How much cadmium is contained in cocoa beans?
    Science Highlight
    06.04.2023
    How much cadmium is contained in cocoa beans?
    Cocoa beans can absorb toxic heavy metals such as cadmium from the soil. Some cultivation areas, especially in South America, are polluted with these heavy metals, in some cases considerably. In combining different X-ray fluorescence techniques, a team at BESSY II has now been able to non-invasively measure for the first time where cadmium accumulates exactly in cocoa beans: Mainly in the shell. Further investigations show that the processing of the cocoa beans can have a great influence on the concentration of heavy metals.
  • Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries: Neutrons unveil sluggish charge transport
    Science Highlight
    05.04.2023
    Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries: Neutrons unveil sluggish charge transport
    Solid-state Lithium-Sulfur batteries offer the potential for much higher energy densities and increased safety, compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. However, the performance of solid-state batteries is currently lacking, with slow charging and discharging being one of the primary causes. Now, a new study from HZB shows that sluggish lithium ion transport within a composite cathode is the cause of this slow charging and discharging.
  • SXR2023: Deadline for submissions April 15
    News
    05.04.2023
    SXR2023: Deadline for submissions April 15
    The SXR2023 (Principles of Functionality from Soft-X-Ray Spectroscopy) brings together young and experienced scientists to discuss recent scientific highlights, trends, and current advances with soft X-ray spectroscopy. Our goal is to further understanding on the atomic level. The impetus is to influence and ideally shape functionality in materials and molecular systems. In this effort, scientists cross intentionally the boundaries between physics, chemistry and materials and focus on the unifying aspects of functionality. Insights to the governing principles are often based on the combination of experiment with first principles theory and models. Thus a profound description of X-ray matter interaction — creating the spectroscopic observables — is always underlying.
  • Quantum physicist Jens Eisert receives ERC Advanced Grant
    News
    30.03.2023
    Quantum physicist Jens Eisert receives ERC Advanced Grant
    Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert conducts research at the Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems at Freie Universität Berlin and heads the joint research group with HZB for quantum computing and simulation. With his award-winning research project "DebuQC", he wants to explore the metaphorical boundary of the classical and quantum worlds. It is already his third ERC grant that Jens Eisert has received. The professor of theoretical quantum physics and his team want to clarify essential research questions about quantum technology and also explore the limits of this promising technology.
  • Catherine Dubourdieu receives ERC Advanced Grant
    News
    30.03.2023
    Catherine Dubourdieu receives ERC Advanced Grant
    Prof. Dr. Catherine Dubourdieu heads the Institute “Functional Oxides for Energy-Efficient Information Technology” at HZB and is Professor at the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry division at Freie Universität Berlin. The physicist and materials scientist specialises in nanometre-sized functional oxides and their applications in information technologies. She has now been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for her research project “LUCIOLE”, which aims at combining ferroelectric polar textures with conventional silicon technologies.