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Order in the disorder: density fluctuations in amorphous silicon discovered
Such a-Si:H thin films have been used for decades in solar cells, TFT displays, and detectors. The results show that three different phases form within the amorphous matrix, which influences the quality and lifetime of the semiconductor layer.
Best electrolyser/photovoltaics combinations demonstrated in test fields
One of the most promising ways to increase the availability of solar energy is to convert excess production into hydrogen. The PECSYS project has investigated the best possible material and technology combinations to facilitate such an operation.
Hope for better batteries – researchers follow the charging and discharging of...
The use of silicon in batteries promises to increase their capacity. At the HZB, charging and discharging was observed live for the first time and insights were gained into how the material can be used even more advantageously.
Robust high-performance data storage through magnetic anisotropy
An international team led by Prof. Dr. Matias Bargheer has now observed experimentally for the first time how a special spin-lattice interaction in these iron-platinum thin films cancels out the thermal expansion of the crystal lattice.
Optimize opto-electronic devices with new compact measuring system
In order to develop efficient opto-electronic devices such as solar cells or LEDs, it is crucial to improve the quality of the semiconductors. To achieve this, it is necessary to determine the luminescence yield of the semiconductor material. For this ...
BESSY II: Experiment shows for the first time in detail how electrolytes become...
For the first time an experiment was developed at BESSY II that shows how electrolytes become metallic. The transition to the state is shown by a change of colour from blue to gold. The publication even appears on the front page of SCIENCE Magazine.
User research at BESSY II: How new materials increase the efficiency of direct...
A group from Brazil and an HZB team have investigated a novel composite membrane for ethanol fuel cells. It consists of the polymer Nafion, in which nanoparticles of a titanium compound are embedded by the rarely explored melt extrusion process.
HZB Researcher on the Board of Directors of the Materials Research Society
In September 2019, Prof. Dr. Catherine Dubourdieu was elected into the Board of Directors of the Materials Research Society (MRS). The MRS is one of the largest scientific associations and has almost 14000 members from various areas of the natural sciences ...
Save time using maths: analytical tool designs corkscrew-shaped nano-antennae
For the first time, an HZB team has derived analytically how corkscrew-shaped nano-antennas interact with light. The mathematical tool can be used to calculate the geometry that a nano-antenna must have for specific applications in sensor technology or ...
World record in tomography: Watching how metal foam forms
Researchers from the HZB and the Paul Scherrer Institute have developed a more powerful imaging method with which more than 200 three-dimensional tomographic X-ray images can be taken every second during measurement intervals of just several minutes.
Oldest completely preserved lily discovered
Already 115 million years ago, tropical flowering plants were apparently very diverse and showed all typical characteristics. This is the conclusion of an international team of researchers led by Clément Coiffard, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. The team ...
Charge transfer within transition-metal dyes analysed
Transition-metal complexes in dye-based solar cells are responsible for converting light into electrical energy. A model of spatial charge separation within the molecule has been used to describe this conversion. However, an analysis at BESSY II shows that ...
Laser-driven Spin Dynamics in Ferrimagnets: How does the Angular Momentum flow?
A team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI) has now been able to follow the flow of angular momentum during ultrafast optical demagnetization in a ferrimagnetic iron-gadolinium ...
3D tomographic imagery reveals how lithium batteries age
Lithium batteries lose amp-hour capacity over time. Microstructures can form on the electrodes with each new charge cycle, which further reduces battery capacity. Now an HZB team together with battery researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, the University ...
High-efficiency thermoelectric materials: new insights into tin selenide
Tin selenide might considerably exceed the efficiency of current record holding thermoelectric materials made of bismuth telluride. However, it was thought its efficiency became enormous only at temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius. Now measurements at the ...
Water is more homogeneous than expected
In order to explain the known anomalies in water, some researchers assume that water consists of a mixture of two phases even under ambient conditions. However, new X-ray spectroscopic analyses at BESSY II, ESRF and Swiss Light Source show that this is not ...
Blue phosphorus - mapped and measured for the first time
Until recently, the existence of "blue" phosphorus was pure theory: Now an HZB team was able to examine samples of blue phosphorus at BESSY II for the first time and confirm via mapping of their electronic band structure that this is actually this exotic ...
Collaboration between HZB and the University of Freiburg
Through a Joint Research Group entitled "Simulation of Energy Materials" Prof. Joachim Dzubiella of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg will be able to continue his collaboration with the HZB. The theoretical physicist headed the "Theory and Simulation" ...
World record: Fastest 3D tomographic images at BESSY II
An HZB team has developed an ingenious precision rotary table at the EDDI beamline at BESSY II and combined it with particularly fast optics. This enabled them to document the formation of pores in grains of metal during foaming processes at 25 tomographic ...
Neutron tomography: Insights into the interior of teeth, root balls, batteries,...
A team of researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and European Spallation Source (ESS) has now published a comprehensive overview of neutron-based imaging processes in the renowned journal Materials Today (impact factor 21.6). The authors report on the ...
Joint graduate school for data science sponsors its first projects
The Helmholtz Association, the Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF) and the universities of Berlin are creating a new PhD programme in Berlin for the field of data science. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is involved in several of the projects. The first training ...
New at Campus Wannsee: CoreLab Quantum Materials
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has expanded its series of CoreLabs for energy materials research. In addition to the five established CoreLabs, it has now set up a CoreLab for Quantum Materials. A research team from the HZB Institute for Quantum Phenomena in New ...
The Young Investigators Workshop 2017 on Dynamic Pathways in Multidimensional...
24 scientists from various countries participated in the Young Investigators Workshop 2017 on Dynamic Pathways in Multidimensional Landscapes in Grainau am Eibsee in the Bavarian Alps. This workshop which was organized by Professor Alexander Föhlisch was ...
Proton transfer: Researcher find mecanism to protect biomolecules against light...
A team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) together with researchers in Sweden and the USA has analysed a mecanism which protects biomolecules such as the DNA against damage by light. They observed how the energy of incoming photons can be absorbed by the ...
Young Investigators Workshop of the Helmholtz Virtual Institute "Dynamic...
The Virtual Institute explores the governing principles of material’s function in an internationally highly visible centre of excellence. From now on, young scientists (PhD students, master students, and young postdocs) are invited to participate in the ...
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is establishing a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group...
Dr. Matthew T. Mayer from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, will be putting together a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group in the field of energy materials research at HZB. He will be researching into how carbon dioxide and ...
VI-Conference "Dynamic Pathways in Multidimensional Landscapes 2016"
Near the museum island, in the heart of Berlin, the International Conference "Dynamic Pathways in Multidimensional Landscapes 2016" has taken place last week. More than 100 international experts met at the Magnus-Haus of the German Physical Society from 12 ...
International conference QENS 2016 and Workshop WINS 2016 in Potsdam
From 5th to 9th of September HZB has hosted two international scientific events dedicated to the study of the dynamics at nanoscale, QENS and WINS 2016. While Quasielastic Neutron scattering conference (QENS 2016) was dedicated to the scientific applications, ...
Novel state of matter: Observation of a quantum spin liquid
A novel and rare state of matter known as a quantum spin liquid has been empirically demonstrated in a monocrystal of the compound calcium-chromium oxide by team at HZB. What is remarkable about this discovery is that according to conventional understanding, ...
Spintronics: Resetting the future of Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording
A HZB team has examined thin films of Dysprosium-Cobalt sputtered onto a nanostructured membrane at BESSY II. They showed that new patterns of magnetization could be written in a quick and easy manner after warming the sample to only 80 °Celsius, which is a ...
Ferrous chemistry in aqueous solution unravelled
An HZB team has combined two different analytical methods at the BESSY II synchrotron source in order to extract more information about the chemistry of transition-metal compounds in solution. These kinds of compounds can act as catalysts to promote desirable ...
Energy Materials: Dr. Catherine Dubourdieu sets up the institute “Functional...
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) is boosting its energy materials research and setting up a new institute. Through the Helmholtz Recruitment Initiative, the HZB has gained renowned researcher Catherine Dubourdieu as Institute Director. In the newly ...
Measuring chemistry: local fingerprint of hydrogen bonding captured in...
A team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has been able for the first time to measure how new bonds influence molecules: they have reconstructed the "energy landscape” of acetone molecules using measurement data from the Swiss Light Source (SLS) of the Paul ...
rbb-Inforadio: Andreas Jankowiak im Gespräch über bERLinPro
Die Baustelle für bERLinPro fällt auf. Sie ist auch dem Wissenschaftsredakteur des rbb-Inforadio, Thomas Prinzler, nicht entgangen. Und so kam es zu einem kurzweiligen Gespräch, in dem Andreas Jankowiak die Herausforderungen des Projekts erläutert. Hohe ...
Milch, Wirkstoff-Taxis und andere kolloide Materialsysteme analysieren: SAS...
Vom 13. - 18. September treffen sich über 400 Expertinnen und Experten zur 16. Internationalen Konferenz zur Kleinwinkelstreuung (16. International Conference on Small Angle Scattering, SAS 2015) in Berlin. Mit Kleinwinkelstreuung lassen sich biologische und ...
Gerd Schneider receives a professorship for "X-ray microscopy" at...
On 29 April 2015, Gerd Schneider (HZB) accepted the call to a W2-S "X-ray microscopy” professorship at the Department of Physics of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The professorship is associated with heading the workgroup "X-ray microscopy” at ...
Antique Osiris figurines from the Egyptian Museum of Florence examined with...
An research team from the "Nello Carrara” Institute of Applied Physics, Italy, examined three antique bronze figurines non-invasively with neutrons at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie. The statuettes from the Egyptian Museum of ...
Stretch and relax! – Losing one electron switches magnetism on in dichromium
An international team of scientists from Berlin, Freiburg and Fukuoka has provided the first direct experimental insight into the secret quantum life of dichromium. Whereas in its normal state the 12 valence electrons form a strong multiple bond between the ...
Distinguished Lectures at HZB: Prof. Jürgen Janek will give talk about the...
The search for new and the development of improved electrochemical energy storage systems stimulates world-wide research efforts in both academia and industry. While impressive improvements and cost reductions are still to be expected for lithium ionbatteries ...
26 tesla! High field magnet exceeds everyone’s expectations
It’s done! The high field magnet is consistently producing magnetic fields of approx. 26 tesla and staying at this value over extended periods of time. And all this in spite of the fact that 26 tesla exceeds the original 25-tesla goal; in other words, ...
NEAT: The chamber from Spain - HZB future log's latest addition
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), ...
German Society for Materials Science awards publication with HZB scientist as co-author
At its annual conference on September 22, 2014, the German Society for Materials Science (DGM), presented the Werner Köster Award for best publication. The work, whose authors include HZB scientist Dr. Michael Tovar and which has been published in the ...
Deutsche Tagung für Forschung mit Synchrotronstrahlung, Neutronen und...
Das HZB ist mit eigenem Stand, Vortrag und Postern präsent auf der Deutschen Tagung für Forschung mit Synchrotronstrahlung, Neutronen und Ionenstrahlen an Großgeräten (SNI). Die dreitägige Veranstaltung findet vom 21. bis 23.09. im ehemaligen Plenarsaal der ...
Self-assembly of gold nanoparticles into small clusters
Researchers at HZB in co-operation with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU, Berlin) have made an astonishing observation: they were investigating the formation of gold nanoparticles in a solvent and observed that the nanoparticles had not distributed ...
Neutron Tomography technique reveals phase fractions of crystalline materials...
Researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and The University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) developed a novel method, based on energy-selective neutron imaging for visualization of crystalline phase distributions within the bulk of metallic samples.
Der weltweit stärkste Magnet für Neutronenexperimente wird in Berlin errichtet
Der Kooperationsvertrag zwischen dem Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin (HMI) und dem National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) Tallahassee (Florida State University) zum Bau eines neuen Hochfeldmagneten ist unterzeichnet worden. Er wird der weltweit stärkste ...
Stromsignal hinterlässt in Manganitkristall magnetische Spur
Optische und kristallographische Experimente belegen erstmals, dass man magnetische Signale durch elektrische Felder erzeugen kann. Für die jetzt veröffentlichten Experimente ("Magnetic phase control by an electric field", Nature, 29. 7. 2004, 430 / 541-544) ...
Bose-Einstein-Kondensat: Magnetfelder erzeugen ungewöhnlichen Materiezustand
In einem Experiment am Hahn-Meitner-Institut in Berlin wurden zum ersten Mal die magnetischen Eigenschaften eines Kristalls für die Erzeugung eines Bose-Einstein-Kondensats genutzt. Dieser ungewöhnliche Materiezustand entstand, als der Kristall in ein starkes ...
Nanoröhrchen sollen Bildschirme zum Leuchten bringen
Der von IBM-Deutschland gestiftete Hahn-Meitner-Technologie-Transfer- Preis zeichnet Materialforscher des Hahn-Meitner-Instituts aus. Fünf Forscher haben unter Leitung von Prof. Dr. Alois Weidinger für ihre innovativen - und vermarktungsfähigen - ...
EU-Projekt zu exotischen Eigenschaften von Helium-3-Atomen
Mit einer Förderung von rund einer Million Euro, verteilt über drei Jahre, startet am Hahn-Meitner-Institut ein internationales Grundlagenprojekt, das der weiteren Erforschung der faszinierenden exotischen Eigenschaften des Helium-3 Atoms gilt. Bei den ...
Mit neuartigem magnetischen Käfig Lebensdauer von Neutronen genau messen
Wissenschaftler des Hahn-Meitner-Instituts konnten gemeinsam mit Fachkollegen aus den USA erstmals Neutronen in einer neuartigen dreidimensionalen magnetischen Falle einschließen. Die Apparatur ist der Prototyp eines magnetischen Käfigs, der eine bisher ...
Margarita Russina erhält Promotionspreis mit Arbeit über atomare Diffusionsprozesse bei der Glasbildung
Den Hahn-Meitner-Promotionspreis erhält am 1. Dezember 1999 die Physikerin Dr. Margarita Russina. Der Preisträgerin war es in besonderer Weise gelungen, die wissenschaftlichen Inhalte ihrer hervorragenden Promotionsarbeit in anschaulicher und für die ...