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Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells on the threshold of 30% efficiency
The tandem cell provided stable performance for 300 hours – even without encapsulation. To accomplish this, the group headed by Prof. Steve Albrecht investigated physical processes at the interfaces to improve the transport of the charge carriers.
Future Information Technologies: Germanium telluride's hidden properties at the...
Germanium Telluride is an interesting candidate material for spintronic devices. At BESSY II, a Helmholtz-RSF Joint Research Group has revealed how the spin texture switches by ferroelectric polarization within individual nanodomains.
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.
Seminar für Architekt*innen Bauwerkintegrierte Photovoltaik: Architektur –...
Im September veranstaltet die Beratungsstelle für BIPV „BAIP“ zusammen mit der Architektenkammer Niedersachsen ein Seminar für Architekt*innen zum Thema Bauwerkintegrierte Photovoltaik: Architektur-Gestaltung und Ausführung
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 ...
User research at BESSY II: Formation of a 2D meta-stable oxide in reactive...
A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion has now described an important phenomenon that can occur when metal alloys are exposed to reactive environments at the synchrotron source BESSY II.
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.
On the road to non-toxic and stable perovskite solar cells
To replace lead by less toxic elements is not easy since lead-free perovskites show lower stability and poor efficiencies. Now, an international collaboration has engineered a new hybrid perovskite material with promising efficiency and stability.
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.
Corona research: Consortium of Berlin research and industry seeks active...
The Berlin biotech company Molox GmbH and a team at HZB have initiated a consortium of regional research groups and BASF. They want to identify a starting point for the development of a potential active substance against the new coronavirus.
Condensed Matter Physics: Long-standing prediction of quantum physics...
90 years ago, the physicist Hans Bethe postulated that unusual patterns, so-called Bethe strings, appear in certain magnetic solids. Now an international team has succeeded in experimentally detecting such Bethe strings for the first time.
Coronavirus SARS-CoV2: BESSY II data accelerate drug development
At the Berlin X-ray source BESSY II, researchers have decoded a protein involved in the replication of the corona virus. Analysing the 3D architecture allows the systematic development of drugs which inhibit the reproduction of the virus.
20 percent more patients were treated with proton therapy in 2019
For more than 20 years, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have jointly offered the irradiation of eye tumors with protons. In 2019, more patients were treated in Berlin-Wannsee than ever before. 276 patients - 20 ...
Battery research: Using neutrons and X-rays to analyse the ageing of lithium...
An international team has used neutron and X-ray tomography to investigate the dynamic processes that lead to capacity degradation at the electrodes in lithium batteries. Using a mathematical method, it was possible to virtually unwind electrodes.
World Record: Efficiency of perovskite silicon tandem solar cell jumps to 29.15...
In the race for ever higher efficiency levels, an HZB development team is once again ahead. The scientists have developed a tandem solar cell made of perovskite and silicon, which converts 29.15 per cent of the incident light into electrical energy.