Scientific Highlights

Hu et al

Phonon promoted charge density wave in topological kagome metal ScV6Sn6

Charge density wave (CDW) orders in vanadium-based kagome metals have recently received tremendous attention, yet their origin remains a topic of debate. The discovery of ScV6Sn6, a bilayer kagome metal featuring an intriguing √3 × √3 × √3 CDW order, offers a novel platform to explore the underlying mechanism behind the unconventional CDW. Here we combine ...

Krieger et al

Weyl spin-momentum locking in a chiral topological semimetal

Spin–orbit coupling in noncentrosymmetric crystals leads to spin–momentum locking – a directional relationship between an electron’s spin angular momentum and its linear momentum. Isotropic orthogonal Rashba spin–momentum locking has been studied for decades, while its counterpart, isotropic parallel Weyl spin–momentum locking has remained elusive in experiments. Theory predicts ...

Paul Scherrer Institute / Procopios Constantinou

Extreme ultraviolet for scalable silicon quantum devices

Experiments at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) show the potential of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) to make the building blocks of scalable quantum computers.

optical magnetization switching

Mechanism For All-Optical Magnetization Switching

X-rays reveal a non-collinear magnetic state as the base for all-optical magnetization switching.

Cornelius Hempel

Open Quantum Institute launch

Dr. Cornelius Hempel, head of the Ion Trap Quantum Computation group at LNQ’s ETHZ-PSI Quantum Computing Hub, spoke to SRF to explain how quantum computers work and how future versions of these devices can be used to solve some of the big problems of our time. 

Whitlockite in mammary microcalcifications

Whitlockite in mammary microcalcifications is not associated with breast cancer

Microcalcifications, small deposits of calcium-containing minerals that form in breast tissue, are often, but not always, a warning sign of breast cancer. The relationship between microcalcifications and cancer has not been fully understood thus far. Researchers discovered now that the relationship between microcalcifications and tumors seems to be linked to the presence of a particular mineral called whitlockite, which is rich in magnesium and is found in microcalcifications only in the absence of tumors.