22.08.2019 •Health Innovation •7 min Preventing tumour metastasis Further information aboutBiology Further information aboutMedical Science Further information aboutSLS Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, together with colleagues from the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, have taken an important step towards the development of an active substance against the metastasis of certain cancers. Using the Swiss Light Source SLS, they deciphered the structure of a receptor that plays a crucial role in the migration of cancer cells.
15.08.2019 •Energy and Climate •6 min Observing solid-state batteries during deformation Further information aboutIndustry Relations Further information aboutEnergy transition Further information aboutBatteries Further information aboutMobility Further information aboutSLS PSI researchers have observed mechanical processes in solid-state batteries with unprecedented precision. Using X-ray tomography at the Swiss Light Source SLS, they discovered how fissures inside the batteries propagate. These insights can help to make batteries for electric cars or smartphones safer and more efficient.
12.07.2019 •Future Technologies •5 min Weyl fermions discovered in another class of materials Further information aboutMaterials research Further information aboutSLS A particular variety of particles, the so-called Weyl fermions, had previously only been detected in certain non-magnetic materials. But now researchers at PSI have experimentally proved their existence for the first time in a specific paramagnetic material.
04.07.2019 •Large research facilities •6 min Molecular energy machine as a movie star Further information aboutBiology Further information aboutSwissFEL Further information aboutSLS Using the Swiss Light Source SLS, PSI researchers have recorded a molecular energy machine in action and thus revealed how energy production at cell membranes works. For this purpose, they developed a new investigative method that could make the analysis of cellular processes significantly more effective than before.
04.06.2019 •Future Technologies •6 min New material with magnetic shape memory Further information aboutMaterials research Further information aboutSLS PSI researchers have developed a material whose shape memory is activated through magnetism. Application areas for this new kind of composite material include, for example, medicine, space flight, electronics, and robotics.
07.05.2019 •Future Technologies •9 min New material also reveals new quasiparticles Further information aboutMaterials research Further information aboutSLS Researchers at PSI have investigated a novel crystalline material at the Swiss Light Source SLS that exhibits electronic properties never seen before. Among other things, they were able to detect a new type of quasiparticle: so-called Rarita-Schwinger fermions.
29.03.2019 •Future Technologies •7 min A compass pointing West Further information aboutMaterials research Further information aboutSLS Researchers at PSI have discovered a new phenomenon of magnetism with the help of the Swiss Light Source SLS. Certain groups of atoms behave like a compass pointing West. This could make computers much more powerful.
01.02.2019 •Future Technologies •8 min Virtual lens improves X-ray microscopy Further information aboutSLS A method developed by PSI researchers makes X-ray images of materials even better. The researchers took a number of individual images while moving an optical lens. From these, with the help of computer algorithms, they generated one overall image.
14.11.2018 •9 min On the go at 200 kilometres per hour Further information aboutIndustry Relations Further information aboutSLS Fabia Gozzo is no woman for the comfort zone. First she made a beamline at the Swiss Light Source SLS of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI into one of the world's leading facilities. Today she is making her knowledge available to industry with her spin-off.
11.07.2018 •Future Technologies •7 min On the path to new high-performance transistors Further information aboutMaterials research Further information aboutSLS The electronics industry expects a novel high-performance transistor made of gallium nitride to offer considerable advantages over present-day high-frequency transistors. Yet many fundamental properties of the material remain unknown. Now, for the first time, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have observed electrons while they were flowing in this promising transistor. For that they used one of the world's best sources of soft X-rays at PSI's Swiss Light Source SLS.