With its globally unique research infrastructure, PSI offers unrivalled opportunities for cutting-edge national and international research.
The main areas of research at PSI
Recent highlights from our research
How botox enters our cells
Researchers at PSI have identified structural changes of the bacterial neurotoxin botox that are important for its uptake into nerve cells. This finding could allow a more targeted use of botox in medicine.
Unique quantum simulator opens door to new research
PSI physicists have teamed up with Google to build a new type of digital-analogue quantum simulator.
New protective coating can improve battery performance
Increasing the energy density of lithium-ion batteries – a sustainable method for cathode surface coating developed at PSI makes it possible.
Interested in doing research at PSI? Do you want to use our infrastructure for cutting-edge research?
Find out more about our large-scale research facilities and other research centres.
Research Centers & Labs
Our research and service centres conduct internationally recognised cutting-edge research in the natural and engineering sciences and make highly complex large research facilities available to science and industry for their own research projects.
Scientific Highlights from our Centers
Pressure-enhanced splitting of density wave transitions in La3Ni2O7–δ
The observation of superconductivity in La3Ni2O7–δ under pressure, following the suppression of a high-temperature density wave state, has attracted considerable attention. The nature of this density wave order was not clearly identified. Here we probe the magnetic response of the zero-pressure phase of La3Ni2O7–δ as hydrostatic pressure is applied, and find that the apparent single density wave transition at zero applied pressure splits into two. The comparison of our muon-spin rotation ...
Spin-orbit control of antiferromagnetic domains without a Zeeman coupling
Encoding information in antiferromagnetic (AFM) domains is a promising solution for the ever growing demand in magnetic storage capacity. The absence of a macroscopic magnetization avoids crosstalk between different domain states, enabling ultrahigh density spintronics while being detrimental to the domain detection and manipulation. Disentangling these merits and disadvantages seemed so far unattainable. We report evidence ...
Evolution of texture and residual stresses in 2205 duplex stainless steel during laser powder bed fusion
This study uses a custom-designed laser powder bed fusion machine, capable of operating in neutron instruments, to track metallic material evolution during additive manufacturing process. More specifically, it investigates the development of residual stresses in textured 2205 duplex stainless steel during laser powder bed fusion. In situ and operando neutron diffraction experiments were conducted to study the transient and real-time evolution of stresses and strains during processing, using an AM machine designed for neutron studies. Additionally, Bragg-edge imaging was employed to investigate the crystallographic texture. The results showed that residual stress redistribution primarily occurs in the first set of added layers when further layers are added on top. The cube texture observed in the sample significantly affects residual stress determination, leading to inaccuracies up to 96 MPa if not accounted for. This highlights the need for orientation-dependent diffraction elastic constants in residual stress calculations. Furthermore, variations in texture intensity across the sample dimensions were found to be driven by changes in the local temperature history, which were deciphered from real-time strain measurements. Finally, this study demonstrates the potential of combining laser powder bed fusion with neutron diffraction to investigate the underlying mechanisms of additive manufacturing in the bulk of the sample.
