Data Science

In recent years, electronic data processing has been evolving in one direction only: The industry has downsized its components to the nanometer range. But this process is now reaching its physical limits. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) are therefore exploring spin waves or so-called magnons – a promising alternative for transporting information in more compact microchips. Cooperating with international partners, they have successfully generated and controlled extremely short-wavelength spin waves. The physicists achieved this feat by harnessing a natural magnetic phenomenon, as they explain in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Additive manufacturing of high-entropy alloys combines the mechanical properties of this novel family of alloys with the geometrical freedom and complexity required by modern designs. An approach to additive manufacturing of high-entropy alloys has been developed based on 3D extrusion of inks containing a blend of oxide nanopowders (Co₃O₄ + Cr₂O₃ + Fe₂O₃ + NiO), followed by co-reduction to metals, inter-diffusion and sintering to near-full density CoCrFeNi in H₂. A complex phase evolution path is observed by in-situ X-ray diffraction in extruded filaments: the oxide phases undergo reduction and the resulting metals inter-diffuse, ultimately forming the desired fcc-CoCrFeNi alloy (see figure). Linked to this phase evolution is a complex micro-structural one, from loosely packed oxide particles to fully-annealed, metallic CoCrFeNi with 99.6 ± 0.1% relative density. CoCrFeNi micro-lattices are created with strut diameters as low as 100 μm and excellent mechanical properties at ambient and cryogenic temperatures.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm, an enlargement of the abdominal aorta, may lead to rupture and thus acute health issues and death. Scanning X-ray imaging enabled new insights in the nano-structure of calcifications associated with abdonimal and popliteal aneurysm and allowed mapping the distribution of nano- and micro-calcifications as well as of collagen, elastin and myofilament as building blocks of connective tissue across samples from human donors.

The high brilliance of new X-ray sources such as X-ray Free Electron Laser opens the way to non-linear spectroscopies. These techniques can probe ultrafast matter dynamics that would otherwise be inaccessible. One of these techniques, Transient Grating, involves the creation of a transient excitation grating by crossing X-ray beams on the sample. Scientists at PSI have realized a demonstration of such crossing by using an innovative approach well suited for the hard X-ray regime.

Controlling the assembly of colloids in dispersion is a fundamental approach toward the production of functional materials. Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) is a charged nanoparticle whose colloidal interactions can be modulated from repulsive to attractive by increasing ionic strength.

In a collaboration within the network of the Swiss Nanoscience Institute, the formation of free-standing molecular monolayers using self-assembly processes has been demonstrated. The results of the study have been published in the February 2019 issue of Science Advances.

We propose a method to accelerate small-angle scattering experiments by exploiting spatial correlation in two-dimensional data. We applied kernel density estimation to the average of a hundred short scans and evaluated noise reduction effects of kernel density estimation (smoothing).

Theories predict that some electrons in the kagome materials have exotic, so-called topological behaviors and others behave somewhat like graphene, another material prized for its potential for new types of electronics. 

We explore two methods for single-crystal growth of the theoretically proposed magnetic Weyl semimetals RAlGe (R = Pr, Ce), which prove that a floating-zone technique, being both crucible- and flux-free, is crucial to obtain perfectly stoichiometric RAlGe crystals. In contrast, the crystals grown by a flux-growth technique tend to be Al-rich. We further present both structural and elemental analyses, along with bulk magnetization and electrical resistivity data on the crystals prepared by the floating-zone technique. Both systems with the intended 1:1:1 stoichiometry crystallize in the anticipated polar I41md (No. 109) space group, although neither displays the theoretically expected ferromagnetic ground state.

Scientists have demonstrated in a combined theoretical and experimental effort that the new ligand-field density functional theory method (LF-DFT) can be used to calculate the X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) of lanthanide compounds from purely structural input.

Electronic systems with flat bands are predicted to be a fertile ground for hosting emergent phenomena including unconven- tional magnetism and superconductivity, but materials that manifest this feature are rare. Here, we use scanning tunnelling microscopy to elucidate the atomically resolved electronic states and their magnetic response in the kagome magnet Co₃Sn₂S₂.

The resonantly stabilized xylyl radicals (C₈H₉•) distinctively influence the combustion chemistry and, therefore, ultimately determine the performance of combustion engines. At that, the three different isomers (methyl group in ortho, para or meta position) exhibit notable differences at elevated temperatures. We have tracked down these dynamics on a femtosecond timescale by monitoring the response to preparation of a well-defined electronic and vibrational state.

Understanding and controlling the electronic structure of thin layers of quantum materials is a crucial first step towards designing heterostructures where new phases and phenomena, including the metal-insulator transition (MIT), emerge. Here, we demonstrate control of the MIT via tuning electronic bandwidth and local site environment through selection of the number of atomic layers deposited.

Magnetic monopoles, proposed as elementary particles that act as isolated magnetic south and north poles, have long attracted research interest as magnetic analogs to electric charge. In solid-state physics, a classical analog to these elusive particles has emerged as topological excitations within pyrochlore spin ice systems. We present the first real-time imaging of emergent magnetic monopole motion in a macroscopically degenerate artificial spin ice system consisting of thermally activated Ising-type nanomagnets lithographically arranged onto a pre-etched silicon substrate. factors are observed.

The binary Re_1−xMo_x alloys, known to cover the full range of solid solutions, were successfully synthesized and their crystal structures and physical properties investigated via powder x-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity. By varying the Re/Mo ratio, we explore the full Re_1−xMo_x binary phase diagram, in all its four different solid phases: hcp-Mg (P63/mmc), α-Mn (I43m), β-CrFe (P42/mnm), and bcc-W (Im3m), of which the second is non-centrosymmetric with the rest being centrosymmetric. All Re_1−xMo_x alloys are superconductors, whose critical temperatures exhibit a peculiar phase diagram, characterized by three different superconducting regions.