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In: Energymaterials

Even if quantum physics is well established since roughly ninety years, there are still some quantum effects in matter which have been theoretically predicted but up to now not yet seen experimentally. It was the physicist Hans Bethe, who first described theoretically in 1931 what happens in a one dimensional quantum spin system: under certain conditions, magnetic  excitations may interact and give rise to a collective excitation, known as “Bethe strings”.  But in real matter, strictly one dimensional systems are rare, so Bethe strings have not been a common phenomenon. Now those Bethe strings have been discovered for the first time experimentally by the AugsburgRead More →

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In: Careers, Energymaterials

An unusual science conference (not only) for young female scientists: April 29-30, 2018 Near the city of Goslar in the beautiful Harz mountains, an unusual science meeting is organised. The location is the Mönchehaus Museum (www.moenchehaus.de). I was attending this conference some years ago and I can really recommend it. The speakers are exclusively very renowned women in materials science, heading institutes at MIT, MPG or other prestigious research institutions. And multiple occasions are given to get into exchange with them. Discussions were open and vivid, and I guess many young women got motivated to strive for a scientific career. The organiser, Prof Katarina Al-Shamery, CarlRead More →

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In: Energymaterials, Lightsources

Source: SESAME Thursday, November 23, 2017:  At 10:50 yesterday morning scientists at the pioneering SESAME light source saw First Monochromatic Light through the XAFS/XRF spectroscopy beamline. This signals the start of the laboratory’s experimental programme. The beamline delivers X-ray light that will be used to carry out research in areas ranging from solid state physics to environmental science and archaeology. “After years of preparation, it’s great to see light on target,” said beamline scientist Messaoud Harfouche. “We have a fantastic experimental programme ahead of us, starting with an experiment to investigate heavy metals contaminating soils in the region.” Two beamlines for a start, a third one inRead More →

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In: Conference, Energymaterials

Last week 50 scientists from all over the world have gathered at BESSY II. Physicists or chemists, experimentalists or pure theoreticians. It was an interdisciplinary crowd, discussing openly and in an extraordinary friendly way about new and sometimes hypothetical processes in hybrid nanomaterials, how to model them and how to explore and characterizethem experimentally. Freigeist fellow Dr. Annika Bande has invited to this big workshop, sponsored by Volkswagen Foundation. Together with her young team, the theoretical chemist is modelling the dynamics of electrons in semiconductor materials , which upon miniaturization give rise to so called quantum dots. The result: Exchange and new ideas Her goalRead More →

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In: Neutrons

An international team has examined pristine and slightly doped bismuth ferrite using experimental data obtained at HZB. The research shows the sequence of serial and trigger-type phase transitions, the temperature-dependent behavior of the order parameters, and the corresponding susceptibilities to external stimuli.  The material: Multiferroics are materials that exhibit multiple types of ferroic ordering, such as ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, simultaneously. BiFeO3 (BFO) is the one of the rare multiferroics with a strong ferroelectric polarization, antiferromagnetism at room temperature as well as conduction and magnetotransport at domain walls. This makes it a candidate for a range of applications. The question: What are the underlying physical mechanismsRead More →