Ammonite shells are among the most frequently found macro fossils. However, other ammonite remains can be scarce and especially the supposed arm crown has never been found. The only indirect evidence of arms and tentacles so far can be found in the ammonite family Scaphitidae, because some members of this group developed hooks comparable in some aspects to belemnite and squid arm hooks. To...
In the future fusion reactors, plasma-facing components such as the divertor will play a crucial role in exhausting thermal power and managing plasma instabilities under irradiation over long-pulse operating conditions. Characterizing their internal stress distribution, both in the as-manufactured prototypes and after exposure to representative operating conditions, is essential to predict...
The neutron lifetime, $\tau_n$, is a key observable in low-energy tests of the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM). The SM relates the neutron lifetime and the ratio of axial vector to vector coupling, $\lambda = g_\mathrm{A}/g_\mathrm{V}$, in the free neutron decay to the CKM matrix element $V_\mathrm{ud}$. A neutron-based determination of $V_\mathrm{ud}$ can contribute to a precise and...
Qualification of laser powder bed fusion is a materials problem before it is a process problem: the microstructure and the stress state of a part are created inside the build chamber, and neither is accessible to surface-based characterisation. This contribution uses diffraction as the quantitative reference in two aerospace alloy systems.
For IN718, specimens were designed to accumulate...
Dipolar interactions are present in all magnetic materials yet often neglected in bulk compounds, as they are commonly weak compared to exchange interactions. However, when the magnetic moments and their associated dipolar fields are large relative to the exchange interactions, dipolar interactions can significantly influence the spin-wave dispersion.
A promising group of compounds where...
Chemical crystallography typically covers the diffraction of X-rays or neutrons from powdered or single-crystalline materials exhibiting long-range order, with the aim of determining the crystal structure. For molecular chemistry, neutron diffraction offers several advantages over the in-house X-ray diffraction used in university laboratories: increased visibility of light atoms (especially...
One of the most promising use cases of magnetic hyperthermia is using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for cancer therapy. In this treatment, MNPs are immersed into tumours and, by heating with external magnetic fields, typically 100-900 kHz, destroy cancer cells. For a successful application, the heating power needs to be improved by optimising the MNP structure. An ideal tool for characterising...
Machine learning (ML) tools have the potential to transform scientific research by accelerating analysis and enabling new experimental capabilities. These include real-time data analysis, informed decision-making during measurements, optimized experimental conditions and, ultimately, closed-loop experimental workflows.
We will first introduce reflectorch, an ML-based Python package...
The in vivo fate of peptide and protein drugs is governed not only by covalent structure, but also by self-assembly, intermolecular interactions and interfacial hydration. These physical states shape stability, pharmacokinetics and absorption, yet remain difficult to quantify. In this talk, I will show how small-angle scattering can reveal these hidden structural states and translate them into...
Efficient energy storage devices in the past allowed us to bring from sci-fiction into everyday life some portable devices and lately to shift from combustion to electric vehicles on a global scale. Moreover, in recent years the emerging field of off-grid storage has become more crucial not only as support to green energy sources but as a vital part in keeping the AI data centers work...
Biological function often emerges at interfaces, where composition, organization and dynamics jointly determine the behaviour of complex soft matter systems. Reproducing selected aspects of this complexity in controlled biomimetic platforms is therefore essential to disentangle the physical mechanisms governing recognition, association, remodelling and transport.
Over the years, we have...
As hydrogen represents a climate-neutral alternative to fossil fuels, hydrogen-based technology is an important subject to investigate. Prerequisite for hydrogen usage is the understanding of its transport through materials. For example, thin films with low hydrogen permeability may function as protective barrier coatings, limiting hydrogen ingress into structural materials [1]. Therefore,...
MnSi is a chiral magnet featuring a skyrmion phase in a small area of the temperature versus magnetic field phase diagram. The low-energy magnetic excitations are predicted to behave in a bizarre fashion because of the periodic magnetic structure.
In our recent ferromagnetic neutron spin-echo experiment at IN15 (ILL) we explored these low-energy excitations with a very high energy...
The qBounce experiment uses Gravity Resonance Spectroscopy (GRS) with Ultra-Cold neutrons (UCNs). The experiment is performed by H. Abele at TU Wien and mainly located at ILL in Grenoble France.
UCNs can be trapped on material surfaces by the pseudo optical potential of the material and gravity. The bound neutrons form infinitely many bound states with characteristic eigenenergies.
These...
At the FRM II a new source to produce ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) is currently under construction. This talk will give an update of the status of the project, as well as an outlook on future activities.
The transition to sustainable energy critically relies on pushing the limits of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) toward higher energy densities and faster charging capabilities. However, these demanding operational parameters, including the integration of high-capacity silicon-graphite anodes and high-current cycling, introduce structural and chemical inhomogeneities. During operation,...
Liquid-phase CO₂ hydrogenation on heterogeneous catalysts is an attractive catalytic process for CO₂ valorization, with the potential to be integrated with the direct-air-capture of CO2 in liquid amines. This process is limited by low gas solubility and interfacial reactants transport. Bimetallic CuₓAuᵧ/ZnO catalysts showed promising methanol activity in liquid water.[1] Expanding on these...
The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) is a leading facility for cutting-edge research using neutrons and positrons. Within the framework of MLZ user operations, the Sample Environment group supports visiting scientists and handles the operation, maintenance, and repair of sample environment equipment. Complementing existing commercial technology, our group places great emphasis on in-house...
Metal halide perovskites have revolutionized photovoltaic research, achieving efficiencies comparable to crystalline silicon while offering a promising pathway toward low-cost, high-throughput manufacturing. However, successful commercialization requires not only further improvements in device performance, but also scalable approaches that translate laboratory-scale processes to industrially...
Ultraviolet (UV) light-induced curing is widely used in additive manufacturing and coatings. However, the formation and heterogeneous distribution of nanostructures induced by UV-curing remain unclear, especially in submicrometer films where nanoscale precision is critical. We employ a combination of UV-curing and X-ray scattering to gain access to the nanoscale kinetics during UV-curing...
This study investigates two key aspects of ultra-cold neutron (UCN) research: material evaluation and source optimization. First, it explores the reflection and storage of UCNs on novel ultra-nanocrystalline diamond surface coatings to assess critical material parameters, such as the Fermi potential, surface roughness, loss probability, etc. Second, it presents Monte Carlo simulations of the...
Solid-state lithium metal batteries are widely regarded as a promising pathway toward next-generation energy storage. However, their practical implementation is severely limited by poor solid–solid interfacial contact in ceramic electrolytes, leading to high interfacial resistance and discontinuous ion transport. Garnet-type Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO), despite its intrinsic stability and ionic...
In the last decades alternative manufacturing processes for alloys have moved into the focus of science and industry. One of these manufacturing processes is additive manufacturing using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), in which alloys can be printed in complex, delicate and hollow shapes and geometries. This is difficult and more time intensive for the conventional casting and forging...
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) has attracted significant attention in aerospace, automotive, and biomedical applications due to its highly flexible and near-net-shape fabrication capabilities for complex structures. While PBF-LB overcomes the limitations of conventional manufacturing methods by enabling lightweight and functionally integrated designs, traditional Gaussian laser-based L-PBF...
A deep eutectic mixture of proline and glycerol shows excellent promise in maintaining tissue viability as a replacement for water prior to cryopreservation without the attendant cytotoxicity of many contemporary cryopreservants [1]. The hydrogen (H)-bonding network of water is critical in maintaining the structure and the physiological function of the biomacromolecular constituents of tissue...
The magnetic guidance field of the NEPOMUC beamline is powered by hundrends of curent-controlled power supply units. We present out engineering solution to tackle at scale the requirements of controlling, housing and monitoring the operation of PSUs in the novel extension of the beamline.
Macromolecular neutron crystallography directly locates hydrogen and deuterium atoms, providing unique information on protonation states, hydrogen-bond networks, hydration and enzyme mechanisms. Its low radiation damage enables data collection at room temperature or human body temperature, where biological macromolecules are active and perform for example enzymatic functions. The disadvantage...
The deployment of the positron beamline extension requires a suite of supporting control and readout technology. we present here the solutions that we have envisioned.
POWTEX is a TOF neutron powder diffractometer at MLZ. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR, 05K22PA2, 05K23PAA), it is built by RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich. Dedicated texture sample environments are contributed from the Geo Science Centre, Göttingen University. POWTEX aims for short measurement times and in situ chemical experiments,...
There is intense, sustained, interest in metal halide perovskite (MHP) family of materials for a variety of optoelectronic applications including solar cells, x-ray and gamma-ray detection, and light emission. While the material class is considered to be defect tolerant it is nevertheless of central importance to obtain experimental information on the presence of specific point defect types...
TRISP is ready to start in the Osthalle. During the past year, the new 30-meter-long polarizing neutron guide was installed by the neutron optics group. The TRISP instrument with velocity selector, monochromator, and analyzer, as well as the spin echo units, were installed and tested. The guide's design helps to minimize transmission losses for thermal neutrons (1-4 Å). It has a ballistic...
PGAA is a well-developed method with straightforward data analysis steps. However, there are certain factors that can make the process time-consuming, or lower the quality of the identification and quantification of elements present in the target material. Some of these contributing factors are the large number of emitted gamma rays, possible interference of gamma rays from different elements...
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have emerged as promising candidates for next-generation photovoltaics due to their rapid efficiency improvements, low toxicity, short energy payback times, and compatibility with low-cost, solution-based fabrication methods such as slot-die printing. Their strong optical absorption, low weight, and mechanical flexibility make them particularly attractive for space...
Lead-free tin halide perovskites are promising absorber materials for next-generation photovoltaic devices, yet their charge carrier transport and optoelectronic performance are strongly influenced by lattice anharmonicity, local structural disorder, and temperature-dependent electron–phonon interactions. This research focuses on the A-site-dependent tin perovskite family ASnI3 (A = FA, MA,...
The application of high-energy-density lithium metal batteries (LMBs) is severely hindered by the thermodynamic instability of the lithium metal anode, which precipitates dendritic growth and poor Coulombic efficiency. Although localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) have emerged as a promising solution, optimizing their cluster configurations to maximize interfacial durability...
Janus polymer electrolytes are being investigated as a strategy to meet the different interfacial requirements of lithium-metal anodes and high-voltage cathodes. In this work, we develop a hot-pressed bilayer polymer electrolyte consisting of a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based layer facing the lithium-metal anode and a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP)-based layer...
MLZ is transitioning to the NeXus data format (https://nexusformat.org) as part of its commitment to FAIR data principles. NeXus is a standardized data format and plays an important role in interoperability among various facilities and users. It contains domain-specific structures for data and metadata defined by the scientific community. These structures are flexible enough to provide a...
Neutron time-of-flight spectroscopy is a powerful technique for investigating excitations of quantum and functional materials. The thermal direct-geometry spectrometer TOPAS, currently under construction at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), combines a wide incident energy range and large reciprocal-space coverage with XYZ polarization analysis. This makes it suitable for exploring...
We present the hot neutron four circle single crystal diffractometer HEiDi giving an overview of its capabilities and recent updates.
Electron Microscopy (EM) is a powerful imaging technique to illuminate samples, making it particularly valuable for studying soft matter. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) enables real-space characterization to determine particle shape, size, size distribution, self-assembly, and aggregation. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) operating in Environmental mode (ESEM) allows the...
AIXtal is an open-source refinement platform designed to make it easier to get started with Rietveld analysis of powder diffraction data, with particular focus on new users, students, and non-experts. Built in Rust, AIXtal provides a unified interface that runs in the browser (WebAssembly) as well as locally on Windows and Linux without additional runtime dependencies.
The platform wraps...
Understanding how hydrogen interacts with individual phases is essential for assessing its effects in multiphase alloys. We combine quantitative thermal desorption spectroscopy with simultaneous neutron diffraction to directly correlate hydrogen release with phase-specific lattice changes. A transportable, neutron-compatible ultrahigh-vacuum setup was applied to hydrogen-charged and uncharged...
The neutron single crystal diffractometer BIODIFF, a joint project of the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the FRM II, is dedicated to the structure determination of enzymes. Typical scientific questions address the determination of protonation states of amino acid side chains in the active center, the orientation of individual water molecules essential for the catalytic mechanism and the...
While organic electronic devices mainly use organic or organic-inorganic hybrid materials, many electrodes still rely on pure metals due to their high electrical conductivity. Thus, the polymer-metal interface is crucial for device performance. Studies have demonstrated the use of ultrathin metal electrodes for (semi)transparent organic solar cells. The interface quality influences structural...
In triple-axis spectroscopy, the contribution of instrumental resolution function with excitation dispersion on inelastic scattering peak is important consideration for data analysis. $Ni_2MnGa$ is a Heusler alloy and a ferromagnet with Curie temperature of approximately 380 K. Inelastic neutron scattering experiments had been performed on stoichiometric Ni2MnGa by thermal triple-axis...
PUMA is characterised by a very high neutron flux as a result of the efficient use of focussing techniques. An innovative option of the spectrometer is the multianalyser/ detector system. It allows a unique and flexible type of multiplexing. Using this option, a scattering angle range of 16° can be measured simultaneously, and flexible Q-ω paths can be realised without repositioning the...
An electrochemistry laboratory is currently being established at JCNS-4 for the preparation and comprehensive characterization of semicrystalline hydrocarbon-based proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for energy conversion applications. The available facilities and experimental methods will be presented, including a hot press for membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabrication, a tensile testing...
RIANA is a Horizon Europe project offering free, transnational access to 69 leading research facilities across 22 countries. Through cutting-edge techniques, including electron microscopy, synchrotron radiation, and nanofabrication, RIANA supports breakthrough research in nanoscience and technology. A unique feature is its dedicated network of Junior Scientists, who provide expert, one-on-one...
Protein dynamics play a vital role in biology. Quasi elastic neutron scattering is an ideal method to access these dynamics. Normally data analysis is performed based on the assumption that the scattering spectrum is incoherent. In order to be observe the full range of protein dynamics it is necessary to perform the experiments in solution. This solution is usually a fully deuterated buffer,...
The PERC (Proton and Electron Radiation Channel) facility, located at the neutron source FRM II of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), serves as a clean source of neutron decay products (protons and electrons). PERC aims to contribute to the determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark-mixing element (V$_{ud}$), measure the correlation coefficients of free neutron decay (a, A, b,...
At air/liquid interfaces, lipids can assume oligolamellar layer architectures, either spontaneously or through suitable preparation protocols. These architectures in direct contact with the gas phase govern interface properties in numerous ways and they can also be utilized to facilitate investigations of lipid layers that are not feasible otherwise. Neutron reflectometry is ideally suited for...
On the poster I show some overview on neutron scattering techniques which I find useful for medical applications and related research.
This poster should serve as a meeting point for a discussion on how to approach researchers who have not used neutrons in their career so far. It should help to address the following questions:
How to conquer new fields and create new collaborations with...
$Ln$Al$X$ ($Ln$=La-Eu, $X$=Si, Ge) semimetals crystallize in a non-centrosymmetric tetragonal structure ($I$4$_1md$, Space Group no. 109) and host various emergent quantum phenomena arising from the electronic and/or magnetic topological order. Especially, CeAlGe has attracted broad interest, as it has been known to exhibit both topological order parameters [1-3]. Recently, it has been...
Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is a highly sensitive method for determining multiple trace elements. At MLZ, the NAA instrument benefits from excellent irradiation conditions—i.e.high flux values (up to more than 10^14 /cm^2s) combined with efficient thermalization (f-values up to several thousand). The instrument is operated in close collaboration with the FRM II reactor operations and the...
Modern electrical machines require magnetic cores that combine low losses with sufficient mechanical strength. In rotor laminations made from non-oriented (NO) electrical steel, conventional flux barriers provide magnetic anisotropy through local material removal but reduce mechanical stability under centrifugal loading. Local micro-embossing offers an alternative approach by introducing...
POLI is a hot neutron two-axis diffractometer at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Germany [1], which uses spin-polarized neutrons for magnetic studies in particular. The instrument is used, for instance, to study complex magnetic structures, to reconstruct magnetization densities in the unit cell, and to explore phase diagrams of materials via multiparameter studies. To this end, three...
Competing interactions in quantum spin systems with geometric frustration can lead to disordered but highly correlated spin states. For decades, experimental research on antiferromagnetic (AFM) quantum kagome materials has been driven primarily by the hunt for the quantum spin liquid (QSL) ground state. The mineral herbertsmithite ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$ stands out from this research on kagome...
At the neutron induced positron source Munich (NEPOMUC) at the MLZ, two analytical setups are being combined into a single system to enable positron surface studies with top-most layer sensitivity. The positron annihilation induced Auger-electron spectroscopy (PAES) instrument is being merged with the total reflection high-energy positron diffraction (TRHEPD) setup. The combination of those...
We investigated [1] lattice dynamics in LaCoO₃ using inelastic neutron and x-ray scattering over T = 2–650 K, spanning the spin-state crossover at T₁ ≈ 100 K and the insulator–metal transition at T₂ ≈ 550 K. Comparison with quasi-harmonic ab-initio lattice-dynamical calculations helps reveal anomalous softening of a ≈10-meV oxygen phonon, confined to the temperature interval T₁ ≤ T ≤ T₂ and...
The deployment of the NEPOMUC positron beamline extension poses an opportunity to develop a new control system. We present here the solutions implemented in Vicarius - the new positron beamline control system.
Alginates are non-toxic, biocompatible polysaccharides extracted from brown algae. By complexation of divalent cations in aqueous solution, they form soft hydrogels. Grafting thermoresponsive polymer side chains introduces an additional gelation pathway that not only allows using temperature as a trigger for gelation but also increases the storage modulus of the hydrogel [1].
Here, we...
Silicon-carbon (Si/C) composite anodes are promising candidates for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries due to silicon's high theoretical capacity. However, their practical application is hindered by severe volume expansion and unstable formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) during cycling. Fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) is commonly used to improve interfacial stability, but...
Block copolymer micelles with a positively charged shell have been proposed for the delivery of DNA, thus enabling gene therapy. In this research, the neat triblock terpolymer PDMAEMA-b-PLMA-b-POEGMA with various block lengths is studied for its micellar structure at different temperatures and pH conditions. To investigate the structural changes by the complexation of DNA, self-assembled...