An in-situ polarization analyzer has been in operation for the MARIA magnetic reflectometer for each reactor cycle for over 5 years . Here it provides a continual polarization and a wide angle of ±6° for a cold neutron beam that is fully decoupled for the sample environment conditions and magnetic field. This device has been used as the basis for additional polarizer devices, using what has...
There are several methods to store hydrogen, e.g. with physical technologies (compression), in metal hydrides or in complex hydrides. Within the complex hydrides, the metal amides Mg(NH2)2-LiH have recently gained in importance. They have good hydrogen storage properties with high capacity (ca. 4 wt%) and good reversibility. The drawback of these materials is the high kinetic barrier for...
In high-resolution X-ray Emission Spectroscopy (XES) crystal-based Wavelength-Dispersive Spectrometers (WDS) are being applied for characterization of nano- and microscaled materials. Thereby the so called von Hamos geometry provides high detection efficiency due to sagittal focusing using cylindrically bent crystals. To maximize the detection efficiency a full-cylinder optic can be applied.
A...
Antimony based transition metal oxides have been researched and studied for years due to the interesting semiconductor and photocatalytic properties they exhibit. Whilst most transition metal antimonates (e.g. NiSb$_2$O$_6$, ZnSb$_2$O$_6$, CoSb$_2$O$_6$ etc.) exist in a tetragonal trirutile structure, CuSb$_2$O$_6$ exhibits a slight monoclinic distortion due to Jahn Teller effects dominating...
The study of membrane protein structure by high resolution techniques has proven to be quite challenging and only recently with the development of modern cryo-electron microscopy methods, associated difficulties seem to become partially addressed. Different approaches have been developed for solubilizing membrane proteins while at the same time keeping them folded and active involving the use...
At the Berlin synchrotron BESSY II, beamline KMC-2 provides two permanent stations with intensity stabilized radiation in the energy range of 4-14 keV: "XANES" for EXAFS and XRF, and "DIFFRACTION", a multi-purpose six-circle goniometer. A wide range of sample environments is available for both stations [1]. Of particular interest is a suit of systems for controlled gas atmosphere:
Low...
Aging in identically prepared 18650-type LFP/C cells, differing only in the choice of the carbon anode, was investigated by neutron diffraction. In all cells, not only the irreversible capacity losses due to formation but also the active lithium losses due to cycling could be quantified by neutron diffraction and were validated by electrochemical measurements. The LFP/MCMB cell, having...
Hybrid perovskites are an exciting and a highly versatile class of materials within the photovoltaic community. Their versatility emerges from their crystallographic structure which allows for functionalization of materials into hybrid species by partial/ complete compositional substitution at various lattice sites. Their manufacturing is economically attractive since perovskite materials have...
An XUV and soft X-ray split-and-delay unit is built that enables time-resolved experiments covering the whole spectral range of FLASH II from $h\nu$ = 30 eV up to 2500 eV. With wave front beam splitting and grazing incidence angles a maximum delay of – 6 ps < $\Delta$t < +18 ps will be possible with a sub-fs resolution. Two different coatings are required to cover the complete spectral range....
Microgels out of thermoresponsive polymers show a strong change in volume by a variation of the temperature across the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), which in a thin film geometry translates into a change of the film thickness. This offers new functionality and is of high interest in many different fields of application such as drug delivery or tissue growth. In order to gain...
In the structure of the superconductor parent β-FeTe (P4/nmm, #129) excess iron atoms are necessary to stabilize the system, leading to the formula Fe_(1+y)Te. This structure is built up of iron and Te layers. Diffraction experiments indicate for the excess Fe atoms partially occupation of interstitial positions in the Te plane, resulting in octahedral coordination.
With the new technique of...
In the emerging field of printable electronics there is a growing demand for transparent, flexible conductive materials. Cellulose-based substrates are a promising sustainable alternative to fully synthetic polymers. We present the fabrication of conducting composite films of cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). CNF of high surface...
The CAT experimental station at the CATalysis-ACTinide wiggler beamline [1] at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) focuses on synchrotron based characterization of catalysts under realistic reaction conditions, e.g. in the fields of exhaust gas after-treatment, selective oxidation, energy related applications and sustainable fine chemical processes. A dedicated infrastructure...
Magnetic nanostructures containing thin layers of ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic metals are of considerable interest both for fundamental physics and as potential elements for spintronic devices. Exchange coupling of magnetic nanolayers separated by paramagnetic spacers is relatively well studied for purely rare earth (RE) systems or purely transition metal (TM) ones but little is known about...
Conformational dynamics of proteins studied by time resolved small angle X-ray scattering combined with THz irradiation
Proteins rely on conformational changes to perform complex biochemical tasks.
This dynamic plasticity can be modeled by large scale vibrational modes that
have theoretical resonance frequencies in the range of $0.3$ to $6$ THz and can
therefore be triggered by THz...
The magnetic structure of matter, especially with regard to an application as functional materials, is often discussed only in terms of the classical concepts of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. However, interesting phenomena can be expected when a system is driven to the boundary between these regimes by adjusting external parameters. The B2-ordered Heusler system Ni$_{2-x}$Co$_x$MnAl...
Because of the combination of the hydrogen bonds between halogen atoms in an inorganic part and nitrogen atoms in an organic part, a layered inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite (C6H5CH2CH2NH3)2MeCl4 (Me = Cu2+, Mn2+, Fe2+) shows a various crystal structures [1, 2, 3]. To understand an interlayer spacing effect on a magnetic property, various systems have been developed. All three Cu-, Mn- and...
Over the last two decades, fragment-based lead discovery has resulted in two approved drugs and to more than 30 drugs in clinical trials1. One of the strengths of the fragment-based approach is the efficient sampling of the chemical space using small organic molecules with MW usually below 250 Da.
Established screening libraries have been designed by combinatorial chemistry. The resulting...
Spherical neutron polarimetry was systematically applied over the last two decades. This technique allows to determine all nine components of the depolarisation matrix and to solve the Blume-Maleyev equations. It offers to investigate magneto-electric coupling, non-collinear magnetic structures, the chirality of magnetic scattering or to distinguish between spin flip and non-spin flip...
Nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS) is not bound by optical selection rules, which restrict the accessible vibrational modes in other techniques such as Raman scattering. It gives the phonon density of states (pDOS) at the instant the x-ray photon gets absorbed. Therefore, it is well suited to study the time evolution of pDOS in optically excited materials containing Mössbauer-active nuclei [1,...
The tensor components of the stiffness tensor, also known as elastic constants, are directly related to material parameters such as the shear-, Young’s- and Bulk modulus. But also non-mechanical properties such as the Debye temperature can be calculated using the tensor components. Elastic constants are essential for many applications, e. g. the stress analysis by diffraction, where from...
The supply of clean, safe and renewable energy is an essential human task. For the benefit of this, it is of reasonable interest to enable energy consumers satisfying their own demand based on renewable energy sources. Towards this self-sufficient and “green” energy supply, the possibility of large scaled and cheap roll to roll solar cell fabrication based on organic materials is an important...
Under extreme beam-induced temperature and pressure conditions at the planned FAIR facility, but also at HiLumi LHC and neutrino facilities, new candidate materials and design solutions have to be found to overcome the increased radiation dose and energy density effects in components that see directly the primary beam such as targets, beam windows, beam catchers and beam dumps.
The dynamic...
Novel high resolution neutron spectrometers permit new experiments probing several hierarchically superimposed levels of protein dynamics on the molecular level, and the nanosecond time scale internal motion of proteins in aqueous solutions at low concentrations of 50 to 200 mg/ml can be studied [1,2]. These novel experiments access the in-solution dynamics of proteins and its difference to...
Substituting Zn by Fe in Cu2ZnSnS4 changes the band gap of the material from about 1.5 eV to about 1.8 eV [Shibuya et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 021912, 2014]. Interestingly, the transition from Cu2ZnSnS4 to Cu2FeSnS4 is accompanied by a change of the crystal structure from kesterite type to stannite type via a complex...
The spin-state manipulation of spin crossover molecules (SCMs) adsorbed on a surface between a paramagnetic high-spin state and a diamagnetic low-spin state has attracted significant interest due to its potential for application in spintronic devices. The absence or presence of cooperativity in the spin transition and their characteristics is one of the most important issues for research,...
The Diamond Lightsource Pink Beam was used to image dynamic fluid flow in Bentheimer sandstone at steady state, at a resolution of 5.2 µm during the co-injection of oil and water together. We present a novel method that uses fast synchrotron tomography to examine flow mechanisms underground by observing oil and water distribution through time.
Bentheimer is a homogeneous sandstone with a pore...
Multivalent cations induce complex phase transitions in negatively charged globular proteins, e.g. reentrant condensation and liquid-liquid phase separation [1] with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST-LLPS) [2] featuring a strong dependence on the type of multivalent cations used [4]. Improved opportunities at large-scale facilities allow for detailed studies of the kinetics of...
Samarium based pyrochlores have two important peculiarities relative to other rare-earth pyrochlores systems: the very small ordered magnetic moment of the Sm3+ ion and the high neutron absorption of its natural isotopic abundance hinder a better characterization of its magnetic properties at low temperatures. Apart from it, Sm2Ti2O7 and Sm2Sn2O7 present many of the same magnetic behavior of...
Fabricating nanocluster films with tailored morphology, their characterization and manipulation at the nanoscale are essential prerequisites for more efficient solar cells, biosensors, reflective or antireflective coatings, and heterogeneous catalyst. In order to tune the size-dependent optoelectronic properties, it is mandatory to monitor how the growth kinetics affect the metal film...
For the stability of nanostructured materials, grain boundaries (GBs) can be controlled by the grain size. When the diffusion length L$_d$=(2Dt)$^{1/2}$ is small compared to $\delta$ (~0.5 nm), the GB width, the volume diffusion at low temperature is slow compared to the GB diffusion (type-C regime), D being the volume diffusivity and t the isothermal annealing time. We studied self-diffusion...
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Germany, is operating the user experiments for microtomography at the beamlines P05 and P07 using synchrotron radiation produced in the storage ring PETRA III at DESY, Hamburg, Germany. Attenuation-contrast and phase-contrast techniques were established to provide an imaging tool for applications in biology, medical science and materials science. Here we will...
High tunnel magneto-resistance is a characteristic of high quality magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) indicating a high spin polarization and epitaxial interfaces. We have studied the electronic properties of buried thin films promising as base electrodes for MTJs. In particular, the influence of the stoichiometry and annealing on the shape of the core levels and the valence band was...
Pressure increases in vacuum systems of particle accelerators have been observed since almost 50 years. In recent years, the dynamic vacuum turned out to be an intensity limitation in heavy-ion accelerators such as the heavy ion synchrotron SIS18 at GSI. Charge exchanged lost beam ions stimulate the release of gas from the chamber walls and the subsequent pressure increase leads to more...
Due to its unique property combination, tungsten would be the ideal material for the highly loaded areas in a future fusion power plant. However, tungsten is brittle up to very high temperatures and prone to operational embrittlement. Tungsten fibre-reinforced tungsten composites utilize extrinsic toughening mechanisms similar to ceramic fibre-reinforced ceramics and therefore can overcome the...
The world of detectors used in thermal neutron scattering instrumentation has changed. By alerts on the future Helium-3 supply, critical to perspectives of the large-scale research infrastructures, the run on substitutional technologies started. Most of the solutions could be adapted from developments of particle physics and are comprised of one or more layers of Boron-10. The Time Projection...
High-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction in diamond anvil cells (DAC) using laboratory and synchrotron facilities can now be performed on complex crystal structures that are twinned or modulated. However, there are hardly any single-crystal neutron diffraction studies in the DAC with complete structural refinements. Even at the most advanced neutron facilities, it is difficult to...
Synchrotron-based X-ray imaging has become an established method for the examination of small animals and X-ray microtomography in particular is an important tool for non-destructive 3D imaging of insects. The UFO imaging station of the KIT Synchrotron Radiation Facility is optimized for fast X-ray imaging and includes a high-speed detector system and a robot to change samples. The setup...
Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters play a central role in energy transduction and electron transport. Unlike “ferredoxin-like” Fe-S clusters, Rieske centers contain a 2Fe2S cluster with one Fe coordinated by two histidines (FeN) and one Fe coordinated by two cysteines (FeS). A special feature of the Rieske centers is the pH dependence of their reduction potentials. Protonation...
Polycrystalline solar cells offer numerous advantages over their single crystalline counterparts, including lower cost, higher flexibility, and ease of fabrication. Unfortunately, polycrystalline cells are less efficient at converting sunlight into electrical power. Grain boundaries (GBs) are generally accepted as the cause of this efficiency differential because they act as recombination...
Noble metal nanoparticles (NP) play a major role in modern heterogeneous catalysis. Reaction conditions like temperature and pressure impact the catalytic activity and selectivity. [1] Although a solvent effect is commonly accepted as a decisive parameter in liquid-phase catalysis, its fundamental understanding on a molecular level is still missing. Pair distribution function (PDF) analysis...
The KMC-2 [1] beamline at BESSY II [2], operates a graded SiGe monochromator (energy resolution E/ΔE = 4000; energy range: 4 – 15 keV). The newly build Cryo-EXAFS environment at KMC-2 "XANES" end station has been developed for in situ gas absorption combined with X-ray powder diffraction experiments [3] and has been modified for use on the XANES end station. The Cryo-EXAFS is based on a...
Responsive block copolymer thin films are of interest for many applications, e.g. as switchable membranes. Many of these systems are based on physical hydrogels, where a hydrophilic midblock is end-capped by hydrophobic end groups. Their dynamics can be tuned by employing temperature responsive polymers as end blocks. In thin films, a pH-responsive midblock may be used to tune the...
TiAl alloys are increasingly being used as a lightweight material, for example in aero engines, which also leads to the requirement for suitable repair techniques. Transient liquid phase bonding is a promising method for the closure of cracks (in non-critical or non-highly loaded areas) and is already used for Ni-base superalloys. Two different brazing solders, based on Ti-Fe and Ti-Ni, have...
Thanks to the high quality crystalline form of obtainable nanostructured material, due to the lack of substrate-induced stress or strain, and to the possibility of controlling growth parameters by applying an interface potential in electrodeposition, the interest in the study of growth processes at liquid-liquid interfaces has been lately renewed. With the aim of understanding nucleation and...
Understanding the interface between metals, commonly used as current collectors, and ion-conducting polymers used in polymer lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is crucial to develop highly reproducible, low-cost and reliable devices. To address these issues, sputter deposition is the technique of choice to fabricate scalable, reproducible and controllable nanometer and sub-nanometer metal layers on...
With their easy processability, high flexibility and tuneable optical properties, organic electronics offer a wide range of potential applications. Although based on organic materials, their electrodes are typically made from metals due to their unrivaled electronic conductivity. Thus, polymer-metal interfaces are inherently present and have a major influence on the device behavior....
What is often well established at many synchrotron beam lines is still in the development phase at neutron beam lines: In-situ light scattering techniques. The science case for in-situ light scattering at neutron instruments lies mostly in the limited reproducibility of sample preparation and stability of the samples over time. Whereas many soft matter or hard matter samples are not...
Aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) today are widely used in in automobile, aerospace and other engineering industries. Single-walled or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are attractive reinforcements for fabricating high performance AMCs, because of their extremely high strength and modulus, low density and good physical properties. So far, many works have shown that the CNTs can improve the...
The addition of Ca to Mg can improve the creep resistance at elevated temperatures and the mechanical properties of Mg alloys at both room and high temperatures. In current study, the in-situ compressive deformation behaviors of solution treated Mg-0.5Zr and Mg-0.3Ca-0.5Zr alloy were investigated both at room and elevated temperature (~200°C) at STRESS-SPEC neutron diffractometer (MLZ,...
Frequently symmetry determination in studies is based on the discussion of agreement factors or the quality of the refinements, rather than on the basis of physical arguments. Especially in the field of piezoceramics this can be observed in the discussion whether monoclinic symmetry can be observed or not.
In this study we could show with temperature-dependent high-resolution X-ray and...
Casein micelles (CM) are complex, highly hydrated colloidal particles of spherical shape in milk with many structural similarities to microgels. During processing, CM are subjected to a wide range of shear stress whose effects on molecular structure are unknown. Viscosity curves of CM suspensions were measured over a broad temperature and concentration range. The measured relative viscosity...
Due to its nanoscale architecture, cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) are used in functional materials as building blocks for high-strength materials [1], barrier coatings and functional coatings in thin films for organic electronic applications. One crucial question is the relation between packing of the CNF, porosity and nanostructure in the range from some nm (fibril diameter) to several hundred...
The High Brilliance Neutron Source (HBS) concept [1,2] offers the optimization of the neutron spectrum and the time structure of the neutron pulse for the individual beam ports due to specific moderator configurations and dedicated target stations with suitable pulse structure. The HBS principle is scalable and can be realized at different power levels with well adapted instruments.
In this...
Metal-Organic Frameworks – a class or crystalline porous materials with high surface area and pore volume and application potential ranging from gas storage and catalysis to electronic devices. One of the unique features of MOFs is adsorption induced structural switching. In order to follow the phase transitions and pore filling mechanism during the gas and vapour adsorption, three different...
At interfaces of ferromagnetic (F) and superconducting (S) layers proximity effects can lead to significant changes in their order parameters. When the magnetic state of the F-layer is inhomogeneous, magnetic domains can spatially confine the superconductivity in an adjacent S-layer [1]. Our goal is to obtain an understanding of such proximity effects between the two layers. Furthermore, the...
Understanding and controlling nucleation and growth is an important step in improving the crystallinity of thin films and thus crucial for the materials performance.$^1$ Nanolaminates represent ideal model systems to study interfacial nucleation, because they offer precise control on a sub-Å length scale. Ferecrystals are nanolaminate compounds with the general formula...
Using soft X-ray spectroscopies, performed also at synchrotrons, we investigate thin film processes, surfaces and interfaces at the nanoscale, when organic radicals are deposited on metal and metal oxide surfaces. We suggest how to design organic radicals bearing in mind the thermodynamic factors that govern thin film stability, with the purpose of obtaining not only a chemically stable...
The formation of ion pairs in an electrolyte solution has been investigated by numerous methods, arguably neutron scattering being one of the most powerful. Nevertheless, obtaining unambiguous results has been elusive for a lot of systems. We argue that non-local autoionization processes, in particular the so-called Electron Transfer Mediated Decay (ETMD), have the potential to become a probe...
Low-energy ion irradiation of surfaces can lead to nanoscale pattern formation with a wide variety of morphologies, resulting from a number of interacting ballistic and diffusive mechanisms which govern the mass redistribution under ion irradiation. The choice of process parameters such as sample temperature or ion incidence angle determines the relative influence of these mechanisms and...
IN12, a three-axis spectrometer for cold neutrons, is operated as a CRG-instrument from the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at the Institute Laue Langevin in Grenoble. In the years 2010 to 2012 IN12 has been relocated to a new position at the end of a new guide. Along with this relocation the whole primary spectrometer has been upgraded with new state-of-the-art components...
The KWS-1 small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument is operated by the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at the research reactor FRM II of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching near Munich [1].
Among the available options the most important concerns the studies of magnetic samples for which the instrument is equipped with transmission supermirror polarizer, adiabatic...
We review the current status of Larmor diffraction (LD) at TRISP at the MLZ. The current setup with precession fields both up- and downstream the sample has a good resolution and is not sensitive to the crystal size or beam divergence. The disadvantage is that it is not possible to work with spin-depolarizing ferromagnetic samples or with magnetic fields at the sample. There are two proposals...
We studied the phonon properties of ultrathin Fe3Si layers in Ge/Fe3Si/GaAs heterostructures as a model system for epitaxial, strain-free interfaces. Epitaxial Fe3Si layers with thicknesses from 3ML to 36ML were grown on GaAs(001) substrates and capped by a 4 nm thick amorphous Ge layer. Sample characterization with various methods showed the formation of epitaxial Fe3Si nanostructures with...
Neutron single crystal diffraction provides an experimental method for the direct location of hydrogen and deuterium atoms in macromolecules, thus providing important complementary information to that gained by X-ray crystallography. At the FRM II neutron source in Garching near Munich the single crystal diffractometer BIODIFF, a joint project of the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the FRM II, is...
We have investigated the macroscopic magnetic properties of a magnetocaloric Mn$_{3}$Fe$_{2}$Si$_{3}$ single crystal, which indicate a strong anisotropy. Applying the field perpendicular to c-direction, the magnetic response exhibits two features at T1≈123 K and T2≈69 K, and only one feature in field parallel to c-direction at T2≈ 69 K. Event above T1 the magnetic response is far from...
Recently, the attention has shifted to ultrathin ferromagnetic/heavy metal films deposited by sputtering, allowing to explore how the balance of ferromagnetic exchange, anisotropy and dipolar energy results in cylindrical domains. Therefore, we have started to investigate Fe(0.34nm)/Gd(0.45nm, 0.50nm, 0.55nm)]×80 multilayers, which can reveal skyrmion lattices at room temperature. The...
The coincident Doppler broadening (CDB) spectrometer at the positron beam facility NEPOMUC of the research neutron source FRM II enables depth dependent and spatially resolved defect studies by using Doppler broadening spectroscopy (DBS) of the positron-electron annihilation line. In order to investigate the near-surface region and the bulk of a sample, the positron implantation energy can be...
With extremely high elastic modulus, super strength, outstanding thermal and electrical properties, Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered as one of the most potential reinforcements for composites. Our studies indicate that hybrid Mg MMCs, reinforced with SiCp and CNTs, have shown superior tensile properties. This is mainly attributed to the addition of CNTs to SiCp with CVD method.
In this...
The MLZ Science Group “Quantum Phenomena” acts as a platform to promote and strengthen a close cooperation, in the fields of magnetism, superconductivity and strongly correlated electrons, for scientists at MLZ and from the surrounding institutions and universities. Together with the MLZ service and instrumentation groups, the Quantum Phenomena Group has played an important role in defining...
The development, processing and functionality of metals and alloys is a fine-tune between atomic structure, microstructure and mechanical properties of a final product. In-situ neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction deliver unique and complementary insight into the microstructural evolution of metals under various conditions, such as at high or low temperature, pressure and plastic...
During annealing of polyelectrolyte multilayers in concentrated solutions (1 M NaCl) interdiffusion of polyelectrolytes occurs. We investigate the interdiffusion perpendicular to the substrate using neutron reflectivity and selectively deuterated polyanions (PSS). Multilayers formed at 10 mM NaCl consist of flatly adsorbed chains. The diffusion constant of PSS can be tuned by four orders of...
Block copolymer (BCP) thin films have been proposed for a number of nanotechnology applications. Solvent vapor annealing (SVA) has emerged as a powerful technique for manipulating the structure of BCP thin films. Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) allows studying the SVA process, providing detailed information of the pathways and mechanisms of SVA induced restructuring in...
Because of its multivalent Co states and high oxygen mobility, SrCoO$_{3-\delta}$ is a promising material for energy and information applications. SrCoO$_3$ is a ferromagnetic metal with a Curie temperature of 305K, which becomes an antiferromagnetic insulator with a Néel temperature of 570K, when the oxygen content is decreased to SrCoO$_{2.5}$. Along with this magnetic transition, the...
Molecular brushes are densely grafted polymers composed of a polymeric backbone and side arms. Their complex architecture can easily be adjusted by changing the side arm architecture. A series of amphiphilic molecular brushes with diblock or random copolymer side arms is investigated, where the side arms contain both poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) segments, both...
Printing, a simple and low-cost technique for producing films on an industrial scale, is employed to fabricate mesoporous titania thin films. The synthesis is performed by the combination of sol-gel chemistry, in which titanium(IV)isopropoxide (TTIP) is used as precursor and a diblock copolymer polystyrene-block-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PEO) as the structure-directing template. The amphiphilic...
The Göttingen Instrument for Nano-Imaging with X-rays is the nanofocus-setup
at the coherence beamline P10 at PETRA III, DESY Hamburg. It features a 300 nm
Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror system as a prefocus for X-ray waveguide (WG) optics;
these WGs act as coherence filter and cleanup the X-ray beam from artefacts in
the illumination. In holography mode, sub-50 nm resolution of biological /
organic...
Recent improvements in the quality of focusing optics for X-rays has greatly advanced structural imaging of soft biological materials. We have applied scanning X-ray diffraction, a method that involves raster-scanning of a microfocused X-ray beam and collecting a series of scattering patterns, on cardiac cells and tissue to image variations in the nanostructure of cardiac muscle. It is shown...
Fluid transport can suffer from phenomena that are known in cavitation around propeller blades. The underlying nucleation phenomena, like heterogeneous nucleation due to surface roughness or impurities in the bulk phase, are known. Up to now only results of measurements on a later stage of bubble formation using fast video photography and synchrotron imaging have been published.
We used SAXS...
Organometal halide perovskite materials have attracted tremendous interests in optoelectronic applications due to their intrinsic dielectric properties. To further boost these materials in to large scale application, a deep understanding of morphology-property correlation in perovskite films is essential. Particularly, it is challenging to thoroughly determine the complex film morphology. In...
With its very pure thermal neutron flux, the reactor FRM II at Garching offers very good opportunities for studies of chemical composition in samples. The advantages of the instrumental NAA (INAA) are simple sample preparation without chemical handlings, high sensitivity, multi-element capability at all concentration levels (main, minor & trace) and almost non-destructiveness. The so-called...
The PERC experiment is currently under construction at the new beam port MEPHISTO at the FRM II. It aims to measure correlation parameters in neutron beta decay with an accuracy improved by one order of magnitude to a level of $10^{-4}$.
We will present an overview of the demanding experimental constraints for this precision experiment with a focus on the beamline with its neutron optical...
Welding generally introduces unwanted local residual stress states on engineering components hindering a high quality performance in service. Most common procedures to reduce the undesired tensile residual stresses are post heat treatments or mechanical surface treatments as e.g. hammering or shot peening. However, all of these post treatment processes are elaborate and rather cost-intensive....
D11 is the archetype of a small-angle neutron scattering, the longest ever built (2 x 40m), and the first one equipped with a two-dimensional detector. It is in user operation since 1972 [1] and serves many fields of scientific research from magnetism over chemistry and biology to soft condensed matter, all benefitting from an extended q-range accessible and the high flux of the ILL reactor....
In proton exchange fuel cells (PEFC) the hydrogen oxidation reaction and oxygen reduction reaction are catalysed by platinum-based catalysts. However, for economic reasons it is anticipated to replace platinum on the cathode for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Fe N C catalysts are the most prominent substitute. Molecular FeN4 centres were identified by different groups as ORR active sites...
A new SASE3 beamline branch at European XFEL in Schenefeld is currently being installed. It will be available to a large user community for time-resolved pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy (TR-XPES) of solids and surfaces.
SASE3 provides ultra-short (10-100 fs), extremely intense (1 - 2 mJ) pulses of coherent soft X-ray light (0.27 - 3.0 keV photon energy), which is ideally suited for...
NICOS (Networked Instrument COntrol System) has all components needed to easily
create an instrument control software. Due to the large number of configuration
options it can be tailored to individual instruments' requirements.
There is a script execution component, components to create a history of
measured data as well as of nearly all parameters of the instrument. A highly
configurable...
The precise knowledge of the surface structure is essential to understand e.g. chemical reactions, optimize catalytic techniques or develop nanoelectronic devices. It has been shown that Total Reflection High-Energy Positron Diffraction (TRHEPD) is an ideal technique to determine the structure of the topmost and the immediate subsurface atomic layer of crystals [1]. In contrast to electrons,...
Since it has been synthesized [1], the Fe(trzH)2(trz) complex is one the most investigated spin crossover systems [2]. It contains the 1D polymeric chains and reveals the spin transition with the hysteresis of 40 K. In order to understand its vibrational properties we performed Nuclear Inelastic Scattering (NIS) experiments at the temperatures corresponding to its high-spin and low-spin...
In order to study the cooperativity between the three irons of the trinuclear iron ferrocene complex [Fe{L-N4(CH2Fc)2}(Cl)2 synchrotron based spectroscopy such as nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS) and nuclear forward scattering (NFS) have been performed. These techniques are well suited to investigate valence tautomerism which denotes an...
The single atom Cu metallated UiO-66 metal organic framework (MOF) catalyst (Cu/UiO-66) had turned out to be highly active for CO oxidation at reaction temperatures between 120 and 250°C. Combining time resolved operando XAS measurements at the Cu K-edge with operando FTIR spectroscopy, atomic resolution electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and DFT computations we investigated the structure of...
Some Au catalysts, in particular Au/ZnO, have turned out to be highly active and selective for methanol synthesis from CO2 and H2, a key reaction for chemical energy storage. Further improvement of their performance entails a molecular scale understanding of their performance. Here we report on reaction induced changes of structural and electronic properties of Au/ZnO, applying a combination...
The structure of carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) created by confinement in slit geometry with gap size in the range of few tens of Angstrom is probed by reflectivity and in-plane x-ray measurement. The measurements reveal heterogeneous structures with regions ordered only in z-direction (layered-structure) and periodic order in the plane of the substrates. Current experiments confirm the ability...
In solid state physics and materials science the positron is applied as a highly mobile nano-probe for the detection of vacancy-like defects and their chemical surrounding using (coincident) Doppler broadening spectroscopy ((C)DBS) of the positron-electron annihila-tion line. A scanning positron beam allows depth dependant defect spectroscopy and the imaging of defect distributions.
The...
peakR is an open-source package for nonlinear peak fitting that was developed using the popular statistical programming language, R. By utilising a modified Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, the sum of both nonlinear and linear functions fitted to experimental data can be solved. The package consists of a set of R functions and an RStudio Addin that allows the user to analyse their dataset...
Specific target Nanoparticles for therapy of cancer and other diseases were assembled from lipids, polymers and bio-ferrofluids. For cell targeting proteins were bound to the surface (corona). The structure and dynamics was investigated by SANS, DLS, SAXS and ASAXS as the multi-domain particles depict a size of 20-200 nm. Structure-material domains were localized by contrast variation in SANS...
Thermoresponsive polymers are an interesting class of material for industrial and medical applications and also for fundamental research. Lower critical solution temperature (LCST) polymers, such as poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), are common and well-studied, whereas materials with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) still are rare and not well examined. Depending on the material...
Phosphate based cathode materials has seen great success following the demonstration of LiFePO4 as a functioning Li-ion battery cathode material, especially due to its very low cost and high safety compared with the previously used oxide based materials. However, despite the inductive effect of the phosphate group, LiFePO4 has a relatively low discharge potential compared with materials based...
This contribution features the user facility PIPE which is a
permanent end station at the Variable Polarization XUV beamline P04
at PETRA III / DESY for the study of photon interactions with
matter in the gas phase (charged and neutral atoms, molecules,
clusters). The setup provides flexible state-of-the-art
experimental equipment such as specialized ion sources, an ion
trap, and particle...
Extensive characterization is needed to understand the physicochemical properties of polymeric membranes that are used for water purification. Currently, most techniques characterize the (near)-surface region of the membrane, even though its bulk obviously also plays a significant role in the final membrane performance. To achieve depth-profiles of the elemental composition of both integrally...
Imaging and characterization of multiphase flow though porous media at the pore-scale is essential to understand the fluid dynamics that control for instance oil recovery and efficiency of carbon dioxide storage in the subsurface formations. Non-destructive dynamic pore-scale imaging using X-rays generated by a synchrotron light source along with an advanced flow apparatus that is almost...
In gas production fields the extraction of massive gas volumes from the geological underground caused subsidence up to about 30 cm and increased the regional seismicity.
We consider the geomechanical issues of the increased seismicity due to hydrocarbon production, especially the coupling of reservoir pore pressure and in situ stress. Models cannot considered reservoirs where stress changes...
Crystallographic fragment screening is an established method to initiate structure-based compound development and has become feasible for a wide scientific community. Our efforts within Frag2Xtal and Frag4Lead projects enable users to carry out these experiments in practicable time at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. Efficient soaking and handling of crystals is supported via our Frag2Xtal Screen...
Iron(II) spin crossover (SCO) complexes indicate a reversible transition from the low-spin state (LS, S=0) to a high-spin state (HS, S=2) by e.g. variation of temperature, pressure or by irradiation with light [1]. Therefore, these materials are promising candidates for information storage [2]. However, practical device applications require thin films with these properties.
The SCO-compound...
Printing technology for photovoltaic applications
Benjamin Predeschly, Sebastian Grott, Peter Müller-Buschbaum
TU München, Physik-Department, LS Funktionelle Materialien, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching
Organic solar cells (OPVs) are a very promising technology of photovoltaics and exhibit advantages in comparison to inorganic photovoltaics, like light weight, flexibility, low-cost...
Most software in our field has been developed by single researchers.
This is no longer sustainable. We need software that is continuously
improved and extended, runs on different platforms, is fully documented
and covered by tests, and has a friendly user interface. This can only
be achieved if software development is institutionalized. All major
neutron facilities have recognized this need,...
A case study of electron tunneling or charge-transfer-driven orbital ordering in superconductor (SC)-ferromagnet (FM) interfaces has been conducted in heteroepitaxial YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ (YBCO) / La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$ (LSMO) multilayers interleaved with and without an insulating SrTiO$_3$(STO) layer between YBCO and LSMO. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) experiments at BESSY...
Low-energy spin excitations in any long-range ordered magnetic system in the absence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy are gapless Goldstone modes emanating from the ordering wave vectors. In helimagnets, these modes hybridize into the so-called helimagnon excitations. Here we employ neutron spectroscopy supported by theoretical calculations to investigate the magnetic excitation spectrum of...
In recent years, ptychography has been established as a method in X-ray microscopy to achieve a spatial resolution even below the diffraction limit of x-ray optics, down to a few nm. This requires, among other things, an extremely high degree of mechanical stability, a low background signal from the x-ray microscope and highest demands on the beam guiding and focusing optics.
PtyNAMi is the...
Converting pollutants like hydrocarbons or CO at low temperatures is a main challenge in exhaust gas aftertreatment. A promising approach for improving the low temperature activity of exhaust gas catalysts – typically supported noble metal nanoparticles – is to exploit the interaction between the noble metal component and support material like ceria (1).
Recently, we demonstrated the rational...
Self-assembly of ultrahigh molecular weight diblock copolymer nanostructures with micro-phase separation structures larger than 150 nm can yield ordered structures for the fabrication of many nanotechnology materials, such as optical, electronic and magnetic devices. Therefore, it is significant to study the structural development in ultrahigh molecular weight diblock copolymer thin films...
Self-organization of inorganic nanoparticles at liquid/air interfaces is a promising approach towards fabrication of novel functional 2D materials [1]. For spherical nanoparticles, the formation of two-dimensional superlattices was reported [2,3], whereas for shape anisotropic nanoparticles the detailed mechanism of nanoparticle organization at liquid/air interfaces requires further insight....
Ordered nanostructures of magnetic nanoparticles are interesting both due to potential applications, $\textit{e.g.}$ in information technology and spintronics [1, 2], and for the fundamental investigation of dipolar coupling [3, 4]. In particular stacked structures of ordered magnetic nanoparticle monolayers are interesting due to their potential for highly structured 3D devices and as model...
The interplay of charge and spin currents at the interface between ferrimagnetic insulators and paramagnetic metals gives rise to novel spintronic effects, such as the recently discovered spin-Hall magnetoresistance (SMR). The effect was described as a result of interfacial spin mixing, i.e., of a spin-angular-momentum exchange between the magnetization in the ferrimagnet Y3Fe5O12 and the spin...
We will present a combined study of X-ray and neutron small-angle scattering (SAXS/SANS) and magnetization measurements, which resolves in detail the chemical and magnetic morphology of magnetic nanoparticles. In particular, polarized small-angle neutron scattering allows to resolve the spatial magnetization distribution inside of magnetic nanoparticles and to discriminate the spin disorder...
Austempered ductile iron (ADI) is a nodular ductile iron which has undergone a special heat treatment to greatly enhance mechanical properties. This heat treatment process consists of austenitization, quenching to a temperature typically between 250°C and 450°C and isothermal austempering. Afterwards the microstructure consists of acicular ferrite and high carbon enriched retained...
Co-doped Pr2-xSrxNiO4+d is one of the exotic family members belonging to the nickelets for many different reasons. Like h-Tc cuprates and cobaltates superconductors, this family of nickelets also shows very complicated incommensurability (epsilon) of charge and spin ordering which can be explained via dis-commensuration/mixing of stripe and checkerboard ordered phases. In addition to that, the...
We report on synthesis and investigation of nanocrystalline cobalt-iron-pyrites with an emphasis on nanocrystal structure, morphology and magnetic behavior. The nanocrystals (NCs) were 5–25 nm in diameter as characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Local atomic structures of the samples were studied using absorption near edge structure...
The production of organic nanoparticles (NPs) via antisolvent precipitation (AP) is a less-invasive and low-cost alternative to top-down methods like high-pressure homogenization [1]. Thus, AP is receiving growing attention, e.g. for the preparation of nanodispersions of pharmaceutical ingredients [2]. For instance, the antioxidant coenzyme Q10 (Q10) has several health protective effects and...
Hafnium oxide (HfO2) crystallizes in the monoclinic phase at room temperature which undergoes a phase transformation to tetragonal and cubic at 1700 oC and 2600 oC, respectively. Herein, we present a detailed structural and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline HfO2 powders synthesized by a Pechini type sol-gel method followed by calcination at 900 oC in air. X-ray diffraction and Le-Bail...
Mixtures of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes (PE) with oppositely charged microemulsion (ME) droplets were studied with respect to their phase behavior and the structures present in solution. In this work we varied the size of the ME droplets, their charge density, the mixing ratio, ionic strength of the solution, and the type and Mw of the PE. Their structural properties were characterized...
Ni-based superalloys are used for high temperature (T) applications that require good mechanical properties. Among these alloy 718 is the most widely used with operation T up to 650 °C. In this alloy the austenitic matrix is strengthened by $\gamma$’-Ni3Al and $\gamma$’’-Ni3Nb precipitates. Other phases that can be formed are $\delta$-Ni3Nb and $\eta$-Ni3Ti. The existence of the different...
Carbonate apatites were found to be present in U-bearing organic-rich phosphatized limestones from Epirus region (NW Greece). The mineralogical investigation of the rock samples revealed, along with organic matter and calcite, the presence of abundant carbonate apatites and in lesser extent fluoroapatites, zircons and pyrite. Electron microprobe (EMPA) and Raman spectroscopy were applied for...
Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) are widely applied in many different scientific fields like medicine, biology and optics. Especially anisomorphic AuNP like rods (AuNR) are highly versatile and grown out of the liquid phase via a seed mediated growth process aided by a soft template consisting of ligands like CTAB. However, a major problem is the lack of control during the nanoparticle growth due to...
ASPHERE III is an angle-, spin-, and position-resolving photoelectron spectrometer that fully exploits the unique capabilities of the variable polarization tender X-ray beamline P04 of PETRA III. Combining a Scienta DA30 photoelectron analyzer with installed 3D-Mott detector and the brillant, widely tunable (250−3000 eV), and highly monochromatic photon beam of the beamline or, complementary,...
The integration of an ion source with very high spatial resolution with a tandem accelerator is a long-standing concept for improving analytical selectivity and sensitivity by orders of magnitude [1-3]. Translating this design concept to reality has its challenges [e.g. 4-6]. Supporting a strong focus on natural, metallic and mineral resources the, Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource...
In supported ionic liquid (IL) phase catalysis, the chemical reaction takes place in a sub-micrometer IL film, wetting a solid support material with high surface area. To understand diffusion of reactants and products across the IL/vapor interface, knowledge of the interfacial structure is crucial.
We employ X-ray scattering techniques to investigate the near surface structure on the...
Phospholipid membranes are the basic construction material of cell membranes. Also, solutions of phospholipid vesicles find a wide array of applications in technical, medical and biological applications.
In our previous publications we showed both the structure and the dynamic behavior of L-α-phosphatidylcholine (SoyPC) phospholipid membranes. [1,2] We established a multi-lamellar structure as...
Research at extreme P-T conditions forces the available technologies and material properties to their limits. The Paris-Edinburgh press (PE press) yields a suitable technology for generating stable static pressures (10´s of GPa) on large sample volume (< 3mm3). In the past, two PE presses have been modified to such a degree that accelerated heavy ions can reach condensed matter hold at high...
The mineral calcite (CaCO3, rhombohedral cell, 3 2/m symmetry, large band gap) is known to exhibit luminescence caused by electron excitation (cathodoluminescence), accelerated ion excitation (ionoluminescence), UV-light, and laser excitation. In most cases, the resulting wavelength can be traced back to impurities in the crystal lattice that act as luminescence centres. These impurities could...
T-REX is a bispectral direct-geometry chopper spectrometer accepted for construction at the European Spallation Source (ESS). Currently the project is in the engineering design phase. We will discuss technical solutions for various instrument components.
The instrument will provide neutrons in the energy range 2 meV < Ei < 160 meV and therefore will allow detailed exploration of reciprocal...
Phase-change materials such as Ge-Sb-Te and Ag-In-Sb-Te alloys can be reversibly switched between amorphous and crystalline states on a timescale of nanoseconds. These alloys possess unique features such as ultrafast switching, strong electrical/optical contrast, and a relatively stable amorphous state, which are interesting for non-volatile computer memory devices and neuromorphic computing...
The time-of-flight engineering diffractometer BEER currently under construction at the European Spallation Source (ESS) is dedicated to the support of the latest progress in development, fabrication and optimization of modern engineering materials by neutron scattering analysis. The main tasks of BEER are to enable fast in situ and in operando characterization of materials and their...
For the control of the lithographic manufacturing process, a rapid in-line metrology is needed. New metrology solutions may accomplish the characterization of more complex 3D structures, where the effect of the roughness becomes even more acute. Grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) is a reliable technique with high surface-sensitiveness which allows short acquisition times....
The key idea of fragment screening is that a small selection of appropriate fragments covers a much larger proportion of the overall chemical fragment space than a typical high-throughput screening collection with respect to the drug-sized chemical space. Fragments may bypass strict steric requirements for binding, leading to high hit rates. They often efficiently bind in anchor positions...
The MAgnetism Reflectometer with high Incoming Angle (MARIA) is a world class vertical sample reflectometer dedicated to the investigation of thin films and interfaces in the field of magnetism, material science, soft matter and biology. The elliptic vertically focusing guide allows the investigation of small samples with a typical size of 1x1cm^2 quite efficiently. The double bounce polarizer...
The high resolution diffraction beamline P08 at Petra III is dedicated to high resolution X-ray diffraction and scattering methods with an emphasis on studies of surfaces, interfaces and thin films. The photon energy can be set between 5.4 and 29.4 keV with a focal spot between (20 x 2) µm² and (1 x 0.5) mm².
A high precision 6-circle diffractometer for solid samples and a diffractometer for...
The Materials Science group consists of more than 30 people working in a variety of fields related to the applied materials science. Members of this group belong to neutron scattering or positron spectroscopy instruments including the staff acquired through 3rd party funding and the group of fuel cell development. Each month a group meeting is organized to exchange the activities of the group...
Ultrafast magnetization dynamics is a complex and fascinating field in fundamental physics and motivates studies on new magnetic recording techniques based on, e.g., all-optical switching (AOS) of magnetic order [1,2]. For our studies on photo-induced magnetization dynamics in rare-earth metals [3,4] the FemtoSpex slicing beamline at BESSY II is ideal since magnetization can be probed state-...
The electronic states and their dynamics determine important functional material properties such as charge and, via electron-phonon coupling, also heat transport. Thus a profound understanding of the microscopic mechanisms underlying electrical conductivity and its coupling to thermal conductivity is gained by probing the electronic structure.
The new end-station PEAXIS built at BESSY II...
A Quenching & Deformation Dilatometer (TA instruments DIL 805A/D/T) is now operational at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ). It is customized for running neutron scattering measurements during temperature/deformation treatment of the sample, in particular neutron diffraction (phase, texture, stress/strain) at STRESS-SPEC and neutron small-angle scattering (nanostructure) at SANS-1.
The...
We present the features of the instrument SANS-1 at MLZ, a joint project of Technische Universität München and Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht [1]. Measurements of the beam profile, divergence, flux and polarization are given for various positions along the instrument and agree well with simulations. SANS-1 features two interchangeable velocity selectors with 10% and 6% Δλ/λ and a TISANE...
Compact accelerator based neutron sources (CANS) offer the possibility to establish a network of neutrons sources to cover various activities in neutron research throughout Europe.
Recent developments show that these sources are scalable, highly flexible, efficient and can be built and operated with reasonable costs as described in the High Brilliance neutron Source project (HBS) [1]. At such...
Over the past decades, crystalline organic-inorganic network materials such as hybrid inorganic-organic perovskites (HOIPs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have changed our perception of the solid state. Such materials bring many opportunities in application-oriented research areas such as optoelectronics, photovoltaics, catalysis and gas sensing among others. At the same time, the large...
The integration of sample environment equipment in a neutron or synchrotron experiment is a complex problem both in the physical world and in the digital world. Different experiment control softwares offer different interfaces for the connection of sample environment equipment. Up to now there exists no software standard for this task. Therfore it is time-consuming to integrate new sample...
Magnetic nanoparticles and their assembly in highly ordered structures are fundamentally interesting regarding the understanding of magnetic interactions and for a rational design towards potential applications in information technology as e.g. magnetic data storage media or as material for spintronics. With regard to these applications, the main aspects of fundamental interest include...
Poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) (PNIPMAM) is a thermoresponsive polymer, exhibiting lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior in aqueous solution. Compared to the well-investigated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), which has similar chemical structure, PNIPMAM has a higher transition temperature (43 °C [1] instead of 32 °C). This may be due to the presence of the additional...
The control of the micro- and the nanostructure in photoactive layers of organic photovoltaics is one key component for the performance of such devices. In this regard, we will present time-resolved grazing incidence wide angle scattering (GIWAXS) measurements of the photoactive material DRCN5T:PC71BM during solvent vapor annealing (SVA). In the course of this annealing process a...
PLAL is a robust technique to produce nanoparticles of a broad choice of materials by ablation with pulsed lasers. When this process takes place inside a liquid, nanoparticles are caught in suspension for further use. Nevertheless the understanding and control of particle yield and morphology is far from being understood.
The complexity of the process originates in the inherent span of...
The magnetization process of a two-dimensional randomly anisotropical system is directly connected with topologically stable helices in the form of 2$\pi$-planar domain walls (DWs). These DWs are often reported for rare-earth/transition metal layered systems. In this paper, we investigate such DWs within a rare-earth/rare-earth system, viz. [Dy/Tb]$\times$10 multilayers with two different...
Imagine you have an idea for a thin film system which you want to measure with polarised neutron reflectometry. But you do not have the expertise and/or the equipment for thin film fabrication. We can help you!
The JCNS thin film laboratory runs an oxide MBE system for the growth of various types of samples, i.e. “classical” magnetic thin films, transition metal oxide heterostructures or thin...
Free-electron lasers (FELs) enable the study of dynamics in matter on combined femtosecond time and nanometer length scales [1]. One of the most intriguing topics within contemporary research on magnetism, ultrafast near-infrared (IR) laser-induced demagnetization [2,3], has greatly benefited from the advent of FELs [4] as it was shown that optically generated superdiffusive spin currents [5]...
The impact of ions on atoms, molecules and solid surfaces involves many different processes, among them charge exchange, electron excitation and ionization of the target, and subsequent deexcitation of both projectile and target. Experiments with slow (v < 1a.u.) highly charged ions (q < Z, Z >> 1) scattered off solid surfaces or transmitted through thin solid films revealed already some years...
The method grazing incidence small angle neutron scattering (GISANS) is about having a break-trough, but one essential step needs to be taken: We need a dedicated GISANS instrument at the MLZ that allows to monitor processes.
Neutrons have utmost advantages over x-rays: We can monitor processes at the solid-liquid interface that is nearly impossible for x-rays. In many applications we need to...
Many interesting scientific proposals for soft matter research are submitted to MLZ twice a year, and lead to ca. 30% of the scientific output. The soft matter group at MLZ practices also own in-house research that is tightly connected to TUM & LMU activities and strongly supported by Forschungszentrum Jülich with its activities. This concept with active research enables the soft matter group...
Voltage control of magnetism (VCM) in oxide heterostructures, such as La1-x SrxMnO3/BaTiO3 is of considerable interest due to the strong coupling between lattice, charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom at interfaces, as well as for improving the functionality of future spintronic devices. In this study, the manipulation of magnetization via switching of ferroelectric polarization at...
Having integrated Amphiphilic photoswitchable molocules into phospholipid membranes, we investigate their biologically relevant properties. By studying the interactions in such a model system consisting of switchable biomimetic molecules in lipid membranes here, we study the structure and kinetics of membrane response to the switching process. These in situ experiments not only contribute to...
Crystal structure defines properties and functionality for different/various classes of materials. In the task of the crystal and magnetic structure determination the neutron diffraction has been proven as a powerful research tool combining more than 100 years development of diffraction techniques (since Max von Laue experiments) along with unique (and well known) features of neutron...
