Magnetization Switching in Highly Magnetostrictive Microstructures

Magnetization Switching in Highly Magnetostrictive Microstructures

Using several x-ray probes at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), researchers learned how the size, shape, and orientation of microstructures affect how they switch magnetization directions in response to an applied voltage.

The work advances our understanding of strain-responsive composite materials for use in energy-efficient electronic applications such as memory devices, sensors, and actuators.

Beyond the current approach

Today’s memory and logic devices require large electric currents to flip magnetic domains that store binary data. Unfortunately, this current-driven approach results in significant energy losses through heating. A more energy-efficient alternative is to control magnetization using voltage, through the use of multiferroic heterostructures—that is, a ferromagnetic layer coupled to a ferroelectric substrate. One promising material for the ferromagnetic layer is an iron-gallium alloy (Fe-Ga, or galfenol), known for its large magnetostrictive effect: its magnetization can significantly change in response to mechanical strain.

Composite Fe-Ga/PMN-PT samples

In this work, researchers explored the magnetoelectric behavior of tiny epitaxial Fe-Ga structures on a piezoelectric (PMN-PT) substrate, using multiple synchrotron x-ray probes. Studying such structures at small scales is vital to understanding how to manipulate them using voltage, with significant implications for the development of energy-efficient applications such as memory devices, sensors, and actuators.

The microstructures were designed to have different sizes (1–6 µm), shapes (square and elliptical), and crystallographic orientations with respect to the PMN-PT. A subnanometer-thick iron seed layer was used to initiate well-ordered Fe-Ga crystal growth, and a platinum capping layer was deposited to prevent surface oxidation.

Previous studies on epitaxial Fe-Ga-based multiferroic heterostructures have demonstrated impressive voltage-driven magnetic reorientation capabilities, but they focused on either continuous thin films or large structures of epitaxial Fe-Ga—far from the small features required for real-world devices.

Multimodal ALS experiments

To visualize voltage-driven magnetic reorientation in the Fe-Ga microstructures, the researchers used photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) at ALS Beamline 11.0.1.1, with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) as a contrast mechanism. This beamline provides the ability to apply a voltage across the sample during measurement—ideal for studying electrically driven magnetic responses—as well as the ability to thin the platinum capping layer to about 0.5 nm just before the measurement.

At ALS Beamline 12.3.2, the researchers used x-ray microdiffraction to measure micron-scale, voltage-induced strains in the piezoelectric substrate. The beamline’s integrated fluorescence mapping capability enabled the researchers to focus on the area right under the Fe-Ga microstructures, essential for correlating the local strains with the magnetic switching events observed using XMCD-PEEM.

Finally, at ALS Beamlines 4.0.2 and 6.3.1, x-ray magnetic spectroscopy was used to gain additional insight into the characteristics of the epitaxial Fe-Ga.

Read more on ALS website

Image: Based on the x-ray microdiffraction data from the PMN-PT substrate, the researchers obtained strain maps corresponding to lattice distortions along the [100]P direction, before and after a voltage was applied.

Synchrotron light impact on battery materials during real-time analysis

Synchrotron light impact on battery materials during real-time analysis

A multi-centre study carried out by ALBA Synchrotron, ICMAB-CSIC, CIC energiGUNE and BRTA researchers has uncovered critical beam-induced effects in battery materials studied using synchrotron light. The team demonstrated that X-ray radiation can inhibit electrochemical activity in common lithium-ion battery electrodes during characterization studies.

The study identifies radiation dose thresholds and proposes new strategies to mitigate beam-induced effects to ensure more accurate operando battery characterization.

Efficient energy storage is critical to achieving a clean energy future, since large-scale batteries will enable the storage and distribution of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. Global efforts to optimize battery performance include the development of new materials, which are often characterized using synchrotron-based operando techniques. These real-time measurements examine the performance of the battery as it charges and discharges. However, the potential impact of high-intensity X-ray beams on the materials under study had not been fully understood until now, raising concerns about the accuracy of results from these powerful techniques.

A new study, published in Chemistry of Materials, sheds light on this issue by systematically investigating how synchrotron radiation affects two widely used battery electrode materials based on lithium: LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 (NMC111) and LiFePO₄ (LFP). The research reveals that the X-ray beams produced at synchrotron facilities and used in these experiments can alter the electrochemical activity of these materials, and in extreme cases, this may lead to incorrect conclusions about the performance of the materials.

Researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), the Centre for Cooperative Research on Alternative Energies (CIC energiGUNE), the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) and the ALBA Synchrotron collaborated to investigate the electrochemical behavior of NMC111 and LFP—two key components of commercial lithium-ion batteries—under X-ray radiation. Using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) at the MSPD and NOTOS beamlines of ALBA, they observed how the materials reacted to different radiation intensities while undergoing charge and discharge cycles.

The results showed that at high doses, the synchrotron radiation caused a localized inhibition of the electrochemical reactivity at the irradiated areas. In other words, the X-ray beam interfered with the normal functioning of the battery material, slowing down or halting the expected chemical reactions. The effects were found to be dose-dependent, with higher radiation doses leading to more significant inhibition. Importantly, the study demonstrated that these effects were reversible. Once the beam was moved to a different area or when the radiation intensity was reduced, the materials returned to their normal activity. This suggests that the materials were not permanently damaged by the beam, but rather their activity was temporarily “paused” due to X-ray exposure.

These findings corroborate already known beam-induced effects in operando measurements with synchrotron light. Nevertheless, thanks to the systematic investigation they also enable researchers to propose several strategies to mitigate them. For example, reducing the intensity of the synchrotron beam by using attenuators, such as aluminum foils to lower the photon flux reaching the sample. The researchers also found that thinner battery electrodes were less affected by the beam, suggesting that the thickness of the materials being studied influences their radiation tolerance. Additionally, they observed that controlling the exposure time and introducing rest periods between measurements could help prevent the build-up of beam effects.

This study, the first to use the NOTOS beamline for advancing battery research, not only provided a first systematic analysis of the beam-induced effects when using synchrotron light to study materials under actual working conditions, but also has broader implications for improving the accuracy of synchrotron-based characterization techniques across many fields of materials science. As scientists work to develop new and more efficient battery materials—especially for applications like electric vehicles and renewable energy storage—synchrotron specialists around the world will continue refining high-brilliance X-ray techniques to provide accurate, real-time data for understanding the complex chemical processes that take place during battery operation.

Read more on ALBA website

Studying Interfacial Effects in Solid-Electrolyte Batteries

Studying Interfacial Effects in Solid-Electrolyte Batteries

At the Advanced Light Source (ALS), an ambient-pressure probe of a solid electrolyte revealed how surface electrochemical mechanisms lead to poor electrolyte performance and battery failure.

The results can help scientists engineer better coatings and interfaces, which are essential for building safer and better-performing batteries, particularly for use in vehicles.

A solid prospect for better batteries

Global efforts to electrify transportation and provide grid-level energy storage have driven demand for new battery technologies with improved safety, power density, and energy density. Ceramic solid electrolytes potentially offer significant advantages compared to the traditional liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries, including lower flammability and greater compatibility with high-energy electrode materials such as lithium metal. Among solid-electrolyte contenders, tantalum-doped lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO) has garnered significant attention as a separator material because of its high bulk ionic conductivity and minimal chemical reactivity with lithium metal.

However, LLZO performance is limited by reactions that produce surface contaminants. Understanding the mechanisms behind these reactions is crucial for improving material processing. In this work, researchers used ambient-pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) as part of a systematic investigation of the impacts of electrochemical reactions and contamination. The results will inform the design of safer and more-efficient batteries for electric vehicles or renewable energy storage.

Facing the interfacial challenges

It is well known that, in the presence of water vapor in air, LLZO undergoes Li+/H+ exchange, where protons (H+) can take up lithium-ion (Li+) sites without modifying the cubic crystal structure. This results in the formation of surface contaminants such as LiOH and Li2CO3 that contribute to poor interfacial contact and the constriction of current.

Numerous studies have explored different aspects of the surface contamination mechanisms on LLZO along with various processing techniques aimed at improving surface properties. However, most studies have focused on critical current density (CCD) tests, which provide limited mechanistic insight, or impedance analyses, with limited rationale behind their interpretation.

In this study, the researchers utilized a variety of surface-treatment processes on LLZO pellets to selectively induce proton exchange and contamination reactions in LLZO. The resulting bulk and surface chemistry was systematically characterized and correlated to changes in electrochemical properties.

ALS studies at ambient pressure

To observe the evolution of chemical species near the LLZO surface, ambient-pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) was performed at ALS Beamline 9.3.2. The ability to tune the gas environment and temperature during measurement was crucial, as it allowed the researchers to optimize conditions (pressure, temperature, time) for removing surface contaminants. Also, the ability to vary the probe depth via beam energy was also essential for chemical speciation.

Read more on ALS website

Image: Illustrations of some of the surface treatments applied to a solid-state battery-electrolyte material (LLZO) as part of this study: glovebox polishing (Gb:Pol), heat treatment (HT), acid treatment (AT), water treatment (WT), and water treatment + heat treatment (WT:HT). Proton concentration (the result of H+ displacing Li+) is indicated by the color gradient, from low (orange) to high (blue). Pink and purple indicate surface contaminants.

New compounds to combat antibiotic resistance

New compounds to combat antibiotic resistance

To address the global threat of antibiotic resistance, scientists are on the hunt for new ways to sneak past a bacterial cell’s defence system. Taking what they learned from a previous study on cancer, researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) have developed novel compounds that trigger bacterial cells to self-destruct.

The new form of antibiotics is designed to target a naturally occurring enzyme — caseinolytic protease proteolytic subunit, ClpP, for short — which chews up old or defective proteins and plays an essential role in cellular housekeeping. The new compound kicks the ClpP enzyme into overdrive, so it begins chewing up proteins that it is not supposed to, eventually killing its own cell from the inside out. Video: New compounds to combat antibiotic resistance

“Most antibiotics inhibit a process,” says Dr. Walid A. Houry, professor of biochemistry at the University of Toronto. “With this approach, we are dysregulating a process, and this allows us to develop this new class of compounds that we eventually hope to get into a clinic.” Houry worked closely with Dr. Robert Batey and colleagues to build upon their previous work in this area.

“It turns out that the [enzyme] present in cancer cells is also present in bacteria. For this project, the tricky thing was trying to find a way to hit the bacterial ClpP, but not the human ClpP.” Houry said.

Read more on CLS website

Leading Korean science research centre to work in collaboration with Diamond 

Leading Korean science research centre to work in collaboration with Diamond 

A new partnership agreement between Diamond and Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative (MPK) has been established

Representatives from both institutions met this week to sign a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The aim of the agreement is to unite the two organisations in educational and scientific cooperation. This will include exchanging research expertise in shared fields of interest, as well as encouraging research visits between the two organisations. 

MPK was established in October 2011 in close cooperation with the Max Planck Foundation (MPI) in Germany to advance foundational and innovative technologies in materials science through international collaboration. Part of its remit is to actively promote global talent training programs in association with Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).

The initiative is particularly interested in developing cutting-edge functional materials and nanostructures with complex properties, as well as the development of high-tech functional nanodevices with new optical, electrical, and magnetic properties.

Read more on Diamond website

Image: Dr Adrian Mancuso, Physical Sciences Director (Diamond); Prof. Jae-Hoon Park Director (MPK); Changyong Song, Prof. of Physics (MPK); Sukeun Park (MPK) , Prof. Jongsu Park (MPK)

 Leap toward more energy-efficient supercomputing

 Leap toward more energy-efficient supercomputing

Researchers have revealed an adaptive response with a ferroelectric device, which responds to light pulses in a way that resembles the plasticity of neural networks. This behavior could find application in energy-efficient microelectronics.

“Today’s supercomputers and data centers demand many megawatts of power,” said Haidan Wen, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. ​“One challenge is to find materials for more energy-efficient microelectronics. A promising candidate is a ferroelectric material that can be used for artificial neural networks as a component in energy-efficient microelectronics.”

Ferroelectric materials can be found in different kinds of information processing devices, such as computer memory, transistors, sensors and actuators. Argonne researchers report surprising adaptive behavior in a ferroelectric material that can evolve step-by-step to a desired end, depending on the amount of photons from light pulses striking the material. Working alongside Argonne researchers were scientists from Rice University, Pennsylvania State University and DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

This team’s material is laden with networked islands or domains that are as distinct as oil in water. These domains are nanometers in size — billionths of a meter — and can rearrange themselves in response to light pulses. This adaptive behavior could be used in the energy-efficient movement of information in microelectronics.

The team’s ferroelectric sample is structured as a sandwich of alternating layers of lead and strontium titanate. Prepared by the Rice University collaborators, this seven-layer sandwich is 1,000 times thinner than a piece of paper. Previously, the team had shined a single, intense light pulse on a sample and created uniform, nanoscale ordered structures.

“Today’s supercomputers and data centers demand many megawatts of power. One challenge is to find materials for more energy-efficient microelectronics. A promising candidate is ferroelectric material that can be used for artificial neural  networks as a component in energy-efficient microelectronics.” — Haidan Wen, Argonne physicist

“This time, we hit the sample with many weak light pulses, each of which lasts a quadrillionth of a second,” Wen said. ​“As a result, a family of domain structures, rather than a single structure, was created and imaged, depending on the optical dosage.”

To visualize the nanoscale responses, the team called upon the Nanoprobe (beamline 26-ID) operated by the Center for Nanoscale Materials and the Advanced Photon Source (APS). Both are DOE Office of Science user facilities at Argonne. With the Nanoprobe, an X-ray beam tens of nanometers in diameter scanned the sample as it was exposed to a barrage of ultrafast light pulses. 

The resulting images revealed networked nanodomains being created, erased and reconfigured due to the light pulses. The regions and boundaries of these domains evolved and rearranged at lengths of 10 nanometers — about 10,000 times smaller than a human hair — to 10 micrometers, roughly the size of a cloud droplet. The final product depended on the number of light pulses used to stimulate the sample.

“By coupling an ultrafast laser to the Nanoprobe beamline, we can initiate and control changes to the networked nanodomains by means of light pulses without requiring much energy,” said Martin Holt, an X-ray and electron microscopy scientist and group leader.

Read more on APS website

Image: Artistic rendering representing light pulses yielding adaptive transformations in nanodomain structures applicable to neuromorphic computing.

Credit: Argonne National Laboratory/Haidan Wen.

The Spatial Dynamics of Bone Remodeling During Lactation

The Spatial Dynamics of Bone Remodeling During Lactation

Lactation places large metabolic demands on a mother’s skeleton. To mobilize the minerals needed for milk production, osteocytes—the cells responsible for maintaining bone quality—facilitate the release of calcium and other minerals from the bone. In this study, researchers investigated how this process occurs throughout the bone during lactation and how osteocytes balance the rapid release of calcium while maintaining bone integrity.

“We know that lactation leads to significant changes in bone, but understanding how these changes occur at both the osteocyte cellular and bone structural levels was crucial,” said Claire Acevedo, an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego. Researchers from UC San Diego and UC San Francisco compared virgin and lactating mice, with and without the osteocyte-specific deletion of an enzyme (MMP13) responsible for the resorption of bone matrix surrounding the osteocytes. To visualize and quantify local changes in mouse tibias, they employed microcomputed tomography at Advanced Light Source (ALS) Beamline 8.3.2.

The team discovered that lactation-induced bone remodeling is highly spatially controlled. Osteocytes located near the bone’s vascular structures experienced significant local bone matrix resorption and calcium release, leading to a substantial increase in the volume of lacunae (i.e., cavities where osteocytes reside). In contrast, osteocytes near the bone’s outer surface showed little activity. The findings suggest that osteocytes located near vasculature, facilitating calcium transport, play a more active role in calcium mobilization during lactation.

Additionally, the researchers discovered that lactation led to the formation of hypomineralized regions 14–20 µm away from the osteocyte lacunae, particularly in larger lacunae undergoing active resorption. These hypomineralized regions, indicative of calcium removal, demonstrate that osteocytes can resorb minerals not only around the lacunae via MMP13 but also further away, at the tips of their branches (called “dendritic processes”), independent of peri-lacunar resorption and MMP13.

Read more on ALS website

Image: Representative 3D renderings of the lacunae and vasculature in mouse bones, generated using synchrotron microcomputed tomography. Vasculature is colored white, and lacunae are colored according to volume.

TexTOM: bringing crystallographic texture analysis to the third dimension

TexTOM: bringing crystallographic texture analysis to the third dimension

Texture tomography (TexTOM) is a cutting-edge 3D crystallographic texture-analysis tool for polycrystalline materials, now available at beamlines ID13 and ID15A, with future expansions planned for additional beamlines. TexTOM offers rapid, quantitative texture analysis with enhanced spatial resolution, making it ideal for complex materials like biominerals, deformed metals, and technical alloys. This technique enables in-situ and operando studies, expanding the possibilities for real-time texture investigations.

Crystallographic texture plays a crucial role in determining the mechanical, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of polycrystalline materials. Existing techniques, such as 3D X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) [1] and dark-field X-ray microscopy [2], are effective for analyzing well-aligned, narrow structures in technical materials. However, they are limited in their ability to provide comprehensive quantitative texture information in 3D analysis for broader more complex textures, which are typically found in biomaterials, biominerals, or deformed technical materials.

While wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) tensor tomography [3] (derived from small-angle X-ray scattering tensor tomography [4,5,6]) has facilitated more detailed 3D orientation analysis, it lacks a fully quantitative approach due to its reliance on a reciprocal space model of single Bragg reflections. In contrast, typical diffraction patterns contain multiple crystalline reflections, whose intensity and distribution offer valuable additional information. 

TexTOM is a new tool developed by Tilman Grünewald’s group at the Institut Fresnel, Marseille, in collaboration with beamlines ID13 and ID15A, designed to fill the gap in 3D crystallographic texture analysis. The technique utilizes a hyperspherical harmonics [7] approach to model local orientation distribution functions (ODF), enabling the description of crystallographic texture in 3D. By incorporating prior knowledge of crystal symmetry, TexTOM reduces the data required compared to WAXS tensor tomography, thereby accelerating the measurement process and minimizing sample exposure. 

Read more on ESRF website

Image: Fig. 1: Texture tomography (TexTOM). a) Data collection involves raster-scanning a sample through a focused X-ray beam at multiple rotation and tilt angles, capturing a 2D diffraction pattern at each scan point. b) Selected diffractlets form the basis for structural reconstruction. c) Successful reconstruction of a silica biomorph, where a full orientation distribution is determined for each voxel, allowing detailed analysis.

New antibody-like molecule to prevent infection from malaria

New antibody-like molecule to prevent infection from malaria

The protein mapping workhorses of the Australian Synchrotron, Macromolecular and Microfocus crystallography beamlines, MX1 and 2, continue to support important biomedical research in the development of vaccines and new therapeutics.

The latest publication from University of La Trobe malaria researchers highlights favourable results with a molecule that could inhibit the ability of malaria parasites to infect cells at different stages of the disease.

The research team led by Professor Michael Foley, Professor Robin Anders and PhD candidate Dimuthu Angage of the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science showed that the molecule can protect against several different malaria parasite species and was reported in Nature Communications.

In this research featured on the La Trobe University website, they reported that the molecule )WD34 bound with a protein known as AMA1, which is common to many malaria parasite species and is one of two proteins that play a critical role in infection.

“We urgently need broader therapeutic options to combat drug resistance and treatment failures, and this discovery provides some hope for the development of a treatment for all malaria parasite species,” said lead author Professor Michael Foley of La Trobe University in a report on the university website.

AMA1 is a key protein target in malaria vaccines. It helps the malaria parasite invade human and mosquito cells by forming tight junctions with another protein complex. However, AMA1 has many surface variations, which means vaccines based on it only protect against specific strains of malaria.

La Trobe University researchers have identified a new molecule, an i-body, which is similar to a human antibody. This i-body can recognise a common part of AMA1 found in all malaria. The i-body, known as WD34, binds strongly to AMA1 and blocks the parasite from invading red blood cells and liver cells.

The MX2 beamline was used to determine the structure of the WD34-AMA1 complexes.

Read more on ANSTO website

Unlocking the secrets of proteins

Unlocking the secrets of proteins

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to three researchers who have made a decisive contribution to cracking the code of proteins – important building blocks of life. However, developing applications from this knowledge, for example in medicine, requires research institutes such as PSI. 

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry came as a surprise in several respects. Firstly, only one of the three scientists chosen, David Baker, is a member of an academic research institution. The other two, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, work at the Google subsidiary DeepMind. Secondly, the award is based on artificial intelligence (AI). And thirdly, the achievement being recognised draws on an Open Science project that would not have been possible without comprehensive, high-quality, open databases provided by the global scientific community – to which the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is an important contributor. Given these unusual circumstances, it is easy to overlook the actual reason for awarding the prize. Yet that itself is revolutionary enough: The Nobel Committee is paying tribute to the three scientists for a breakthrough in protein research. Working at the company DeepMind, two of them developed an AI called AlphaFold which is able to predict the spatial structure of a protein with astonishing precision. This structure is a result of the way the molecule is folded, which in turn depends on the sequence of amino acids it contains.

Spatial folding is crucial

It is difficult to assess the full extent of the new possibilities offered by AlphaFold. Proteins and their spatial folding form the central basis of all biological systems – disrupting them can have fatal consequences. The form, function and activity of every single cell are controlled by proteins. This also holds true for the 30 trillion or more cells that make up the human body, or course, including the cells of the immune system and the brain, but also pathologically modified cancer cells. Some extra-cellular structures produced by cells are also made from proteins. These include collagen, which gives skin, bones, tendons and connective tissue their structure and strength. However, until recently scientists were often puzzled as to how the sequence of amino acids, which is relatively easy to determine, gives rise to the three-dimensional configuration.

To determine the spatial structure of proteins, which is crucial for their biological function, researchers had to resort to highly complex X-ray crystallography experiments, which often took years. Only in recent years has it become possible to achieve this by means of a particularly high-resolution form of electron microscopy. X-ray crystallography was first successfully used to determine the structure of a protein in 1959; the protein in question was myoglobin, the mussel protein which is responsible for intramuscular oxygen transport. The scientists led by Max Perutz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1962, turned the protein into a crystal and sent monochromatic X-rays through it, similar to the radiation produced by Swiss Light Source SLS at PSI. The resulting diffraction pattern can be used to determine the folding of the protein chain – and thus provide information about the function of the protein. The location of active centres, for example, which interact with small molecules. 

At the time that AlphaFold was developed, the structure of some 140,000 proteins had been determined experimentally. These are all listed in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), established in 1971, which is freely accessible to scientists and the general public. “More than five percent of the data it contains comes from the Swiss Light Source SLS at PSI,” says Jörg Standfuss, Head of the Laboratory of Biomolecular Research, which focuses on structural biology at the PSI Centre for Life Sciences. Most of the rest comes from other research centres that operate a high-quality X-ray source.

Read more on PSI website

Image: Proteins are involved in all life processes. They are made up of amino acid chains that form complex structures. This structure is crucial to the function of the proteins. That is why being able to predict the structure of a protein based on its amino acid sequence using AI is so important for understanding life and for innovation in medicine and biology.

Credit: hotspianiegra – stock.adobe.com

Congratulations to the Nobel Prize winners in chemistry

Congratulations to the Nobel Prize winners in chemistry

The researchers at the world’s largest free-electron laser, the European XFEL, are delighted that Demis Hassabis, John M. Jumper and David Baker have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The decoding of protein structures is an important field of research for X-ray lasers such as the European XFEL.

David Baker has been an active user of the European XFEL since 2022. His team has actively participated in single-molecule imaging experiments at the Small Quantum Systems (SQS) and SPB/SFX instrument.

There, they recorded diffraction patterns of computationally designed proteins and single molecules for the first time.

“We are excited that David Baker has received the Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work in the computer-aided design of de novo proteins”, says Thomas Feurer, Chairman of the Management Board of European XFEL. “We look forward to collaborating on upcoming experiments where he plans to explore the ultra-fast dynamics and behaviour of these innovative proteins with us.”

Read more on European XFEL website

Image: David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper. Ill. Niklas Elmehed

Credit: Nobel Prize Outreach

HZB patent for semiconductor characterisation goes into serial production

HZB patent for semiconductor characterisation goes into serial production

An HZB team has developed together with Freiberg Instruments an innovative monochromator that is now being produced and marketed. The device makes it possible to quickly and continuously measure the optoelectronic properties of semiconductor materials with high precision over a broad spectral range from the near infrared to the deep ultraviolet. Stray light is efficiently suppressed. This innovation is of interest for the development of new materials and can also be used to better control industrial processes.

Electronics, power electronics, light-emitting diodes, sensors, photocatalysis and photovoltaics – these technologies are based on semiconductors with band gaps ranging from the near infrared to the deep ultraviolet. New semiconductor materials with interesting optoelectronic properties are constantly being developed. In particular, the spectrally dependent photoelectric characterisation of semiconductor materials requires light sources whose photon energy can be continuously varied. Such light sources consist of a lamp, which emits light over a broad spectral range, and a monochromator, which filters out light in narrow spectral ranges. Until now, only diffraction grating monochromators have been used commercially, requiring up to five different diffraction gratings to cover a wide spectral range.

Mirrorless double prism monochromator

At the HZB, a team led by Dr. Thomas Dittrich, in collaboration with HEREON, has now developed a mirrorless double prism monochromator based on fused silica (quartz glass). Since fused silica is transparent in a spectral range from about 0.4 to over 7.3 eV, light can be spectrally dispersed over this range with just one fused silica prism. A first prototype was realised together with Freiberg Instruments. The novel, now patented, monochromator consists of a fused silica optics with two prisms and some lenses, where in addition to the dispersion-dependent rotation of the prisms, a precise adjustment of the lenses is done via stepper motors. A laser-driven xenon lamp provides high light intensities even in the deep ultraviolet.

Fast characterisation

The new monochromator makes it possible to determine the optoelectronic and optical properties of semiconductor materials in a single continuous measurement over a very wide spectral range from the near infrared to the deep ultraviolet. An additional advantage: stray light is suppressed very strongly (by more than eight orders of magnitude), which makes the monochromator particularly suitable for the photoelectric characterisation of defects in semiconductors. Due to its high intensity even in the deep ultraviolet, the monochromator is also excellently suited for the characterisation of semiconductor materials with wide or ultra-wide band gaps, such as silicon carbide and gallium oxide for high-performance electronics, diamond for IT technologies and gallium nitride for optoelectronics. With the new compact monochromator, for example, it is now possible for the first time to characterise defect states across almost the entire band gap of aluminium nitride in just a few minutes.

Read more on HZB website

Image: The patented monochromator consists of quartz glass optics with two prisms and a few lenses. The picture shows the central slit, the intermediate lens and the second prism with green reflections in the background.

Credit: T. Dittrich / HZB

Microscopic study of milk teeth reveals mystery of death of Iberian culture newborns buried inside homes

Microscopic study of milk teeth reveals mystery of death of Iberian culture newborns buried inside homes

A UAB study in collaboration with the UVic-UCC and the ALBA Synchrotron concludes that the Iberian culture (8th to 1st centuries BCE) newborns buried within domestic spaces died of natural causes, such as complications during labour or premature births, and not due to ritual practices. Researchers applied an innovative methodology, based on the study of the neonatal line of baby teeth using optic microscopy and microflourescence with synchrotron light, to analyse the teeth from 45 infant skeletal remains and precisely identified the moments of both birth and death.

The Iberian culture inhabited the eastern and southern coastal regions of the Iberian Peninsula during the Iron Age (8th to 1st centuries BCE). The most common funeral ritual of the Iberians was the cremation of the deceased and subsequent disposal of the remains in urns that were buried in necropolises. However, archaeologists have also discovered burials with remains of newborns who had not been cremated, but were rather located in areas used for housing or production purposes. These burials have generated controversy among experts. Hypotheses suggested that they could have died of natural causes, be proof of infanticide, or even of ritual sacrifices.

A study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science now provides very precise evidence in favour of the hypothesis that these newborn infants died mainly from natural causes and that, therefore, are a reflection of the high infant mortality during the first year of life in the period studied.

Researchers reached this conclusion after studying 45 infant skeletal remains from five Catalan archaeological sites from the Iberian period: Camp de les Lloses (Osona), Olèrdola (Alt Penedès), Puig de Sant Andreu and Illa d’en Reixac (Baix Empordà), and Fortalesa dels Vilars d’Arbeca (Lleida).

Researchers have applied an innovative methodology based on the histological and elemental analysis (tissue and chemical composition) of the deciduous or primary teeth present in the infant skeletal remains. By means of optical microscopy, researchers were able to visualise the growth lines of the dental crown generated in the formation of teeth during intrauterine life and until shortly after birth. This led them to identify the presence of the neonatal line that is produced at the moment of birth.

The analysis allowed them to identify the moment of birth of the individuals and their survival, as well as to determine very precisely the chronological age at the moment of death. The chronological age takes into account the time elapsed since birth and not the biological development of the skeleton.

Almost half of the infants died during the perinatal period, specifically between the 27th week of gestation and the first week of life. The vast majority of perinatal deaths did not survive the moment of birth, and many of these infants died due to premature births.

“These data reinforce the hypothesis that the majority of perinatal deaths were caused by natural factors, such as birth complications or health problems associated with prematurity, and not by cultural practices such as infanticide or ritual sacrifice, as some hypotheses have suggested,” says Xavier Jordana, Associate Professor in the Biological Anthropology Unit of the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology at the UAB.  

Researchers also observed that of the twenty or so infants that survived beyond the first week of life, the longest lived 67 days.

“In the sites studied, no burial of an infant beyond two months of life has been identified. This leads us to think that it could probably have been due to a cultural practice of burying in domestic spaces the infants who died in the earliest stages,” says Assumpció Malgosa, researcher at the UAB and co-author of the study.

Read more on ALBA website

Image: Burial of a perinatal individual from the Fortalesa dels Vilars (Arbeca, Lleida) site.

Credit: ARQHISTEC-GIP, UdL.

A New Way to “Squeeze” Infrared Light Down to Size

A New Way to “Squeeze” Infrared Light Down to Size

SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT

Using the Advanced Light Source (ALS), researchers demonstrated a new way to confine, or “squeeze,” infrared light by coupling photons with phonons (lattice vibrations) within a certain type of thin film.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT

The work heralds a new class of optical materials for controlling infrared light, with potential applications in photonics, sensors, and microelectronic heat management.

A light squeeze

Researchers have demonstrated that thin films of strontium titanate (SrTiO3, or STO) can confine, or “squeeze,” infrared light 10 times more than its bulk form can—a finding that holds promise for next-generation microelectronic and photonic devices. While this unusual behavior had been theoretically predicted for STO membranes, it had not yet been experimentally observed.

The researchers took advantage of advances in the synthesis of freestanding, large-scale crystalline oxide membranes, then used a combination of infrared micro- and nanospectroscopy to observe how infrared light couples to lattice vibrations in the membranes. They found that the coupling produced hybrid vibrational and electromagnetic waves (phonon polaritons) in the material, with different modes characterized by highly compressed wavelengths or greatly enhanced fields inside the sample.

Transferable membranes

Theoretical studies have suggested that ultrathin STO and other perovskite membranes can host highly confined surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) with good propagation quality. Other compounds may have higher figures of merit, but because they are typically manually exfoliated, their lateral size is constrained to the micrometer range, which limits their potential for large-scale device fabrication.

Read more on ALS website

Image: In this experiment, an atomic force microscope tip focuses broadband synchrotron infrared light onto the surface of a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) membrane, just 100 nm thick. The infrared light excites phonon polaritons—quasiparticles that arise when light strongly interacts with dipole oscillations in the material’s lattice. Spectroscopic analysis of the scattered light enabled researchers to determine the properties of phonon polaritons on the material surface.

More Efficient Approach for Turning Plant Biomass into Useful Chemicals

More Efficient Approach for Turning Plant Biomass into Useful Chemicals

Editor’s note: The following article was originally issued by Georgia Institute of Technology. National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) beamline scientist Eli Stavitski collaborated with researchers at Georgia Tech to evaluate their novel method of converting lignin, an organic polymer that gives wood and plants their strength, into valuable chemicals using the force of tiny steel balls instead of solvents. Using  X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Inner-Shell Spectroscopy (ISS) beamline at NSLS-II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, the team was able to establish the mechanism of the catalytic process that efficiently breaks the bonds of lignin compounds. For more information on Brookhaven’s role in this research, contact Denise Yazak (dyazak@bnl.gov, 631-344-6371).

Lignin is one of the most plentiful organic polymers on Earth, making up about 20 to 30 percent of the dry mass of wood and other plants. 

Despite this abundance, lignin’s complex structure has challenged researchers in breaking it down into useful components that can be used in the sustainable production of chemicals, plastics, and fuels. Therefore, lignin is often discarded as waste during the production of paper and other plant-based products.

However, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an approach that could transform lignin into valuable chemicals more efficiently than ever before.

The researchers published their findings in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering on using a method known as mechanocatalysis, which uses physical forces, such as vibration or rotation, in a ball mill to drive chemical reactions without the need for solvents, heat, or high pressure.

Carsten Sievers, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, explained that the first step in a lignin biorefinery is depolymerization, which breaks lignin down into small molecules. 

“Unfortunately, many depolymerization processes require the use of solvents, and separating the products from solvents, catalysts, and contaminants can be complicated, energy intensive, and leave behind waste,” Sievers said. 

“One way to reduce the need for these separation steps is to perform lignin depolymerization in a ball mill where collision with steel balls create environments that enable solid-state reactions without the need for solvents or liquid phases.”

Read more on BNL website

Image: Illustration of a mechanical impact that creates a reactive environment for depolymerization of biomass into value-added chemicals.

A greener possibility using lanthanide separation in two dimensions

A greener possibility using lanthanide separation in two dimensions

The lanthanides and other rare earth elements (REEs) aren’t really “rare” in the strict sense, but they are quite difficult to separate and purify from the other materials with which they’re usually found. Because of the great value and utility of these metals for many purposes, including electronics, computing, and various industrial processes that rely on their unique electronic and chemical properties, that difficulty is a major problem. 

Most current processes for REE separation and purification involve organic and acidic materials, making them both energy-intensive and environmentally unfriendly. Finding better separation techniques is therefore a pressing challenge. Researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Argonne National Laboratory took inspiration from nature to examine a new possibility for lanthanide separation. Their work was published in Science Advances. 

Noting that ion channels in cell membranes are capable of separating ions across cell membranes with great efficiency, speed and selectivity, the investigators chose to model this process with chemically functionalized inorganic membranes to see if REE purification could be accomplished in a similar way.  They constructed two-dimensional angstrom-scale artificial ion channels using MoS2 nanosheets that were covalently functionalized with acetic acid to generate MoS2-COOH membranes for lanthanide ion separation. 

The ion transport process was studied using a variety of tools, including electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. Data were collected at the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team 5-BM-D beamline at the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) user facility at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory.

Read more on Argonne website