Tag: Magnetic materials

NSRRC Users honoured at MOE 2025 National Awards Ceremony

NSRRC Users honoured at MOE 2025 National Awards Ceremony

On March 23, the Ministry of Education (MOE) held the award ceremony for the 2025 National Chair Professorships, National Award for Distinguished Contribution to Industry-Academia Cooperation, and Academic Awards. Five NSRRC users were among the recipients.

Prof. Hsin-Lung Chen, Distinguished Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsing Hua University (NTHU), received the National Chair Professorship in Engineering and Applied Sciences. A leading scholar in polymer physics, he has long contributed to theoretical development, textbook writing, and industry-academia collaboration. His research has been widely applied in critical materials and industrial technologies, enhancing the international impact of Taiwan’s materials research.

Prof. Bing-Joe Hwang, Chair Professor in the Department Chemical Engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, founder and director of the Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Development Center, and NSRRC board member and adjunct scientist, received the National Award for Distinguished Contribution to Industry-Academic Cooperation in Engineering. He pioneered the “anode-free lithium battery,” developed high-energy-density and high-safety technologies, and promoted high-value hydrogen electrolysis, with extensive industrial applications and patents.

Two NSRRC users were awarded the Academic Award in Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Prof. Chen-Wei Liu, Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry at National Dong Hwa University, is an international pioneer in metal cluster chemistry. His research combines fundamental innovation with practical application, offering forwarded-looking contributions to catalysis and carbon-reduction technologies. Prof. Ying-Hao Chu, Chair Professor and Department Chair of Materials Science and Engineering at NTHU, specializes in oxide heterostructures and flexible mica-based electronic components, with highly cited work that lays a critical foundation for next-generation electronic devices. In Engineering and Applied Sciences, Prof. Chih-Huang Lai, Chair Professor and Vice Dean of the Institute of Semiconductor at NTHU, was recognized for his research in spintronics and magnetic materials, including advanced memory devices and thin-film solar technologies, as well as Taiwan’s first 12-inch MRAM production line.

Read more on the NSRRC website

A new dimension of complexity for layered magnetic materials

A new dimension of complexity for layered magnetic materials

When it comes to layered quantum materials, current understanding only scratches the surface; so demonstrates a new study from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. Using advanced X-ray spectroscopy at the Swiss Light Source SLS, researchers uncovered magnetic phenomena driven by unexpected interactions between the layers of a kagome ferromagnet made from iron and tin. This discovery challenges assumptions about layered alloys of common metals, providing a starting point for developing new magnetoelectric devices and rare-earth-free motors. 

Patterns are everything. With quantum materials, it’s not just what they’re made of but how their atoms or molecules are organised that gives rise to the exotic properties that excite researchers with their promise for future technologies. 

Graphene showed this to the world: arranged into single layers of a hexagonal lattice, common-or-garden carbon atoms could exhibit extraordinary electronic properties. Research over the last decade has since been dedicated to discovering whether other two-dimensional arrays of atoms, either alone or stacked into a three-dimensional material, can reveal similarly novel behaviours.

The kagome lattice, which takes its name from a type of Japanese basket woven in corner sharing triangles, is another two-dimensional pattern that has excited researchers with its ability to host exotic quantum states, ranging from superconductivity to unconventional magnetism. 

Yet until now, research has focused on electronic and magnetic properties in two-dimensions of the material. The latest results in Fe3Sn2 – a ferromagnetic material made of iron and tin atoms arranged into the intricate kagome pattern – change that.

Read more on the PSI website

Image: The kagome ferromagnet, Fe3Sn2 hosts spin waves – magnetic ripples arising from collective excitations of electron spins (shown here as golden arrows). The new findings reveal that the spin-waves are influenced by unexpected interactions between the layers in the material.

Credit: ©Wenliang Zhang / Paul Scherrer Institute PSI

International community gathers for Diamond’s Magnetic Materials Group User Meeting

International community gathers for Diamond’s Magnetic Materials Group User Meeting

Last week, over 100 scientists from across the international research community attended the first in a series of in person User Meetings taking place in 2024 at Diamond, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility.

The Magnetic Materials Group (MMG) User Meeting, incorporating a Theory of Soft X-ray Spectroscopy Workshop, took place from Monday 3rd – Wednesday 5th June. Delegates heard talks from invited speakers from across Europe who shared their latest research results in areas such as altermagnetism, spin textures, strong correlated systems and functional materials. Diamond scientists presented on the facilities of the MMG, which enable a wide range of polarised X-ray based research into novel materials and phenomena. This included a presentation on one of the Diamond-II upgrade flagship beamlines I17, which will offer Coherent Soft X-ray Imaging and Diffraction (CSXID) and is currently in design phase.

Sarnjeet Dhesi, Diamond’s Science Group Leader for the MMG, says, “It was fantastic to see our user community network and discuss new collaborations that could be enabled by upgrades to our facilities. “

Lightsources.org was one of the event sponsors, along with ELMITEC and BESTEC, and supported the MMG User Meeting by providing the poster prizes. A panel chosen by the organising committee selected the three best posters and Prof. Kevin Edmonds, a Diamond User Committee representative from University of Nottingham, and Silvana Westbury, Project Manager for Lightsources.org, presented the prizes at the end of the meeting.

Winners were:

1st prize 🏅 went to Myron Huzan for their poster on ‘Quantifying the influence of 3d-4s mixing on linearly coordinated metal ions.’

Image: Prof. Kevin Edmonds, a Diamond User Committee representative from University of Nottingham (left), and Silvana Westbury, Project Manager for Lightsources.org (centre), presenting 1st prize to Myron Huzan (right)

Credit: Stefania Mazzorana/Diamond

2nd prize🏅, for their poster on ‘The magnetic order and excitations in GdRu2Si2’, went to George Wood.

3rd prize🏅, for their poster on ‘Strain modulated charge ordered transitions in a highly-correlated electron material’, went to Diego Barlettani.

Diamond’s next User Meeting, which is the Spectroscopy Group User Meeting, takes place this week (registration for this event is now closed). Future User Meetings covering Extreme Conditions as well as Imaging and Microscopy will take place later in the year. Keep an eye on the Diamond and Lightsources.org websites to find out when registration opens for these in person events.  

To learn more about the Magnetic Material Group, visit the Diamond website

The special role of magnetic Ni ions in the electronic structure

The special role of magnetic Ni ions in the electronic structure

Researcher from the Institute of Physics in Zagreb, in collaboration with scientists from AGH University of Krakow, Solaris synchrotron, Jagiellonian University, University of Zagreb, Institute of Nuclear Physics PN, and TU Wien, revealed the electronic structure of nickel intercalated 2H-NbS2. The collaboration between experiment and theory provided insight into the special role of magnetic Ni ions in the electronic structure. The measured spectra and theoretical analysis indicate zero algebraic sum of hybridization integrals of relevant Ni orbitals and the conducting planes of the host material.  

Two-dimensional magnetic materials are of great interest from the fundamental point of view and for applications. In particular, the magnetic sublayers, introduced by intercalation into the van der Waals gaps of the host transition metal dichalcogenides, are known to produce various magnetic states depending on the choice of magnetic intercalates, with some being tunable by pressure and doping. The magnetic intercalates strongly modify the electronic coupling between layers of the host compound. Understanding the origins of such variability, starting from the underlying electronic structure, is a significant challenge. By using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) with various photon energies and ab initio electronic structure calculations, the study revealed the electronic structure of Ni1/3NbS2.

Read more on SOLARIS website

Image: Fig 1. Schematic image of strong spin-selective hybridization between NbS2 layers provided by intercalated magnetic ions (Ni, Co). The symmetries of dominant bridging orbitals in (a) Ni1/3NbS2 and (b) Co1/3NbS2. (c) The calculated band structures that show the type of magnetic ordering strongly affect the electronic structure. (d) The Fermi surface observed by ARPES. The magnetic fluctuations at bridging sites are prone to produce a strong electron correlation effect at the Fermi level (shallow electron pockets indicated by red arrows), which is inaccessible by DFT+U calculations.

Credit: Yuki Utsumi Boucher

A beautiful machine integrated within a peaceful forest setting

A beautiful machine integrated within a peaceful forest setting

On World Science Day for Peace and Development, we’re heading to a forest in Switzerland!

Maël Clémence is a PhD student at the Swiss X-ray Free-Electron Laser  (SwissFEL), which is located at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland. His #LightSourceSelfie journey starts in the forest on top of the facility where he explains that the SwissFEL was designed to be fully integrated with the natural environment. Maël then uses a popular mode of transport to travel to the facility entrance. He recalls his childhood fascination with light, what led him to fall in love with physics, and his path to the SwissFEL.

For his PhD studies, Maël is utilising the machine’s ultraintense, ultrashort X-ray pulses to study and investigate quantum properties of magnetic materials in extreme conditions. Being at the SwissFEL has enabled Maël to gain a deeper understanding of this beautiful machine and the huge amount of skill and dedication that is required by the teams responsible for building and maintaining it.

The word ‘teamwork’ best describes his job as, on good days and bad, everyone pulls together and supports each other.

You’ll discover one of Maël’s favourite free time activities at the close out of his #LightSourceSelfie. Happy viewing!        

Find out more about the SwissFEL here

International Day of Light #LightSourceSelfie special from the SLS

International Day of Light #LightSourceSelfie special from the SLS

A community driven by curiosity!

To celebrate International Day of Light 2023, we bring you a #LightSourceSelfies special (see below) from Ludmila Leroy, a postdoc at the Swiss Light Source (SLS), which is located at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland. With an energy of 2.4 GeV, the SLS provides photon beams of high brightness for research in materials science, biology and chemistry.

Ludmila, who is from Brazil, is studying the properties of magnetic materials. She highlights the versatility of light sources as hugely advantageous to science and learning from, and about, nature. “We are all driven by curiosity and these versatile facilities gives us the ability to try different approaches and push the boundaries in our experiments.” Looking back on her career to date, Ludmila would advise her younger self “not to be scared to reach out for the world” as there are many light sources facilities around the globe and travelling to different countries is an exciting part of being a scientist.

As with all light sources, the SLS operates around the clock and Ludmila has a new take on making night shifts more bearable. Throughout the #LightSourceSelfie campaign, most participants have mentioned coffee, chocolate or candy when talking about night shift survival strategies. For Ludmila, night shifts are more bearable when she eats healthily and makes sure that she keeps hydrated.

And when she is not at a light source….Ludmila is in charge of the Music Club at PSI, which brings together a mixture of PhD students, postdocs, technicians and staff scientists. The PSIchedelics is just one of the society’s musical entertainment offerings. Ludmila plays the bass and sings in this band and her #LightSourceSelfie ends with a fantastic clip of them in action. You can find out more about music at PSI here: Music at PSI | Our Research | Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)

Laura Heyderman elected Royal Society Fellow

Laura Heyderman elected Royal Society Fellow

Today, the announcement was made that Laura Heyderman, who leads the Mesoscopic Systems Group at PSI, has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). Laura’s nomination recognises almost 30 years of research into magnetic materials and magnetism on the nanoscale, most notably, in the field of artificial spin ice.

Laura Heyderman is best known for her breakthroughs with nanomagnets – minute bar magnets that are a few hundreds of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Her research group, shared between Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich where she became full professor in 2013, use these to create elaborate structures and devices. With the help of the large research infrastructures at PSI (X-rays, muons and neutrons) they then investigate the novel phenomena that they exhibit. The tiny magnetic systems they create can have a range of technological applications, such as for computation, communication, sensors or actuators.

Read more on the PSI website

Image: Laura Heyderman began working on magnetism as a PhD student investigating magnetic thin films in Paris in 1988. Today, she leads the Mesoscopic Systems Group, shared between PSI and ETH where she is a full professor.

Credit: ETH Zurich / Giulia Marthaler

Spintronics: A new tool at BESSY II for chirality investigations

Spintronics: A new tool at BESSY II for chirality investigations

Information on complex magnetic structures is crucial to understand and develop spintronic materials. Now, a new instrument named ALICE II is available at BESSY II. It allows magnetic X-ray scattering in reciprocal space using a new large area detector. A team at HZB and Technical University Munich has demonstrated the performance of ALICE II by analysing helical and conical magnetic states of an archetypal single crystal skyrmion host. ALICE II is now available for guest users at BESSY II.

The new instrument was conceived and constructed by HZB physicist Dr. Florin Radu and the technical design department at HZB in close cooperation with Prof. Christian Back from the Technical University Munich and his technical support. It is now available for guest users at BESSY II as well.

“ALICE II has an unique capability, namely to allow for magnetic X-ray scattering in reciprocal space using a new large area detector, and this at up to the highest allowed reflected angles”, Radu explains. To demonstrate the performance of the new instrument, the scientists examined a polished sample of Cu2OSeO3.

Read more on the HZB website

Image: The picture reflects the main effect measured with a newly developed instrument ALICE II at BESSY II: A circular polarised soft-X-ray beam scatters off a crystal that exhibits a helical or conical magnetic order. This leads to two scattered beams of different intensity. The difference in intensity of these scattered beams is a measure of the chirality of the equidistant magnetic helices.

Credit: © F. Radu/HZB

World changing science with precious photons

World changing science with precious photons

he 3.4 km long European XFEL generates extremely intense X-ray flashes used by researchers from all over the world. The flashes are produced in underground tunnels and they enable scientists to conduct a wide range of experiments including mapping atomic details of viruses, filming chemical reactions, and studying processes in the interior of planets.

Michael Schneider is a physicist at the Max Born Institute in Berlin. He uses synchrotrons and free electron lasers, such as the European XFEL, to study magnetism and magnetic materials. Michael’s fascinating #LightSourceSelfie takes you inside the European XFEL where he recalls the fact that it was large scale facilities themselves that first attracted him to his area of fundamental research. The work is bringing us closer to a new generation of computing devices that work more like the neurons in our brains that the transistors that we currently have in our computers. Michael captures the dedication of his colleagues and the facility teams, along with the type of work that you can get involved with at large scale facilities. He also gives a brilliant overview of the stages involved in conducting research at a light source. Michael is clearly very passionate about his science, but also finds time for some great hobbies too!

New 12 T magnet strengthens energy and magnetism research

New 12 T magnet strengthens energy and magnetism research

Electron paramagnetic resonance (THz-EPR) at BESSY II provides important information on the electronic structure of novel magnetic materials and catalysts. In mid-January 2022, the researchers brought a new, superconducting 12-T magnet into operation at this end station, which promises new scientific insights.

At the THz-EPR end station, unique experimental conditions are provided through a combination of coherent THz-light from BESSY II and high magnetic fields. These capabilities have now been extended by a new superconducting 12 T magnet, acquired through funding from the BMBF network project “ERP-on-a-Chip” and HZB.

Read more on the HZB website

Image: Exhausted but happy: f.l.t.r. – K. Holldack (HZB), A. Schnegg (MPI CEC Mülheim, HZB), T. Lohmiller (HZB, HUB), D. Ponwitz (HZB) after the successful commissioning of the new 12T magnet (green).

Probing the Structure of a Promising NASICON Material

Probing the Structure of a Promising NASICON Material

As physicists, materials scientists, and engineers continue striving to enhance and improve batteries and other energy storage technologies, a key focus is on finding or designing new ways to make electrodes and electrolytes.  One promising avenue of research involves solid-state materials, making possible batteries free of liquid electrolytes, which can pose fire and corrosion hazards.  An international group of researchers joined with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory to investigate the structure of crystalline and amorphous compounds based on the NASICON system, or sodium super-ion conductors. The work (using research carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source [APS] and published in the Journal of Chemical Physics) reveals some substantial differences between the crystalline and glass phases of the NAGP system, which affect the ionic conductivity of the various materials.  The investigators note that the fraction of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) atoms appears to play a significant role, possibly altering the Na+ ion mobility, and suggest this as an area of further study.  The work provides fresh insights into the process of homogeneous nucleation and identifying superstructural units in glass ― a necessary step in engineering effective solid-state electrolytes with enhanced ionic conductivity. 

Because of their high ionic conductivity, materials with a NASICON structure are prime candidates for a solid electrolyte in sodium-ion batteries.  They can be prepared by a glass-ceramic route, which involves the crystallization of a precursor glass, giving them the usefulness of moldable bulk materials.  In this work, the research team specifically studied the NAGP system [Na1+xAlxGe2-x(PO4)3] with x = 0, 0.4 and 0.8 in both crystalline and glassy forms. Working at several different facilities, they used a combination of techniques, including neutron and x-ray diffraction, along with 27Al and 31P magic angle spinning and 31P/23Na double-resonance nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.  The glassy form of NAGP materials was examined both in its as-prepared state and after thermal annealing, so that the changes on crystal nucleation could be studied.

Neutron powder diffraction measurements were performed at the BER II reactor source, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, using the fine resolution powder diffractometer E9 (FIREPOD), followed by Rietveld analysis.  Further neutron diffraction observations were conducted at the Institut Laue-Langevin using the D4c diffractometer and at the ISIS pulsed neutron source using the GEM diffractometer.  X-ray diffraction studies were performed at X-ray Science Division Magnetic Materials Group’s beamline 6-ID-D of the APS, an Office of Science user facility at Argonne National Laboratory. 

Read more on the APS website

Image: Fig. 1. NASICON crystal structure showing the tetrahedral P(4) phosphate motifs (purple), octahedral GeO6 motifs (cyan) and Na+ ions (green). Oxygen atoms are depicted in red.