Plastic solar cells are comprised of two materials: a semiconductor polymer and another electron-accepting compound. To obtain the maximum performance from the solar cell, it is necessary that regions where the compounds are intermixed and regions where the materials are pure coexist. This new research presents for the first time an experimental methodology based on nanocalorimetry that allows quantifying the degree of intermixing of solar cells, a fundamental knowledge for the design of more efficient and stable devices. Some of the experiments were carried out in the ALBA Synchrotron's NCD-SWEET beamline.
A group of scientists from the University of Oviedo and ALBA has been able to identify and measure for the first time the magnitudes of topological charges inside a thin ferromagnetic film, the most commonly used morphology in nanomagnetic devices. To achieve this result, the 3D magnetization inside the film was determined with magnetic tomography at MISTRAL beamline at ALBA.
The Board of the Analytical Research Infrastructures in Europe (ARIE) wish to raise attention to the funding needs of Research Infrastructures (RIs) in the next Horizon Europe (HE) program, and appeal for a reassignment of part of the funds to programs dedicated to Research Infrastructures.
The new study, published in Science Advances, identifies the role of the CCT protein, a cytosolic chaperonin, in the reorganization of the cellular skeleton involved in the immune synapse. This interaction process between lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells is necessary for the activation of lymphocytes and determines the immune response intensity. The inner changes of the cells have been imaged thanks to the MISTRAL beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron.
A new highly-anisotropic Rh-based Heusler compound has been reported as an ideal candidate for high-density magnetic recording media through fast heat-assisted writing technology. The BOREAS beamline (ALBA Synchrotron) helped to characterize this new material probing the origin of its giant magneto-crystalline anisotropy.
