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CsCuCl₃ crystallizes in a right and left form. Under normal conditions, it is impossible to separate these two so-called chiral forms and to obtain a crystal with a purely right or purely left atomic arrangement. The Japanese scientist Dr. Yusuke Kousaka has not only managed to grow pure monochiral crystals, but also to prove the direct correlation between crystalline and magnetic chirality with polarized neutrons at the single-crystal diffractometer POLI.

The transregional collaborative research center TRR 80 “From electronic correlations to functionality” successfully enters the third funding period. The German Research Foundation DFG will continue to support the consortium of the University of Augsburg and the Technical University of Munich with another 8.8 million euros for the next four years. Five projects are mainly carried out at the research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II).

Cloppenburg is a city in Lower Saxony and therefore namesake for a strange stone, which was there already found in March 2017. Experts from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) were able to confirm beyond doubt that this is a piece of meteorite from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

There will also be art at or in the new twin buildings on the grounds of the FRM II, for which the groundbreaking ceremony took place in February 2017. From 4 to 8 December, the submitted six proposals for this art can be viewed in the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). Room 0 is to the right of the main entrance and open daily from 8am to 4pm.

Drugs can alter the structure of cell membranes. This in turn can affect their function and cause undesirable side effects. The structural changes in cell membranes caused by drugs have not yet been sufficiently investigated. Researchers from Jülich, Garching (near Munich), Georgia, and France now want to change this. They have developed a new neutron research method which enables deformations of the membranes to be detected faster and more easily than previous methods.

A Chinese research group led by Prof. Jun Zhao at Fudan University found the twisted magnetic excitations in the new Fe-based superconductor Li0.8Fe0.2ODFeSe from a neutron scattering experiment on PUMA, MLZ and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United State. This finding provides one step further in understanding of the mechanism in high temperature superconductivity.

The National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), Argentina is currently building a new 30MW multi-functional reactor in Buenos Aires, scheduled to go into operation at the beginning of the next decade. The need for radioisotopes is also growing in Argentina, so their production is a major purpose of the new neutron source.

On October 31, 1957, the Munich research reactor FRM went online for the first time. Until 2000, the “Atomic Egg” of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) was a reliable provider of neutrons for basic research and medical applications. This year the facility is celebrating its 60th birthday with a special exhibition.

Fully booked guided tours, crowded info booths and great interest in the special exhibition on the Atomic Egg – this is the conclusion of the Open House Day at the Research Neutron Source.

This year, the annual JCNS Workshop addressed the issue of “Trends and Perspectives in Neutron Scattering: Probing Structure and Dynamics at Interfaces and Surfaces”. Held at the Evangelische Akademie in Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, south of Munich, from 10-13 October, more than 70 participants were in attendance to discuss recent developments and scientific challenges in interface structure and dynamics in soft matter, magnetism and condensed matter systems.

A series of events is planned this year for the 60th anniversary of neutron research in Garching: The photo exhibition in the Garching subway is now to be seen until October 10th. From November 7th to December 3rd 2017 the photos will be hung in a special exhibition of the museum “Reich der Kristalle” in Munich. Finally, on the open door day, there will be a special exhibition to the so called “Atomic Egg” in the gate building.

Worldwide, more than 30 million medical examinations are conducted annually with the radioactive substance technetium-99m. The mother isotope molybdenum-99 can only be produced in research neutron sources. A new film shows the status of the upgrading at the FRM II towards the production of molybdenum-99.

In May / June the neutron users in Germany elected their representatives, the 11th committee Forschung mit Neutronen (KFN). A total of 15 candidates threw their hats in the ring and since 18.9. 2017 Astrid Schneidewind (FZ Jülich) is the new KFN chairman. Markus Braden (University of Cologne) is the new deputy chairman and is also responsible for the topics of infrastructure and instrumentation.

Mushroom pickers never reveal their places of discovery and neither for Dr. Matthias Rossbach. Instead, they have sent him the dried mushrooms they collected in Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Brandenburg, for scientific research.

Fans of crime stories know: If the dentition of an unknown victim can be compared with a tooth scheme, the identity is soon clarified with this information. Similarly, the paleontologist study teeth as they contain a lot of essential biological information, representing a kind of “black box” of the life of a past individual. However, these information are not so easy to extract.

The efficiency of gas turbines is close to the limit. The state-of-the-art nickel base alloys would not tolerate higher temperatures. Therefore, scientists are looking for an alternative superalloy for the turbine material. Lukas Karge studied a hot candidate for his PhD thesis with Dr. habil. Ralph Gilles at the MLZ.

Eight highly motivated girls participated in the program “Physics and technology made easy” within the framework of the “Mädchen machen Technik” initiative.

Florian Hahn, Member of the German Parliament, has now visited the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.

Until end of September a new photo exhibition is now to see in the subway showcase of the city of Garching on the occasion of the anniversary “60 years neutrons from Garching”.

On 27 July at 7 pm Prof. Winfried Petry, the Scientific Director of the FRM II, will give a one-hour talk at the gymnasium in Garching. This will include a very short historical retrospect, but most of all the listeners will get up-to-date information on what is going on at the research neutron source in Garching, on current research and how the FRM II is positioned in the international research landscape. Admission is free and all interested Garchinger citizens are invited to attend. There will also be the opportunity to ask own questions and to receive competent answers.

Scientists from EPFL and PSI have shown experimentally, for the first time, a quantum phase transition in strontium copper borate, the only material to date that realizes a famous quantum many-body model. Scientist Dr. Astrid Schneidewind from the MLZ was also involved with the PANDA instrument.

In the journal Science, a Chinese–German team of researchers has presented a novel synthetic antiferromagnetic material which may prove pioneering for progress in nanomedicine and information technology. Up until now, synthetic antiferromagnets have been manufactured primarily from transition metals and alloys. The scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei manufactured a different kind of antiferromagnet consisting of several oxide layers only a few nanometres thick, whose properties can be adapted to various applications in a targeted manner. In collaboration with Forschungszentrum Jülich, the researchers used neutron measurements at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) to show that the individual layers of the new material can be magnetized and their polarity reversed – meaning that the magnetic states can be switched in a controlled fashion.

Since several decades an enigmatic impression in the braincase of the forerunners of mammals caused palaeontologists headache. Recently, Michael Laaß could clarify the possible function of this chamber by means of neutron tomography at the instrument ANTARES.

Just in time …

They have received by far the most votes from all candidates and are represented again in the “Komitee Forschung mit Neutronen”: Dr. Astrid Schneidewind from the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (left), and Dr. Wiebke Lohstroh from the Technical University of Munich (right).

Once again, the instrument BioDiff at the MLZ has located with highest accuracy hydrogen atoms of various inhibitors when binding to the enzyme trypsin. The results, which are important for the prediction of binding properties of new substances in drug research, have now been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

The IAEA organizes the workshop for disseminating the use of neutron imaging in research and industry from 28 August until 1 September. Registration and abstract submission are possible until 10 June.

Restorers often have to deal with negative or even damaging consequences of conservation measures from earlier years. The church of St. Laurentius in Tönning / Schleswig-Holstein was also affected, because two valuable wooden figures from the beginning of the 18th century were distorted by an earlier treatment of wood preservatives.

The MLZ does not only provide excellent scientific results and user service but also extraordinary education and training for young people, world-class instruments and their upgrades. The MLZ also offers from time to time support for the technical program of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which brings together research institutions and scientists from its different member states to collaborate on research projects or training purposes. Another important support is to fund travel expenses for scientists, as many countries only have a limited budget for research activities or travels to conferences and training.

“Mountains – Hiking – Learning” is the motto of the “Ferienakademie Sarntal” from 17 to 29 September 2017. Until 9 May, Bachelor and Master students from various disciplines can apply.

The speed of microelectronics is currently limited by heating, as increased speed also increases the power dissipation. Spintronics or Spin-Electronics is a new concept allowing for much higher speed. It is based on the manipulation of the electron spins in magnetic layers buried inside the devices. A high magnetization of these magnetic layers is desirable in spintronic devices to allow for efficient manipulation of the electronic states.

Ricardo Garcia Soto is a Chilean science author and director of television films, as well as the highly successful Astroblog. He studied astronomy at the University of Chile and completed his education as a film and TV director, which gave him a different look at astronomical research.
In 2016 he visited Garching and came by for a stop-over at the FRM II. He made a short about what to see at the FRM II, released on Youtube.

More than 6 million Euros has been invested by the European Commission in the development of new nuclear fuel in the framework of the LEU FOREvER (Fuel for REsEarch Reactors) project. Of this, half a million has been set aside for the developments at FRM II. Project partners include research institutes as well as industry leaders from five countries, with TUM as the only university.

Scientific pictures often show fantastic motifs – for scientists sometimes not so easy to recognize. For laymen, who do not know the background or genesis, and therefore look at them with a very different look, they reveal a very special beauty that can compete with classical art. Armin Kriele, a member of the Material Science Laboratory of the MLZ, has this other look and also looks with the eyes of an esthete on the scientific pictures that he daily sees.

Together with the VW-VM research company, a collaboration between VW and VARTA Microbattery, scientists from the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ, working group Dr. Ralph Gilles) and the chair of Technical Electrochemistry (Prof. Hubert Gasteiger) of the Technical University of Munich have now investigated for the first time the aging of battery cell prototypes for stationary storage systems with the help of neutrons on the instrument SPODI.

At the age of 86, the emeritus professor Dr. Tasso Springer has now died. He was one of the first pupils of Prof. Dr. Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, discovered and developed together with his mentor the principle of the guiding of neutrons by mirroring (neutron guides) at the atomic egg.

Rechargeable lithium batteries with cathodes comprising nickel, manganese, and cobalt, are viewed as the most potent today. But they, too, have a limited lifespan. Already in the first cycle they lose up to ten percent of their capacity. Why this happens and what can be done to alleviate the ensuing gradual loss of capacity has now been investigated in detail by a team of scientists using positrons at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

First groundbreaking ceremony for the new science and technology building of the Technical University of Munich as well as the laboratory and office building of the Research Center Jülich for use by the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ): (from left to right) Prof. Dr. Winfried Petry (Scientific Director of Research Neutron Source FRM II), Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Mult. Wolfgang A. Herrmann (President of the Technical University of Munich), Dr. Anton Kastenmüller (Technical Director of the Research Neutron Source FRM II), Prof. Dr. Thomas Brückel (Director of the Jülich Center for Neutron Science and Spokesman of the MLZ Directorate), Stefan Müller MdB (Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)), Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Mult. Sebastian M. Schmidt (Member of the Board, Research Center Jülich), Dr. Dietmar Gruchmann (First Mayor of the City of Garching).

The Danish company Haldor Topsøe got thanks to the EU project SINE 2020 at ANTARES interesting radiograpies of its electrolysis cells.

The German DFG has granted support for the development of a pulsed positron source that will enable investigations of exotic states of matter and mixes of matter and antimatter with 750,000 euros.

“Forschung aktuell” reports about the construction of a molybdenum-99 facility at the FRM II.

Students can now apply for the Master Program. The application deadlines are different for the country of origin: for non-EU students, they will end on 31 January 2017; EU students must apply until 28 February 2017. All those who do not need a scholarship will have time until 15 May 2017.