The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is a multi-disciplinary research institute which belongs to the Swiss ETH-Komplex covering also the ETH Zurich and EPFL. It was established in 1988 by merging in 1960 established EIR (Eidgenössisches Institut für Reaktorforschung = Federal Institute for Reactor Research) and in 1968 established SIN (Schweizerisches Institut für Nuklearphysik = Swiss Institute for Nuclear Physics). The PSI is a multi-disciplinary research centre for natural sciences and technology. In national and international collaboration with universities, other research institutes and industry, PSI is active in solid state physics, materials sciences, elementary particle physics, life sciences, nuclear and non-nuclear energy research, and energy-related ecology. It is the largest Swiss national research institute with about 1,400 (year 2011) members of staff, and is the only one of its kind in Switzerland. PSI is a User Laboratory and runs several particle accelerators. The 590MeV cyclotron, with its 72MeV companion pre-accelerator, is one of them. As of 2011, it delivers up to 2.2mA proton beam, which is the world record for such proton cyclotrons.
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Researchers are developing a technique that uses the special synchrotron X-ray light from the Swiss Light Source SLS to non-destructively digitize recordings from high-value historic audio tapes—including treasures from ...
General Physics
Apr 8, 2024
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A research team led by the Paul Scherrer Institute has spectroscopically observed the fractionalization of electronic charge in an iron-based metallic ferromagnet. Experimental observation of the phenomenon is not only of ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 6, 2024
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There is now a new addition to the magnetic family: thanks to experiments at the Swiss Light Source SLS, researchers have proved the existence of altermagnetism. The experimental discovery of this new branch of magnetism ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 14, 2024
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697
As part of the Ice Memory initiative, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) researchers, with colleagues from the University of Fribourg and Ca' Foscari University of Venice as well as the Institute of Polar Sciences of the Italian ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 26, 2024
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159
New findings debunk previous wisdom that solid-state qubits need to be super dilute in an ultra-clean material to achieve long lifetimes. Instead, cram lots of rare-earth ions into a crystal, and some will form pairs that ...
Quantum Physics
Jan 15, 2024
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PSI researchers have discovered a surprising trick that could expand the possibilities for medical use of botulinun toxin A1, better known under the name Botox, as an active agent. They have developed antibody-like proteins ...
Biochemistry
Dec 18, 2023
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Scientists have revealed how lattice vibrations and spins talk to each other in a hybrid excitation known as an electromagnon. To achieve this, they used a unique combination of experiments at the X-ray free electron laser ...
Condensed Matter
Nov 28, 2023
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Researchers at PSI and ETH Zurich have taken connective tissue cells that have been mechanically reprogrammed to resemble stem cells and transplanted them into damaged skin. In their laboratory experiment, they were able ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 28, 2023
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As part of the international CLOUD project at the nuclear research center CERN, researchers at PSI have identified so-called sesquiterpenes—gaseous hydrocarbons that are released by plants—as being a major factor in cloud ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 8, 2023
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Researchers at PSI and the University of Barcelona have managed to explain the strange behavior of microgels. Their measurements using neutron beams have pushed this measuring technique to its limits. The results open up ...
Polymers
Jul 10, 2023
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