News
Sprinting towards the tandem cell
How the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT brings together business and research:
Researchers at the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT conduct application-based research on promising solar cells. The development of their refined ideas depends on bringing working together with the industry. A…
ERC Synergy grant with HZB participation
Novel X-ray microscope to produce microstructural images in situ and in vivo:
An interdisciplinary team of scientists will develop a new imaging method to investigate osteoporosis and other bone diseases in living subjects. Prof. Silke Christiansen, a scientist at HZB and physics professor at…
Nanodiamonds as photocatalysts
Research team is testing materials for the production of solar fuels at HZB:
Diamond nanomaterials are considered hot candidates for low-cost photocatalysts. They can be activated by light and can then accelerate certain reactions between water and CO2 and produce carbon-neutral "solar fuels".…
Future data storage technology: fast access, high storage density
MBI researchers image extremely small magnetic nanostructures with invisibility cloak:
In novel concepts of magnetic data storage, it is intended to send small magnetic bits back and forth in a chip structure, store them densely packed and read them out later. The magnetic stray field generates problems…
Photonik Tage Berlin Brandenburg to take place in Adlershof
Most important photonics industry event in the federal capital region / 500 guests expected on 17 and 18 October 2018:
For the second time, the Berlin Adlershof Science and Technology Park will host the Photonik Tage Berlin Brandenburg (Photonics Days Berlin Brandenburg) on 17 and 18 October 2018. More than 500 expected visitors…
HZB researchers are used to boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells
In the journal Materials Horizons, researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and international colleagues describe how this limit can be abolished:
The efficiency of a solar cell is one of its most important parameters. It indicates what percentage of the solar energy radiated into the cell is converted into electrical energy. The theoretical limit for silicon…
Patented nanostructure for solar cells
Rough optics, smooth surface:
Thin-film solar cells made of crystalline silicon are inexpensive and achieve efficiencies of a good 14 percent. However, they could do even better if their shiny surfaces reflected less light. A team led by Prof.…
Tailor-made crystals
The IKZ develops indispensable raw materials for the high-tech industry:
Crystals are most commonly associated with glistening chandeliers or the spheres of fortune tellers. However, the lattice structures have become indispensable raw materials for the high-tech industry. The regular,…
Printing solar cells and organic LEDs
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin form a joint lab and research group “Generative production processes for hybrid components”:
Solar cells, LEDs and detectors made of organic and hybrid semiconductors can nowadays be simply printed out, even together with teensy nanostructures that make them function better. The development of low-cost…
Light-controlled molecules: Scientists develop new recycling strategy
Discovery lays the foundation for recycling of yet non-recyclable plastics:
Robust plastics are composed of molecular building-blocks, held together by tough chemical linkages. Their cleavage is extremely difficult to achieve, rendering the recycling of these materials almost impossible. A…
World record: Fastest 3D tomographic images at BESSY II
An HZB team has developed an ingenious precision rotary table at the EDDI beamline at BESSY II and combined it with particularly fast optics.:
This enabled them to document the formation of pores in grains of metal during foaming processes at 25 tomographic images per second - a world record. The quality of materials often depends on the manufacturing…
Insight into loss processes in perovskite solar cells enables efficiency improvements
In perovskite solar cells, charge carriers are mainly lost through recombination occurring at interface defect sites. :
In contrast, recombination at defect sites within the perovskite layer does not limit the performance of the solar cells at present. Teams from the University of Potsdam and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) were…
Insight into catalysis through novel study of X-ray absorption spectroscopy
An international team has made a breakthrough at BESSY II:
For the first time, they succeeded in investigating electronic states of a transition metal in detail and drawing reliable conclusions on their catalytic effect from the data. These results are helpful for the…
7.4 million euros from the EFRE fund
HZB is setting up a new application laboratory for developing superconducting accelerator components:
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is receiving 7.4 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE). The money is being used to set up the application laboratory “SupraLab@HZB” for the advancement of…
Understanding the stability, behaviour and surface properties of nanoparticles and quantum dots using Hansen Solubility Parameters
LUM’s CEO Dietmar Lerche combines STEP-Technology® with multi-sample analytical photocentrifugation:
Devices based on quantum dots and smart nanoparticles are currently getting a lot of attention. For instance, the colours, contrast and brightness of displays based on quantum dots provide benefits for users of TVs…
A beacon for advanced materials
A recent setup, the INAM network intends to introduce brilliant ideas to the field:
No basic research, no advanced materials. Yet all too often, pioneering knowledge fails to leave the laboratory because scientists shun the step to the product. It is important that all players join forces in the…
Prof. Dr. Peter Rudolph
Coordinator of the competence area “Crystal Growth Technology” at the Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ):
Peter Rudolph is the coordinator of the competence area “Crystal Growth Technology” at the Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ) in Berlin-Adlershof. Peter Rudolph (who got his degree as Electrical Engineer at…