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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Strong and ductile high temperature soft magnets through Widmanstätten precipitates
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2023) Han, Liuliu; Maccari, Fernando; Soldatov, Ivan; Peter, Nicolas J.; Souza Filho, Isnaldi R.; Schäfer, Rudolf; Gutfleisch, Oliver; Li, Zhiming; Raabe, Dierk
    Fast growth of sustainable energy production requires massive electrification of transport, industry and households, with electrical motors as key components. These need soft magnets with high saturation magnetization, mechanical strength, and thermal stability to operate efficiently and safely. Reconciling these properties in one material is challenging because thermally-stable microstructures for strength increase conflict with magnetic performance. Here, we present a material concept that combines thermal stability, soft magnetic response, and high mechanical strength. The strong and ductile soft ferromagnet is realized as a multicomponent alloy in which precipitates with a large aspect ratio form a Widmanstätten pattern. The material shows excellent magnetic and mechanical properties at high temperatures while the reference alloy with identical composition devoid of precipitates significantly loses its magnetization and strength at identical temperatures. The work provides a new avenue to develop soft magnets for high-temperature applications, enabling efficient use of sustainable electrical energy under harsh operating conditions.
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    Ultrafast vibrational control of organohalide perovskite optoelectronic devices using vibrationally promoted electronic resonance
    (Basingstoke : Nature Publishing Group, 2023) Gallop, Nathaniel. P.; Maslennikov, Dmitry R.; Mondal, Navendu; Goetz, Katelyn P.; Dai, Zhenbang; Schankler, Aaron M.; Sung, Woongmo; Nihonyanagi, Satoshi; Tahara, Tahei; Bodnarchuk, Maryna I.; Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Vaynzof, Yana; Rappe, Andrew M.; Bakulin, Artem A.
    Vibrational control (VC) of photochemistry through the optical stimulation of structural dynamics is a nascent concept only recently demonstrated for model molecules in solution. Extending VC to state-of-the-art materials may lead to new applications and improved performance for optoelectronic devices. Metal halide perovskites are promising targets for VC due to their mechanical softness and the rich array of vibrational motions of both their inorganic and organic sublattices. Here, we demonstrate the ultrafast VC of FAPbBr3 perovskite solar cells via intramolecular vibrations of the formamidinium cation using spectroscopic techniques based on vibrationally promoted electronic resonance. The observed short (~300 fs) time window of VC highlights the fast dynamics of coupling between the cation and inorganic sublattice. First-principles modelling reveals that this coupling is mediated by hydrogen bonds that modulate both lead halide lattice and electronic states. Cation dynamics modulating this coupling may suppress non-radiative recombination in perovskites, leading to photovoltaics with reduced voltage losses.
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    Observation of giant spin-split Fermi-arc with maximal Chern number in the chiral topological semimetal PtGa
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2020) Yao, M.; Manna, K.; Yang, Q.; Fedorov, A.; Voroshnin, V.; Valentin Schwarze, B.; Hornung, J.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Sun, Z.; Guin, S.N.; Wosnitza, J.; Borrmann, H.; Shekhar, C.; Kumar, N.; Fink, J.; Sun, Y.; Felser, C.
    Non-symmorphic chiral topological crystals host exotic multifold fermions, and their associated Fermi arcs helically wrap around and expand throughout the Brillouin zone between the high-symmetry center and surface-corner momenta. However, Fermi-arc splitting and realization of the theoretically proposed maximal Chern number rely heavily on the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) strength. In the present work, we investigate the topological states of a new chiral crystal, PtGa, which has the strongest SOC among all chiral crystals reported to date. With a comprehensive investigation using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, quantum-oscillation measurements, and state-of-the-art ab initio calculations, we report a giant SOC-induced splitting of both Fermi arcs and bulk states. Consequently, this study experimentally confirms the realization of a maximal Chern number equal to ±4 in multifold fermionic systems, thereby providing a platform to observe large-quantized photogalvanic currents in optical experiments.
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    Micromotor-mediated sperm constrictions for improved swimming performance
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2021) Striggow, Friedrich; Nadporozhskaia, Lidiia; Friedrich, Benjamin M.; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Medina-Sánchez, Mariana
    Sperm-driven micromotors, consisting of a single sperm cell captured in a microcap, utilize the strong propulsion generated by the flagellar beat of motile spermatozoa for locomotion. It enables the movement of such micromotors in biological media, while being steered remotely by means of an external magnetic field. The substantial decrease in swimming speed, caused by the additional hydrodynamic load of the microcap, limits the applicability of sperm-based micromotors. Therefore, to improve the performance of such micromotors, we first investigate the effects of additional cargo on the flagellar beat of spermatozoa. We designed two different kinds of microcaps, which each result in different load responses of the flagellar beat. As an additional design feature, we constrain rotational degrees of freedom of the cell’s motion by modifying the inner cavity of the cap. Particularly, cell rolling is substantially reduced by tightly locking the sperm head inside the microcap. Likewise, cell yawing is decreased by aligning the micromotors under an external static magnetic field. The observed differences in swimming speed of different micromotors are not so much a direct consequence of hydrodynamic effects, but rather stem from changes in flagellar bending waves, hence are an indirect effect. Our work serves as proof-of-principle that the optimal design of microcaps is key for the development of efficient sperm-driven micromotors.