In power electronics, semiconductors are based on the element silicon – but the energy efficiency of silicon carbide would be much higher. Physicists of the University of Basel, the Paul Scherrer Institute and ABB explain what exactly is preventing the use of this combination of silicon and carbon in the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters. […]

Scientists in a team led by Dr. Tim Grüne have shown in the Nano Argovia project A3EDPI that electron diffraction can be applied to analyze the 3D structure of nanoscale materials. Now they introduce two types of three-dimensional sample supports that enable the collection of complete data sets in “Nature Communications”. Media release, University of […]

Adjusting the thermal conductivity of materials is one of the challenges nanoscience is currently facing. Together with colleagues from the Netherlands and Spain, researchers from the University of Basel have shown that the atomic vibrations that determine heat generation in nanowires can be controlled through the arrangement of atoms alone. The scientists will publish the […]

The SNI network mourns the loss of Calvin F. “Cal” Quate, professor emeritus of applied physics at Stanford University (California, USA). In the mid-1980s, Cal Quate developed the atomic force microscope (AFM) together with Gerd Binnig and Christoph Gerber. The AFM still opens new doors into the fascinating nanoworld. On July 6, Cal Quate died […]

You are invited to submit project proposals for applied research projects in the Nano Argovia Program until 30 September 2019. The Nano Argovia Program bridges the gap between basic scientific research conducted at the SNI and its industrial applications. Each Nano Argovia project pairs two academic partners from the SNI network with an industrial company […]

In the recent UNINOVA, Heidi Potts, a former nanoscience student and winner of the price for the best master thesis in nanosciences in 2014, shares her experience as a postdoc at Lund University in Sweden. UNINOVA: Life as a nanoscience researcher in southern Sweden  

The SNI is giving away three “Wickelfische” so that you are well prepared for a refreshing dip. Participate in the raffle

An international team of researchers involving members of the University of Basel’s Biozentrum challenges the conventional understanding of the cause of Parkinson’s disease. The researchers have shown that the inclusions in the brain’s neurons, characteristic of Parkinson‘s disease, are comprised of a membranous medley rather than protein fibrils. The recently published study in “Nature Neuroscience” […]

Physicists at the University of Basel are able to show for the first time how a single electron looks in an artificial atom. A newly developed method enables them to show the probability of an electron being present in a space. This allows improved control of electron spins, which could serve as the smallest information […]

Are you interested in the new electronic magazine SNI INSight? Three times a year, we report on SNI activities and provide more detailed coverage of our research projects in SNI INSight.  In this inaugural issue, you can read about the approach adopted by the recent start-up NUONEX, why members of the Department of Physics received the […]