Paul Scherrer Institute

About: Paul Scherrer Institute is a facility organization based out in Villigen, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Neutron & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 9248 authors who have published 23984 publications receiving 890129 citations. The organization is also known as: PSI.

Direct measurement of the electronic spin diffusion length in a fully functional organic spin valve by low-energy muon spin rotation.

Abstract: Electronic devices that use the spin degree of freedom hold unique prospects for future technology. The performance of these 'spintronic' devices relies heavily on the efficient transfer of spin polarization across different layers and interfaces. This complex transfer process depends on individual material properties and also, most importantly, on the structural and electronic properties of the interfaces between the different materials and defects that are common to real devices. Knowledge of these factors is especially important for the relatively new field of organic spintronics, where there is a severe lack of suitable experimental techniques that can yield depth-resolved information about the spin polarization of charge carriers within buried layers of real devices. Here, we present a new depth-resolved technique for measuring the spin polarization of current-injected electrons in an organic spin valve and find the temperature dependence of the measured spin diffusion length is correlated with the device magnetoresistance.

Metal organic frameworks for photo-catalytic water splitting

Abstract: Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently debuted as participants and solid supports in catalytic water splitting. Their porosity and structural versatility offer a tantalising consolidation of the components needed for solar light harvesting and water splitting. Herein, we describe a selection of relevant contemporary investigations that employ electrocatalysis, chemically introduced redox partners, and photo-catalysts to generate dioxygen and dihydrogen from water. The role of semiconducting MOFs in these systems is addressed, in tandem with band gap control by linker functionalisation and doping. Considered holistically, MOFs offer an impressive physical, spatial and chemical versatility with which to support and sustain water splitting reactions. Major challenges toward practical implementation do remain, but opportunities for development are evidently numerous.

How does the human brain deal with a spinal cord injury

Abstract: The primary sensorimotor cortex of the adult brain is capable of significant reorganization of topographic maps after deafferentation and de-efferentation. Here we show that patients with spinal cord injury exhibit extensive changes in the activation of cortical and subcortical brain areas during hand movements, irrespective of normal (paraplegic) or impaired (tetraplegic patients) hand function. Positron emission tomography ([O-15]-H2O-PET) revealed not only an expansion of the cortical 'hand area' towards the cortical 'leg area', but also an enhanced bilateral activation of the thalamus and cerebellum, The areas of the brain which were activated were qualitatively the same in both paraplegic and tetraplegic patients, but differed quantitatively as a function of the level of their spinal cord injury. We postulate that the changes in brain activation following spinal cord injury may reflect an adaptation of hand movement to a new body reference scheme secondary to a reduced and altered spino-thalamic and spine-cerebellar input.