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.

Rechargeable Batteries: Grasping for the Limits of Chemistry

Abstract: The demand for rechargeable batteries with high gravimetric and volumetric energy density will continue to grow due to the rapidly increasing integration of renewable energy into the global energy scheme. In terms of energy density, modern high-end rechargeable-battery technology is reaching its fundamental limits and no big advancement leaps in this field are expected. The energy-cost model, developed for comparative evaluation of battery cell chemistries in a commercial type pouch cell configuration, helps us to find the relationship between cost and energy density, enabling the prediction of the most promising material combinations for near-future non-aqueous rechargeable batteries for portable electronics and automotive applications. Among the wide variety of positive electrode materials only few show enough potential for commercialization, and, clearly, the immediate future will still be dominated by Li-ion technology, with Li-rich and Ni-rich materials as definite winners, and with Li–S and Na-ion emerging as contestants due to low cost and abundance of their key components. As further significant improvements in gravimetric/volumetric energy density and cost cannot be achieved through new battery chemistries, then the engineering, targeting cost reduction and safety assurance, will most likely be the main driving force behind future rechargeable battery development.

Deep-UV surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering of adenine on aluminum nanoparticle arrays.

Abstract: We report the ultrasensitive detection of adenine using deep-UV surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering on aluminum nanostructures. Well-defined Al nanoparticle arrays fabricated over large areas using extreme-UV interference lithography exhibited sharp and tunable plasmon resonances in the UV and deep-UV wavelength ranges. Theoretical modeling based on the finite-difference time-domain method was used to understand the near-field and far-field optical properties of the nanoparticle arrays. Raman measurements were performed on adenine molecules coated uniformly on the Al nanoparticle arrays at a laser excitation wavelength of 257.2 nm. With this technique, less than 10 amol of label-free adenine molecules could be detected reproducibly in real time. Zeptomole (∼30 000 molecules) detection sensitivity was readily achieved proving that deep-UV surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering is an extremely sensitive tool for the detection of biomolecules.

Search for supersymmetry in hadronic final states with missing transverse energy using the variables αT and b-quark multiplicity in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV

Abstract: An inclusive search for supersymmetric processes that produce final states with jets and missing transverse energy is performed in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 11.7 fb−1 collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. In this search, a dimensionless kinematic variable, α T, is used to discriminate between events with genuine and misreconstructed missing transverse energy. The search is based on an examination of the number of reconstructed jets per event, the scalar sum of transverse energies of these jets, and the number of these jets identified as originating from bottom quarks. No significant excess of events over the standard model expectation is found. Exclusion limits are set in the parameter space of simplified models, with a special emphasis on both compressed-spectrum scenarios and direct or gluino-induced production of third-generation squarks. For the case of gluino-mediated squark production, gluino masses up to 950–1125 GeV are excluded depending on the assumed model. For the direct pair-production of squarks, masses up to 450 GeV are excluded for a single light first- or second-generation squark, increasing to 600 GeV for bottom squarks.

Properties of the radiography facility neutra at sinq and its potential for use as european reference facility

Abstract: At December 3rd 1996, the spallation neutron source SINQ had its first proton beam onthe target. With a steady-state proton beam of 850 IlA this facility is now the strongest of its kind in the world. One of the first experimental facilities in operation was theradiography station NEUTRA (for NEUtron Transmission Radiography). The designwas described at earlier meetings [1,2] and the first validation measurements werereported [3]. There are some advantages in comparison to other radiography stations atresearch reactors. This will be demonstrated in detail by means of the measured valuesand examples of practical applications. The use as reference facility will be envisagedwithin an European project (COST-524).