How atomic nuclei vibrate

04-Aug-2023 - Dr.rer.nat. Arne Claussen Stabsstelle Presse und KommunikationHeinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf Physics: Publication in Nature Physics Using ultra-high-precision laser spectroscopy on a simple molecule, a group of physicists led by Professor Stephan Schiller Ph.D. from Heinrich Heine ...

Chemists propose ultrathin material for doubling solar cell efficiency

Make solar cells not from silicon, but from an abundant natural material called molybdenum disulfide

20-Apr-2023 - Solar power technologies, which use solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity or storable fuels, are gaining momentum in a world looking beyond fossil fuels for its energy needs. The dark bluish solar panels that dot rooftops and open fields today are typically made from silicon, a ...

Light-driven molecular swing

Scientists have used ultrashort laser pulses to make the atoms of molecules vibrate and have gained a precise understanding of the dynamics of energy transfer

20-Oct-2022 - When light impinges on molecules, it is absorbed and re-emitted. Advances in ultrafast laser technology have steadily improved the level of detail in studies of such light-matter interactions. FRS, a laser spectroscopy method in which the electric field of laser pulses repeating millions of times ...

Pumping up the music of molecules

Significantly improving the "sense of smell" of molecular laser spectroscopy: Increases chances to reliably detect diseases

25-Aug-2022 - Sensitive animal noses can sniff out trace particles, such as volatile organic compounds, in the ambient air. Humans, on the other hand, are developing innovative technologies for this purpose, such as optical spectroscopy. This uses laser light to detect the molecular composition of gases. It ...

Breakthrough in converting CO2 into fuel using solar energy

Important piece of the puzzle in reducing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the future

18-Feb-2022 - A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has shown how solar power can convert carbon dioxide into fuel, by using advanced materials and ultra-fast laser spectroscopy. The breakthrough could be an important piece of the puzzle in reducing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere ...

What we know about water may have just changed dramatically

New research points to a potentially strong impact from water purification to drug manufacturing

08-Jun-2021 - Water is weird - and yet so important. In fact, it is one of the most unusual molecules on Earth. It boils at a temperature it shouldn't. It expands and floats when it is in the solid-state. Its surface tension is higher than it should be. Now, new research published in the journal Nature has ...

Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Space and Time

"We believe that our findings represent a crucial breakthrough towards the goal of tracing electrons through chemical reactions in space and time"

22-Feb-2021 - In textbooks and explanatory videos, they are often depicted as colourful balloons or clouds: electron orbitals provide information on the whereabouts of electrons in molecules, a bit like fuzzy snapshots. In order to understand the exchange of electrons in chemical reactions, it is not only ...

When ions rattle their cage

How the investigation of ion oscillations can lead to better batteries

07-Apr-2020 - Electrolytes play a key role in many areas: They are crucial for the storage of energy in our body as well as in batteries. In order to release energy, ions - charged atoms - must move in a liquid such as water. Until now the precise mechanism by which they move through the atoms and molecules of ...

Researchers observe ultrafast processes of single molecules in liquid helium for the first time

How a molecule moves in the protective environment of a quantum fluid

24-Mar-2020 - Markus Koch, head of the research group Femtosecond Dynamics at the Institute of Experimental Physics at TU Graz, and his team develop new methods for time-resolved femtosecond laser spectroscopy to investigate ultrafast processes in molecular systems. In 2018 the group demonstrated for the first ...

First field measurements of laughing gas isotopes

Greenhouse gas emissions from soil

09-Dec-2019 - Thanks to a newly developed laser spectrometer, Empa researchers can for the first time show which processes in grassland lead to nitrous oxide emissions. The aim is to reduce emissions of this potent greenhouse gas by gaining a better understanding of the processes taking place in the soil. ...