Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize and Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation
Dr Fredrik Johansson (Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne) receives the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize for his outstanding dissertation. © F.J.
The prize for innovation in synchrotron research went to Professor Marianne Liebi and Dr Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, both from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland. © PSI
This year, the Friends of HZB awarded the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize to the outstanding doctoral thesis of Dr Fredrik Johansson (Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne). The European Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation went to Professor Marianne Liebi and Dr Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, both from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Switzerland). The award ceremony took place at this year's HZB user meeting, which had to be held digitally again this year and attracted nearly 400 participants.
The chairman of the Friends of HZB, Professor Mathias Richter, guided the award ceremony on screen. Six high caliber nominations were up for selection this year for the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize.
Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize 2021
The Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize went to Dr Fredrik Johansson (now Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne) for his dissertation at Uppsala University on "Core-hole Clock Spectroscopy Using Hard X-rays - Exciting States in Condensed Matter".
"Overall an exceptional dissertation achievement" said the expert jury, highlighting the number of Johansson’s high-quality scientific publications. "Also impressive is the demonstration of orbital and directional selectivity in ultrafast charge transfer in SnS2 using core-hole-clock," the jury said. Johansson then presented the method in a clear and concise talk: it allows a precise measurement of charge transfer times in different solids and promises deeper insights into solar cells, for example.
Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2021
The Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2021 went to Professor Marianne Liebi and Dr Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, both from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland. They developed and implemented a method to obtain information about textures in materials on the nanoscale from small angle scattering data using mathematical methods (Small Angle Scattering Tensor Tomography). The expert jury emphasised that this method is now used at many synchrotron sources and has opened the door to fascinating studies of hierarchical structures in life and materials science. The laudation was given by Professor Gabriel Aeppli, Head of the Photon Science Division at PSI. The Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation is endowed with 3000 € and is sponsored by SPECS GmbH and BESTEC GmbH.
- Small powerhouses for very special lightAn international team presents the functional principle of a new source of synchrotron radiation in Nature Communications Physics. Steady-state microbunching (SSMB) allows to build efficient and powerful radiation sources for coherent UV radiation in the future. This is very attractive for applications in basic research as well in the semiconductor industry.
- New Method for Absorption Correction to Improve Dental FillingsA research team led by Dr. Ioanna Mantouvalou has developed a method to more accurately depict the elemental distributions in dental materials than previously possible. The used confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) analysis provides three-dimensional elemental images that contain distortions. These distortions occur when X-rays pass through materials of different densities and compositions. By utilizing micro-CT data, which provides detailed 3D images of the material structure, and chemical information from X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) experiments conducted in the laboratory (BLiX, TU Berlin) and at the synchrotron light source BESSY II, the researchers have improved the method.
- MXenes for energy storage: Chemical imaging more than just surface deepA new method in spectromicroscopy significantly improves the study of chemical reactions at the nanoscale, both on surfaces and inside layered materials. Scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) at MAXYMUS beamline of BESSY II enables the investigation of chemical species adsorbed on the top layer (surface) or intercalated within the MXene electrode (bulk) with high chemical sensitivity. The method was developed by a HZB team led by Dr. Tristan Petit. The scientists demonstrated among others first SXM on MXene flakes, a material used as electrode in lithium-ion batteries.