Broadening the Use of Muons to New Fields
Many of the technologies we depend on, from power electronics and solar cells to batteries, are limited by defects and ageing processes deep inside the device, often at buried interfaces that are hard to reach without damaging it. Muons penetrate deeply and non-destructively, and can therefore reach places other probes cannot. The Application projects turn this into tools for energy research, cultural heritage and the monitoring of snow and large structures, and open muon science to research groups outside the traditional muon community.
Using muons to locate defects inside silicon carbide power semiconductors, and to understand how they limit the reliability of devices for efficient power conversion.
Tracking charge carriers, defects and migrating ions layer by layer inside perovskite solar cells, to make them more efficient and longer-lived.
Using muons to measure where lithium and sodium ions sit inside batteries during charging and discharging, and to understand how interfaces and ageing limit their performance.
Adapting laser technology from muonic-atom experiments to excite defects at semiconductor interfaces with light while muons record the response, with nanometer depth resolution.
Revealing what archaeological and cultural heritage objects are made of, beneath corrosion layers and without damaging them.
