Light can be used to control molecular handedness
In a recent study, researchers at Freie Universität Berlin, DESY, Kiel University, and Kansas State University have shown how light can turn a planar molecule into a chiral molecule with just one particular handedness, With the theoretical study which was published in the internationally renowned scientific journal Science Advances in December, the team provides a solution to the long-standing problem of absolute asymmetric synthesis.This new process ...Laser Prize for Franz Kärtner
DESY researcher Franz Kärtner has been awarded the 'Laser Instrumentation Award 2022' by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The group leader at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) at DESY is being recognised for his techniques for synchronising large research facilities with femtosecond precision, the IEEE Photonics Society explained. A femtosecond is one billionth of a millionth of a second.Kärtner ...
Surface imaging technique at FLASH illuminates potential improvements in plastics production
Consider the humble plastic food wrapper. It may seem like a simple clear film that wraps a loaf of bread or fruit gummies, but these films are less simply composed as it seems. Each individual layer must be chemically treated so that it adheres well to the next. In their efforts to adapt an established X-ray analysis method to X-ray lasers, DESY scientists in collaboration with researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology in ...Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Göttingen appoints Melanie Schnell as member
Melanie Schnell, Lead Scientist at DESY and Professor of Physical Chemistry at Kiel University, has been appointed a full member of the Mathematical and Natural Sciences Class of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She shares this honour with three other scientists from very different disciplines. Every one of them is regarded as a worldwide expert in their field. The ceremony to welcome the new members took place on 24 June 2022 in ...Scientists watch moving charge density in real-time
An international research team led by DESY scientist Tim Laarmann has for the first time been able to monitor the quantum mechanically evolving electron charge distribution in glycine molecules via direct real-time measurement. The results – obtained at DESY´s brilliant free-electron laser FLASH – are published in the scientific journal Science Advances. Better knowledge of the quantum effects in the motion of electrons at the molecular level can ...Mixing laser- and X-ray-beams
Unlike fictional laser swords, real laser beams do not interact with each other when they cross – unless the beams meet within a suitable material allowing for nonlinear light-matter interaction. In such a case, wave mixing can give rise to beams with changed colors and directions.Wave-mixing processes between different light beams are one cornerstone of the field of nonlinear optics, which is firmly established since lasers have become ...
FLASH opens up new paths for surface research
Researchers from Universität Hamburg, European XFEL and DESY have succeeded in looking at details of molecular orbitals at DESY's free-electron laser FLASH. The team reports in the journal Nature Communications on the new method, which makes it possible to observe the temporal change of the wave function of molecules. These changes are crucial for reactions of molecules on surfaces and can lead to new insights into the development of functional ...KFS: Synchrotron research for climate protection and energy transition
Synchrotron radiation shows us how materials are built up and how they work - also materials that we need to become less dependent on fossil fuels, for example in solar cells, in batteries and in the production of green hydrogen.What influences the climate and how can we counteract climate change and cope with the consequences? Society must deal with these three central problems of climate change (physical science basis, mitigation, ...
