Dec. 15, 2025
An onion core: Researchers find hints of a multilayered centre of the Earth
High-pressure and -temperature X-ray diffraction experiments indicate that seismic anomalies in the Earth's core could be due to chemical layering
Dec. 04, 2025
X-rays pave the way for the quantum revolution
Using ultra-precise X-ray light from synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities, researchers are opening a new gateway to next-generation quantum technologies. An international team involving ...
Dec. 03, 2025
Workshop “Theory meets XFELs” - From extreme conditions to attosecond physics
Around 80 scientists discussed the latest theoretical developments and their experimental application to X-ray lasers at the European XFEL and DESY during the workshop “Theory meets XFELs” from ...
Dec. 02, 2025
How the vital iron protein ferritin makes its way in highly dense environments
Proteins in a crowd: European XFEL looks inside cells
Dec. 01, 2025
DESY team uses miniaturised photonics to create quantum states
Squeezed light from a chip
Nov. 29, 2025
Workshop on Soft X-ray Science at PETRA III
The scientific insights achieved with soft X-rays from the PETRA III were discussed in an international workshop at DESY on 17 and 18 November 2025. The over 80 participants from three continents, ...
Nov. 28, 2025
Hidden areas in lymph nodes
How immune stress and age shape lymph nodes: New structures reveal adaptation to chronic stress
Nov. 21, 2025
X-rays help uncover source of degraded green pigment in old paintings
International team identifies culprits of breakdown of green pigments and makes suggestions for their further preservation
Nov. 20, 2025
Shape-shifting peptide
What do the Blue Mountains tree frog and Alzheimer’s patients have in common? Not much at first sight – but there is one special form of protein structure that plays a crucial role for both. ...
Nov. 06, 2025
DESY Photon Science scientists receive prestigious ERC Synergy Grants
Two DESY teams secure nearly €20 million in funding for two groundbreaking research programmes in fundamental physics
Nov. 05, 2025
Preventing dangerous short circuits in lithium batteries
Researchers reveal surprising growth of destructive dendrites in electrolytes
Nov. 04, 2025
FLASH welcomes first user groups after shutdown
A new round of user experiments starts this week at DESY's free-electron laser FLASH. The first users are researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg.
Oct. 30, 2025
New quasi-particle discovered in rare earth material
Researchers from Kiel University and DESY solve decades-old mystery in a quantum material – new quasiparticles explain why electrical conductivity suddenly disappears.
Oct. 29, 2025
Nanoscale under gigapressure
Research team led by DESY and MAX IV scientists adapts important X-ray analysis method for use with difficult-to-move samples
Oct. 23, 2025
Assembling pieces of a molecular puzzle
Research team reveals surprising bonding of amino acid cysteine at DESY NanoLab, rewriting what textbooks say about its bonds. Their atomic-level discoveries promise surprising advances in smart ...
Oct. 22, 2025
Nanoporous silicon generates electricity from friction with water
A European research team involving scientists from DESY and Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) has developed a novel way for converting mechanical energy into electricity – by using water ...
Oct. 17, 2025
Fighting antibiotic resistance: DESY scientists advance drug development with room-temperature X‐ray screening
New method reveals protein structures under near-physiological conditions
Oct. 10, 2025
Researchers explore unusual forms of ice at room temperature under extreme pressure
Warm ice in the focus at European XFEL and PETRA III
Oct. 07, 2025
Decoding liquid surfaces in a single-shot measurement
Gas, liquid and solid are familiar states of matter – but the structure of liquids, especially on the surfaces, remain elusive. It is important for fundamental science and many applications where ...
Sep. 30, 2025
Fernando Garcia-Martinez received best oral presentation award at the ECOSS 38 conference
Fernando Garcia-Martinez, DESY researcher at the HAXPES beamline P22 at PETRA III, has won the best oral presentation award at the 38th European Conference on Surface Science
Aug. 18, 2025
From gas to crystal: Unravelling nanoparticle formation during chemical vapor synthesis in situ
In their recent work, researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) report on a major step forward in unravelling the formation of nanoparticles during gas-phase synthesis. Their study, ...
Sep. 26, 2025
PFAS filter from a ball mill
A team of researchers is developing an environmentally friendly material that could help remove these ‘forever chemicals’.
Sep. 17, 2025
DNA damage mechanism detected in aqueous solution
Possible prospects for cancer therapy
Sep. 12, 2025
Nanocatalysts in Action
What really happens during catalysis with platinum-rhodium nanoparticles
Sep. 11, 2025
New insights into the mechanisms of human coronaviruses revealed
Scientists have discovered new details about how coronaviruses make copies of themselves inside human cells
Sep. 09, 2025
Nanopores unlock hidden chirality in exotic liquid crystals
When symmetry breaks in tiny spaces
Sep. 08, 2025
Atomic nuclei in interaction: new insights into collective quantum behaviour
Team couples atomic nuclei via X-ray waveguides, opening up a new field of research
Sep. 04, 2025
ERC Starting Grant for DESY researcher Vincent Wanie: Providing new insights into how molecules recognize chirality
Development of a prototype setup to investigate experimentally interactions between chiral molecules
Sep. 03, 2025
International research team sets new efficiency record for flexible solar cells
Solar jackets instead of wall sockets
Sep. 02, 2025
Polish Bronze Cross of Merit for Beata Ziaja-Motyka in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements
DESY scientist Beata Ziaja-Motyka, Group Leader at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) and Full Professor at the 'Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences' (IFJ PAN) in ...
Sep. 02, 2025
DESY's free-electron laser FLASH restarts after extensive upgrade
Gymnastics for electron bunches
Aug. 11, 2025
Gold can do more than glitter - researchers create novel gold compound at the European XFEL
Gold is considered to be chemically extremely inert. Using the world's largest X-ray laser, the European XFEL, researchers have now been able to show that this precious metal becomes chemically more ...
Aug. 08, 2025
Revealing quantum fluctuations in complex molecules
Due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum physics, atoms and molecules never come completely to rest, even in their lowest energy state. A team of researchers, including scientists from ...
Aug. 04, 2025
Good vibes - heavier bridging atoms dampen electron localising vibrations
Replacing a heavy element to an iron–sulfur molecular cluster has allowed scientists to observe a previously inaccessible magnetic spin state. An international team from Max Planck Institute for ...
Jul. 30, 2025
Robust supercrystals for the LEDs of the future
Research team achieves promising perovskite structures
Jul. 25, 2025
Probing gas-phase protein complexes
X-ray spectroscopy meets native mass spectrometry
Jul. 24, 2025
Stereo X-ray ptychography at PETRA III
Seeing the invisible nanoworld in 3D
Jul. 21, 2025
Gateway to the nanoworld
Nanotechnology is significantly advancing medicine. Tiny, specially designed particles deliver active substances into diseased cells or have a healing effect themselves. To ensure that this happens ...
Jul. 08, 2025
Nonlinear X-ray scattering reveals exotic quasi-particles
A group of DESY scientists together with colleagues from Finland and France has observed signatures of polariton-formation at extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths for the first time. In general, ...
Jul. 08, 2025
PETRA IV - Acceleration for Europe from Hamburg
A milestone for DESY: The Federal Ministry of Research clears the way for the world's best 4D X-ray microscope and the IceCube-Gen2 neutrino detector
Jun. 26, 2025
Nanoburgers with promising flaws
Publication in ACS Nano: DESY team finds surprising defects in tiny metal particles which could stimulate the development of more efficient catalysts
Jun. 16, 2025
Slow iron hopping through magnetite follows one specific path
An international team at DESY and the synchrotron radiation source SOLEIL in France has uncovered the special way in which iron diffuses in the near-surface region of magnetite. By using specially ...
Jun. 13, 2025
DESY scientist wins the junior scientist contest “Talents for Fusion”
Marcus Seidel’s project IGNYTe will be funded for five years by German research ministry
Jun. 06, 2025
New vulnerability discovered in hospital bacterium
International team of researchers identifies promising target for drug development
Jun. 04, 2025
Nanodomains hold the key to next-generation solar cells
Researchers identify role of microscopic structures in perovskites
May. 26, 2025
Focusing to 50 nm out of the box
Development of compact, aberration-corrected diamond optics promises sharper nano-imaging for X-rays.
May. 22, 2025
Structure of liquid carbon measured for the first time
Research team completes groundbreaking experiment at the European XFEL
May. 15, 2025
On the way to metallic hydrogen
DESY experiment deciphers an important intermediate step towards a new phase of matter
May. 09, 2025
Research team sheds light on the future potential of X-ray imaging and cryo-electron microscopy
Scientists from DESY, CSSB, CUI and Uppsala University publish groundbreaking review article
Mar. 28, 2025
Researchers control the handedness of molecules
Experiment is an important step towards isolating right- and lefthanded molecules from each other
May. 09, 2025
Watching superheated silver nanoparticles bubbling
Matter under extreme conditions, especially at extreme temperatures and pressures, plays an important role in many fields. These range from astrophysics and geology over inertial fusion reactor ...
Apr. 16, 2025
PETRA III peers deep into plant tumours
Analysis of leaf galls formed by mites show how they alter the plants’ metabolism of metals
Apr. 10, 2025
DESY scientists achieve breakthrough in laser-alignment for macromolecular single-particle imaging
Single-particle diffractive imaging (SPI) using X-ray free-electron lasers allows researchers to reconstruct the structure of nanoparticles and biomolecules. However, the technique often requires ...
Mar. 30, 2025
New ways of optimising energy materials
Those who understand down to the atomic level what happens when energy is converted in solar cells—switching elements of computer chips or reactors for the production of hydrogen—can optimally ...
Mar. 30, 2025
Protein fireworks can lead to identification of their structures
Simulation reveals that similar protein structures can be identified through how they explode in an X-ray laser
Mar. 25, 2025
Quantum tornadoes observed among electrons
First experimental proof of a new quantum phenomenon
Mar. 19, 2025
Volcano's explosive eruptions defy predictions
3D X-ray images can help scientists understand and mitigate hazards of strong volcanic eruptions
Mar. 10, 2025
X-ray snapshot: How light bends an active substance
Study shows how a 2-thiouracil molecule becomes reactive within a fraction of a second when exposed to UV radiation
Feb. 28, 2025
CMWS - Centre for Molecular Water Science inaugurated in Hamburg
Forty-seven founding members sign the CMWS Declaration and officially form the network’s Consortium
Feb. 19, 2025
Unveiling neutral sulfur formation in sulfur hexafluoride under X-ray exposure
An international collaboration, including researchers from the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society, has shown in a study the formation of neutral sulfur atoms during the decay of ...
Feb. 13, 2025
Innovations for Health: When Molecular Spectroscopy Meets Lasers and Photonics
A team led by DESY scientist Tim Laarmann has successfully detected the vibrational fingerprints of glucose molecules in aqueous solution using a nonlinear optical method in the mid-infrared spectral ...
Feb. 12, 2025
Electron correlations dominate processes in sub-nanometre particles
Quantum correlation revealed by attosecond delay
Feb. 06, 2025
PETRA III delivers novel approach to determine melting at high pressures
An international team of scientists from DESY Photon Science, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (U.S.), the University of Edinburgh (UK), and Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (Germany) has ...
Feb. 04, 2025
Femtosecond insights into laser-assisted photoemission from metal surfaces
Unveiling dynamic dielectric interactions
Jan. 31, 2025
Vincent Wanie was honoured with the ‘Photonics Early Career Award 2024’
Vincent Wanie, scientist at DESY Photon Science, was awarded the ‘JPhys Photonics Early Career Award 2024’. Every year, the Journal of Physics: Photonics (JPhys Photonics) brings together the ...
Jan. 28, 2025
A Global Vision for Helical X-Ray-Laser Pulses to Unveil Life’s Fastest Movements
Over the past years, scientists worldwide have collaborated extensively to develop cutting-edge approaches with helical free-electron laser (FEL) pulses. These advancements aim to capture some of the ...
Jan. 24, 2025
'Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship' for Andrea Trabattoni
DESY Scientist receives Funding from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture and the Volkswagen Foundation
Jan. 24, 2025
The 2025 DESY Photon Science User Award goes to Yongjae Lee
On the occasion of the DESY Photon Science Users’ meeting 2025, Yongjae Lee was honoured with the second 'DESY Photon Science User Award'. This award is given to a user or group of users of FLASH ...
Jan. 23, 2025
Over 1100 participants registered for users’ meetings of DESY and European XFEL
Participants come from 25 countries
Jan. 17, 2025
Developing irradiation-insensitive glasses through yielding
How do photons interact with amorphous materials? A collaboration between scientists from the group of ‘Disordered Systems’ at the University of Padua and DESY Photon Science has unveiled how ...
Jan. 16, 2025
Discovery of a new class of bacterial enzymes
Researchers at DESY Photon Science, together with international colleagues, have discovered a new class of enzymes that can be used to uncover previously unknown biological processes. The researchers ...
Jan. 08, 2025
A high-performance optical amplifier for microdevices
Researchers at DESY Photon Science have developed a millimeter-sized high-power amplifier with an output power of more than one watt on silicon-based optical microchips. This output power is a many ...
Dec. 20, 2024
DESY Photon Science distinction for exceptional achievements of employees
On the occasion of the DESY Photon Science divisional meeting on 16 December 2024, Olof Gutowski was honoured with the 'DESY Photon Science Instrumentation and Methods Award 2024'.
Olof Gutowski, ...
