05 December 2024
Tracking the 'medication taxis'
How can cancer drugs be delivered safely to their destination? An international team of researchers has been using the X-ray source PETRA III to test a technique for visualising how a drug is distributed inside tumor cells. In the future, this approach could help to develop more targeted and hence more effective cancer therapies. The working group has presented its findings in the journal Advanced Functional ...06 November 2024
Exploring the nanoverse by molecular testing probe
A research team has taken a close look at catalytic surfaces at the DESY NanoLab. In doing so, they have not only learnt more about the exact processes that take place during catalysis, but have also tried out ways of positively influencing these processes. The team presents its results in the scientific journal ACS Nano.Catalysts are important promotors in many industrial processes. They increase ...
25 October 2024
Towards new reaction pathways
The Attosecond Science group at CFEL at DESY has developed a novel light source capable of producing extremely short pulses for the investigation of UV-induced molecular dynamics with unprecedented temporal resolution. Scientists from DESY and the University of Hamburg describe their unique observations in Nature Communications.Ultraviolet (UV) radiation penetrating our atmosphere triggers ...
25 October 2024
New Insights into Air Pollution Formation
A team of researchers at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute/Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the synchrotron sources PETRA III in Hamburg and SOLEIL in Gif-sur-Yvette, the Sorbonne University in Paris, the ETH Zurich, and the PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Science have made a groundbreaking discovery in understanding how air ...08 October 2024
Expanding instead of contracting
An astonishing property of trees is their ability to transport water and dissolved nutrients from their roots all the way up to their crowns, sometimes dozens of metres above, without the need for a mechanical pump. The underlying mechanism is ingenious: trees have a system of fine capillaries through which the water can rise from below the ground to the very tips of their branches. This transport process is driven ...28 August 2024
Quantum communicator molecule shows further promise
A family of molecules known to take in the rays and flex – fitting, then, that this summer, an international team using the pulsed properties of ultrafast optical lasers and synchrotron light sources like PETRA III at DESY could publish new findings about them. This family of molecules, which are inexpensive to synthesise, are thought to be good candidates for being transfer units of quantum information. The ...13 August 2024
Interaction of soft X-rays with aqueous solutions
A new study sheds light on how X-rays cause damage in liquids. The results could help to make radiotherapy or X-ray examinations safer in the long term. An international group of scientists from the University of Kassel, the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) in Berlin, the University of Heidelberg as well as the Uppsala University (Sweden) worked together and carried out their experiments at the PETRA III beamline P04 and ...29 July 2024
Using PETRA III to watch the disabling of a penicillin killer
Antibiotic resistance is a major and particularly in recent years growing challenge in medicine. Scientists around the world are searching for new and efficient compounds to treat bacterial infections, especially infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria. A research collaboration of scientists from DESY, University Medical Center Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg and Universität Hamburg performed time-resolved ...24 July 2024
New Study Explores Magnesium's Interaction with ATP in Water
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society presents an in-depth analysis of how ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in aqueous solutions interacts with magnesium ions. Conducted by researchers from the Department of Molecular Physics at the Fritz-Haber-Institut (FHI) der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) in Berlin (Germany), in collaboration with the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague ...23 July 2024
Observed live for the first time: Photocatalysts switch off a virus
An international research team led by DESY scientists has been able to observe for the first time how the whitening agent titanium dioxide inactivates viruses. Using various advanced methods, including measurements at the synchrotron light source PETRA III, they were able to precisely reproduce the inactivation process and understand the atomic details by computational simulations. DESY scientist Heshmat Noei and ...10 July 2024
Improving solar cells with a newly developed measuring method
Perovskites are among the greatest hopes in the solar industry. These materials could replace silicon as the basic semiconducting component of solar cells, as they are just as readily available and much easier to process. Alternatively, the two could be used in a paired set as a so-called tandem cell: The perovskite solar cell at the top converts visible light into electricity, while the silicon cell at the bottom ...09 July 2024
3D printed X-ray nano lens allows high-resolution imaging of microchips down to transistor level
A newly developed X-ray imaging method can now visualise the internal structure of various samples, such as microchips or catalyst particles, with nanometre resolution over a large field of view without causing damage. This new technique, which was mainly developed at DESY´s high-brilliance X-ray source PETRA III, is of particular interest to the industry as a new characterisation method for R&D, as the developer ...28 June 2024
On the way to the quantum memory: research group stores X-ray flashes
Light is an excellent carrier of information used not only for classical communication technologies but increasingly also for quantum applications such as quantum computing. However, processing light signals is far more difficult compared to the more common electronic signals. In experiments at DESY´s brilliant X-ray source PETRA III and at the ESRF, an international team of researchers has demonstrated how X-ray ...26 June 2024
Possible early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease: Magnetic resonance imaging shows iron distribution in brain regions
The neurotransmitter dopamine is primarily known as the happiness hormone that controls our motivation in the brain's reward system. However, the neurotransmitter also acts as lubricating oil for our fine motor skills and regulates the movements of our muscles. If dopamine-producing nerve cells die off, affected people experience movement disorders such as tremors or muscle stiffness. The diagnosis: Parkinson's ...21 June 2024
In the focus of X-rays: new materials for energy transition
Researchers at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY have developed a method to rapidly test new materials for the hydrogen industry and analyse their properties down to the atomic level. They were the first to test so-called high-entropy alloys for their corrosion resistance to hydrogen, and found that they may outperform the alloys commonly used in the industry.For the process, the researchers ...
19 June 2024
The dark side of transmission X-ray microscopy
X-ray microscopes are essential for examining components and materials because they can be used to detect changes and details in the material. Until now, however, it has been difficult to detect small cracks or tiny inclusions in the images. By developing a new method, researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon are now able to visualise such changes in the nanometre regime.The experiments were performed at the ...10 June 2024
How many water molecules does it take to dissolve hydrochloric acid?
Scientists from DESY have made a significant step towards understanding the solvation processes of hydrochloric acid (HCl) at the molecular scale. HCI is a prototypical acid that is often used for research and in industry and also plays a part in atmospheric chemistry – for example in the growth and formation of aerosol particles. A precise understanding of the chemical processes at the molecular level helps to ...01 June 2024
Clays transport more water into the Earth’s interior than we thought
Nobody knows how much water is contained in the Earth’s interior. It’s 6400 kilometres from the surface to the centre, but the deepest point we can get to is mere 12 kilometres, so most estimations are based on assumptions and extrapolations about the composition of our planet’s mantle and core. A study by a research team led by Yongjae Lee from Yonsei University (South Korea), conducted at PETRA III as well ...24 May 2024
Introducing: the first practical Terahertz-powered ultrafast photogun
A team of researchers from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, DESY and Universität Hamburg have developed the first practical Terahertz (THz)-driven photogun. Electron guns enabling ultrashort and -bright electron bunches have recently lead to the implementation of ultrafast electron diffraction instruments as a complementary technology to X-ray free-electron lasers for determining the structure and function of ...24 May 2024
Crystal nucleation of noble gases in X-ray light
An international team including scientists from DESY has taken a closer look at the formation of the first crystallisation of nuclei in supercooled liquids at European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg. They found: The formation starts much later than previously assumed. The findings could help to better understand the creation of ice in clouds in the future and to describe some processes inside the Earth more ...23 May 2024
Scientists decipher the contribution of electrons to molecular chirality
A new experimental approach provides the long-awaited tools to understand the role of electrons in the molecular chiral reactivity and offers a way to control physical and chemical properties that result from chiral interactions. The study, published in the journal “Nature”, was led by Universität Hamburg and DESY as part of a collaboration with the Centre Laser Intense et Applications (CELIA) and the ...21 May 2024
Liquid crystals form nanowires in nanopores
Liquid crystals have become an integral part of our everyday lives. They're not just responsible for the brilliant colours we see on our mobile phones, televisions and computers, but they also play a very important role in many other optical technologies, as they change light interacting with them in a special way. Now a team of researchers led by DESY and Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg) is reporting a ...14 May 2024
Finding the chink in corona’s armour
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in millions of deaths. Despite an unparalleled collaborative research effort that led to effective vaccines and therapies being produced in record-breaking time, a complete understanding of the structure and lifecycle of the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 is still lacking. Scientists, also from DESY, used the biolabs and the SPB/SFX instrument at the European XFEL to study the main ...08 May 2024
Researchers can now accurately measure the emergence and damping of a plasmonic field
An international research team led by Universität Hamburg, DESY and Stanford University has developed a new approach to characterise the electric field of arbitrary plasmonic samples, for example gold nanoparticles. Plasmonic materials are of particular research interest due to their extraordinary efficiency at absorbing light which is crucial for renewable energy and other technologies. In the journal Nano ...25 April 2024
PETRA III helps to develop high temperature capacitive energy storage using anisotropic semicrystalline polymers
Capacitive energy storage materials possess the advantages of high energy density and speedy charge-discharging capability. In particular, polymer-based dielectric materials for high temperature operation condition are increasingly demanded for numerous emerging applications such as electric vehicles or aerospace power conditioning. So far, a common way to improve the energy density is to incorporate wide bandgap ...22 April 2024
European XFEL elicits secrets from an important nanogel
An international team led by DESY scientist Felix Lehmkühler has utilised the world’s largest X-ray laser European XFEL to scrutinise the properties of an important nanogel that is used in medicine to release drugs in a targeted and controlled manner at the desired location in a patient's body. The team now published the results in the journal Science Advances.The team has investigated the ...
22 March 2024
AI unveils weak signals from a haze of noise
Researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) have used convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to effectively filter noise from detector images and hence make scattering signals measured at PETRA III visible that would otherwise be virtually invisible. By using data from the beamline P21.1, the group around Johan Chang, professor at the Physics institute at UZH, trained a deep CNN system such that a 20-fold ...13 March 2024
New imaging technique at PETRA III enables deeper insights in breast cancer metastasis
A collaborative effort between researchers from DESY, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Chalmers University in Sweden and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland has yielded a cutting-edge multimodal imaging approach to investigate breast cancer tissue. With the help of this technique, researchers can simultaneously extract information about the nanostructure of the tumor and quantify the ...28 February 2024
X-ray studies at PETRA III unveil the physics behind the encapsulation of the coronavirus
The COVID-19 pandemic has a severe ongoing impact on society. Therefore, the development of efficient treatment is crucial for the future while our understanding of the life cycle of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its interaction with its cell host is still comparatively limited. Already since the very beginning of the pandemic, an international team of scientists from DESY, Leipzig University (Germany), University of ...23 February 2024
Unique combined setup at PETRA III for in-situ ultrasonic measurements at extreme conditions
Probing the Earth’s interior is a difficult task. Direct access to depths greater than 12 km in the crust – so far only reached by the Kola Superdeep borehole – is not nearly enough to reach the mantle below the continental crust. To understand plate tectonic processes, such as earthquakes, knowledge of rocks down to 700 km is required. Notwithstanding, experiments under extreme pressure and temperature ...22 February 2024
Sodium-ion batteries: How doping works
Sodium-ion batteries still have a number of weaknesses that could be remedied by optimising the battery materials. One possibility is to dope the cathode material with foreign elements. To investigate the effects of doping with Scandium and Magnesium a team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin collected data at the X-ray synchrotron sources BESSY II, PETRA III, and SOLARIS. They ...16 February 2024
First-ever X-ray attosecond experiment on liquids provides new insights into water’s molecular properties
An international team has performed an attosecond-scale experiment at an X-ray free-electron laser on liquid water for the first time, and the results may change our interpretation of water’s behaviour. The experiment team, led by scientist Linda Young from Argonne National Laboratory in the US, found an unusual signal when they examined liquid water using X-ray flashes that were timed a few hundred attoseconds ...09 February 2024
Materials research for optical diagnostic windows in future fusion reactors
Magnesium aluminate spinel (MgAl2O4) has received significant practical interest because of the predicted tolerance to ionising irradiation. Therefore, this material is currently on the priority list of the EUROFUSION consortium for optical diagnostic windows in future deuterium-tritium fusion reactors. Investigations of radiative transitions in this material at the PETRA III beamline P66 and ...31 January 2024
International team uncovers a groundbreaking model for the effects of radiation in water systems
What happens when radiation hits water? This is a question that has an impact every time you get an X-ray at the doctor’s office, given you are mostly made of water. A team of theoretical physicists at DESY has worked on data taken by colleagues from Argonne National Laboratory at the LCLS X-ray laser (US) to get a better answer to this question. What they found may settle a controversy in physics about the ...19 January 2024
PETRA III solves decades-old mystery of asteroid impacts
A research team from DESY and the University of Jena has for the first time demonstrated live the formation of the mineral stishovite (a form of silicon dioxide or silica, SiO2), which is often used as a mineral to detect ancient asteroid and meteorite impacts on the Earth's surface. The researchers observed the formation of the mineral using time-resolved X-ray diffraction experiments at DESY's ...18 January 2024
Research team investigates the reaction mechanism for catalytic ammonia production at PETRA III
A research team from Stockholm University, in collaboration with DESY and the Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria, has succeeded for the first time in investigating the surface of iron and ruthenium catalysts in the formation of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen; the results have been published in the scientific journal Nature. With exact knowledge of how these catalysts work, it may be possible to identify even ...11 January 2024
Combined IR spectroscopy and surface X-Ray diffraction setup for chemical and structural in-situ characterisation
Electrocatalysis is the decisive factor for a future energy system based on renewable resources. Typically, the most active electrocatalysts retain a high level of complexity in terms of structure and chemical composition. New analytical approaches are required to advance the characterisation of electrocatalysts under operating conditions. In particular, to correlate the structure with the reactivity of the active ...10 January 2024
New findings on diamond rain on ice planets
An international team of researchers, including from DESY and led by Mungo Frost from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (U.S.), used the European X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) to gain new insights into the formation and occurrence of diamond rain in ice giants such as Neptune, Uranus, or exoplanets outside of our solar system. The results, which have now been published in the scientific journal Nature ...08 January 2024
Medically relevant nanoparticles move faster in cells than expected
A team of scientists from DESY and Universität Hamburg has discovered in an experiment that gold nanoparticles can move through liquid biological matter faster than expected when coated by the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG). The data, which were acquired using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, reveal both the structure and the dynamics of the nanoparticles in various biological fluids with high temporal ...