European XFEL reveals quantum fluctuations in complex molecules

A milestone in molecular imaging

11-Aug-2025 - Due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum physics, atoms and molecules never come completely to rest, even in their lowest energy state. Researchers at European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg have now been able to directly measure this quantum motion in a complex molecule for the ...

How Molecules Break and Form Bonds

A crucial step toward truly understanding chemical processes

08-Aug-2025 - Researchers at European XFEL in Germany have tracked in real time the movement of individual atoms during a chemical reaction in the gas phase. Using extremely short X-ray flashes, they were able to observe the formation of an iodine molecule (I₂) after irradiating diiodomethane (CH₂I₂) molecules ...

Super-resolution X-ray technique uncovers atomic structures

New method promises enhanced understanding of chemical reactions and material properties by applying a Nobel-prize winning technique in spectroscopy

23-Jul-2025 - Researchers from the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, USA, along with the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) in Heidelberg and the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL) in Hamburg, developed an innovative approach to X-ray spectroscopy, achieving unprecedented detail ...

Structure of liquid carbon measured for the first time

Research team completes groundbreaking experiment at the European XFEL

23-May-2025 - With the declared aim of measuring matter under extreme pressure, an international research collaboration headed by the University of Rostock and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) used the high-performance laser DIPOLE 100-X at the European XFEL for the first time in 2023. With ...

A pioneering spectrometer for hard X-rays at European XFEL

"The new spectrometer opens up completely new spectroscopic possibilities at high X-ray energies"

22-Apr-2025 - Researchers at the European XFEL have developed a new device for X-ray measurements at high photon energies–a so-called Laue spectrometer. It enables X-ray light with photon energies of over 15 kiloelectronvolts to be detected with improved efficiency and highest precision. This is important for ...

Molecular motion in tire rubber

Tyre components observed with incredible time resolution

04-Oct-2023 - Scientists have observed the molecular motion of rubber components typically used in automobile tires—polybutadiene and carbon black—with the world’s fastest time resolution. The study reveals a clear interaction between the two components on the atomic scale, paving the way towards improved ...

Molecule snapshot by explosion

Important step for filming chemical reactions

23-Feb-2022 - Exploding a photo subject in order to take its picture? An international research team at the world's largest X-ray laser, the European XFEL, used this “extreme” method to take pictures of complex molecules. With the ultra-bright X-ray flashes generated by the facility, the scientists were able ...

Snapshot of exploding oxygen

New experimental technique with reaction microscope allows “X-ray” of individual molecules

11-Jun-2020 - For more than 200 years, we have been using X-rays to look inside matter, and progressing to ever smaller structures – from crystals to nanoparticles. Now, within the framework of a larger international collaboration on the X-ray laser European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg, physicists at ...

Particle accelerator for the European XFEL X-ray laser operational

20-Apr-2017 - The international X-ray laser European XFEL has reached one of its final major milestones on the way to scientific user operation. DESY has successfully commissioned the particle accelerator, which drives the X-ray laser along its full length.It is the world’s largest superconducting linear ...

Tunnel construction completed: European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser reaches important milestone

18-Jun-2012 - The European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (EuropeanXFEL) reached an important milestone: the construction of the network of tunnels, which total nearly 5.8 kilometres in length and extend 3.4 kilometres from Hamburg-Bahrenfeld to Schenefeld in Schleswig-Holstein, is now finished. The 11 sectors of ...