X-ray experiment shows possible novel route for tailoring properties of glasses: “The story appears to be getting more interesting”

23-Jan-2023

For thousands of years, people around the world have experimented with different ways to make glasses with varying properties by heating them until they melt then cooling them again. A team led by scientists at the University of Padua in Italy have used DESY’s PETRA III X-ray light source to ...

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This new process could be particularly useful in chemically synthesizing compounds

15-Dec-2022

In a recent study, researchers at Freie Universität Berlin, the DESY research center in Hamburg, Kiel University, and Kansas State University have shown how light can turn a planar molecule into a chiral molecule with just one particular handedness, providing a solution to the long-standing ...

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Cellulose-based actuators can be programmed and repair themselves

29-Nov-2022

With the help of the high-brilliance X-ray source PETRA III, a German-Swedish research group has developed a new cellulose polymer material that can be specifically animated to move by moisture, making it an ideal base material for programmable actuators. In addition, the composite material is ...

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“This is a key factor for the design of highly active catalysts and sensors with high sensitivity”

02-Sep-2022

How exactly do nanoparticles form in solution? Researchers from Universität Hamburg and DESY have now been able to observe the growth of nanoparticles in solution in real time. In the journal Nature Communications, they report on their observations using the method of X-ray ptychography, which ...

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Researchers reveal structure and function of a complex micro machine

26-Aug-2022

Molecular motors are complex devices composed of many different parts that consume energy to perform various cellular activities. In short, molecular machines transform energy into useful work. Understanding the mechanistical aspects underlying these motors begins with generating a detailed ...

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DESY's free-electron laser FLASH shows chemical changes in surfaces

24-Aug-2022

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 ...

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Research team investigates nano-crystals for more strength of sandstone at DESY

21-Jul-2022

Many historic buildings were built of sandstone, such as Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. Sandstone is easy to work, but does not withstand weathering well. It consists of sand grains that are relatively weakly bonded to each other, so over the years parts of the stone keep crumbling away, often ...

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Novel method enables fast X-ray scans of large objects with nanometre resolution

20-Jun-2022

A new method speeds up X-ray imaging of extended samples like microchips. The innovative technique makes it possible to study relatively large objects to nanometre fine details in a reasonable amount of time. That is not only interesting to science but also to industry, as the developer team led ...

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Scientists watch moving charge density in real-time

08-Jun-2022

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 ...

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Advanced milling technique produces slow-release soil nutrient crystals

13-May-2022

A purely mechanical method can produce a novel, more sustainable fertiliser in a less polluting way. That is the result of a method optimised at DESY's light source PETRA III. An international team used PETRA III to optimise the production method that is an adaptation of an ancient technique: by ...

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