Calculating the "fingerprints" of molecules with artificial intelligence

16-Jun-2022 - With conventional methods, it is extremely time-consuming to calculate the spectral fingerprint of larger molecules. But this is a prerequisite for correctly interpreting experimentally obtained data. Now, a team at HZB has achieved very good results in significantly less time using self-learning ...

Distorted Atoms

11-Nov-2019 - In two experiments performed at the free-electron laser FLASH in Hamburg a cooperation led by physicists from the Heidelberg Max Planck Institute for Nuclear physics (MPIK) demonstrated strongly-driven nonlinear interaction of ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) laser pulses with atoms and ions. ...

New light shed on intensely studied material

21-Jan-2019 - The organic polymer PEDOT is probably one of the world's most intensely studied materials. Despite this, researchers at Linköping University have now demonstrated that the material functions in a completely different manner than previously believed. The result has huge significance in many fields ...

How molecules teeter in a laser field

21-Jan-2019 - When molecules interact with the oscillating field of a laser, an instantaneous, time-dependent dipole is induced. This very general effect underlies diverse physical phenomena such as optical tweezers, for which Arthur Ashkin received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, as well as the spatial ...

Looking at molecules from two sides with table-top femtosecond soft-X-rays

03-Jan-2019 - X-ray spectroscopy provides direct access into the nature of chemical bonds, from which the outcome of chemical reactions can be understood. For this, intense activities both at x-ray source development and implementation of new measurement methods is pursued by key research labs. Researchers at ...

How frogs' tongues become sticky

Research team investigates the surface chemistry of the frog sticky-tongue mechanism

29-Nov-2018 - Frogs' capture their preywiththestickymucuscoveringtheir tongues, but this mucusisn't inherently adhesive.Frogmucus is thought to be pressure-sensitive, with tongue retraction strain triggering adhesion. A research team from Oregan State University, Aarhus University and Kiel University ...

Insight into catalysis through novel study of X-ray absorption spectroscopy

02-Aug-2018 - An international team has made a breakthrough at BESSY II. For the first time, they succeeded in investigating electronic states of a transition metal in detail and drawing reliable conclusions on their catalytic effect from the data. These results are helpful for the development of future ...

Tiny chip-based methane spectrometer could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

30-Oct-2017 - The process of extracting natural gas from the earth or transporting it through pipelines can release methane into the atmosphere. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a greenhouse gas with a warming potential approximately 25 times larger than carbon dioxide, making it very ...

New method for identifying carbon compounds derived from fossil fuels

15-Sep-2017 - Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a laboratory instrument that can measure how much of the carbon in many carbon-containing materials was derived from fossil fuels. This will open the way for new methods in the biofuels and bioplastics ...

Nickel for thought

Compound shows potential for high-temperature superconductivity

20-Jun-2017 - A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has identified a nickel oxide compound as an unconventional but promising candidate material for high-temperature superconductivity. The team successfully synthesized single crystals of a metallic trilayer ...