Towards new reaction pathways

Insights on molecular dynamics in the ultrashort time window following UV excitation

30-Oct-2024 - The Attosecond Science group at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science 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 ...

Quantum communicator molecule shows further promise

A light sensitive metal-containing organic molecule responds to infrared light – pointing towards practical use in quantum technologies

28-Aug-2024 - 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 ...

In the focus of X-rays: New materials for the energy transition

New Process to Test Materials for the Hydrogen Industry

27-Jun-2024 - Researchers at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY have developed a method to rapidly test new materials for the hydrogen industry and analyze 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 ...

How many water molecules does it take to dissolve hydrochloric acid?

13-Jun-2024 - 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 ...

Scientists decipher the contribution of electrons to molecular chirality

The chiral currents generated in the experiment open up important perspectives for photochemical control

27-May-2024 - 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 ...

Researchers can now accurately measure the emergence and damping of a plasmonic field

This is crucial for renewable energy and other technologies

13-May-2024 - An international research team led by Universität Hamburg, DESY, and Stanford University has developed a new approach to characterize the electric field of arbitrary plasmonic samples, like e.g. gold nanoparticles. Plasmonic materials are of particular interest due to their extraordinary ...

First-ever X-ray attosecond experiment on liquids provides new insights into water’s molecular properties

Theorists explain how X-ray measurement freezes hydrogen motion, with implications on other areas of chemistry

19-Feb-2024 - 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, ...

Electron bubbles modelled from X-ray laser data

An international team of scientists uncovers a groundbreaking model for the effects of radiation in water systems

06-Feb-2024 - 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 in the US at the ...

New door opened to understanding the catalysis of ammonia production

Research team investigates the reaction mechanism for catalytic ammonia production at PETRA III

26-Jan-2024 - 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 ...

X-rays reveal how glasses lose their stability

PETRA III experiment shows how atoms in glass behave as weaknesses appear

28-Nov-2023 - Is glass solid or liquid? There is a popular misconception that old glass, which is often thicker at the bottom than at the top (such as stained-glass windows from cathedrals), flows downwards over time because it is actually an extremely viscous liquid. To a certain extent, this is true, glass ...