Intricate processes in photosynthesis decoded using advanced electron microscopy technique

This enables breakthroughs in multiple areas of biological and chemical research

25-Jun-2024 - Using cryo-electron microscopy a team of scientists from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), the Swedish universities of Umeå and Uppsala and the University of Potsdam has succeeded in visualising atomic structures at an unprecedented resolution at the nanometre level underlying the process of ...

New Method for Analysing Nanoporous Materials

Innovative method opens up new possibilities for materials science

22-Mar-2024 - Using only a single electron microscope image, researchers at TU Graz can determine the type and exact position of so-called guest atoms in high-tech materials. They also come closer to solving the mystery of the blue colour of aquamarine. In addition to their main components, the properties of ...

Spectroscopy and theory shed light on excitons in semiconductors

Research team make extremely fast, precise images for first time

21-Mar-2024 - From solar panels on our roofs to the new OLED TV screens, many everyday electronic devices simply wouldn’t work without the interaction between light and the materials that make up semiconductors. A new category of semiconductors is based on organic molecules, which largely consist of carbon, ...

Bane and boon of oxygen mediating the performance of nickel catalysts in dry reforming of methane

Fundamental insights into the processes occurring at the catalyst surface

22-Jan-2024 - Catalysis is one of the key technologies in the chemical industry and has a wide-reaching impact on various aspects of our daily lives, including plastics manufacturing, drug synthesis, and production of both fertilizers and fuels. It is estimated that over 90% of chemical products are nowadays ...

“Optical fingerprints” on an electron beam

Researchers observe non-linear optical processes in the electron microscope

17-Jan-2024 - The precise control of electron beams in so-called transmission electron microscopes (TEM) makes it possible to analyze materials or molecules at the atomic level. Combined with short light pulses, these devices can also be used to analyze dynamic processes. Researchers from Göttingen and ...

Progress in the investigation of fast electron movements with short light pulses

22-Dec-2023 - A German-Swedish team has now succeeded in studying the rapid movements of electrons simultaneously with high spatial accuracy and a temporal resolution in the attosecond range. The researchers combined a special variant of electron microscopy, known as photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), ...

Tailored electron pulses for improved electron microscopy

Interplay of free electrons

16-Oct-2023 - Electron microscopes provide unique vistas of nanoscale structures, but their resolution is limited by the mutual repulsion of electrons. Researchers in Göttingen have now succeeded in precisely measuring the influence of these interactions. They discovered an “energetic fingerprint” in which the ...

In search of the 'holy grail': researchers observe lithium ions in real time

Tracking lithiation with transmission electron microscopy: A decisive step in research on battery materials

22-Mar-2023 - Li ion imaging by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is the “holy grail” in the study of Li ion battery (LIB) materials. Tracking lithiation process in TEM could provide more profound understanding on the electrode degradation mechanism during battery cycling, which accelerates material ...

New analysis method developed for nano and quantum materials

Using electron microscopy to create ultrafast movies of nano-processes

27-Feb-2023 - A slow-motion movie on sports television channels shows processes in hundredths of a second. By contrast, processes on the nanoscale take place in the so-called femtosecond range: For example, an electron needs only billionths of a second to orbit a hydrogen atom. Physicists around the world are ...

Method found for analysing complex, tiny crystals

15-Feb-2023 - The atomic structure of solid substances can often be analysed quickly, easily and very precisely using X-rays. However, this requires that crystals of the corresponding substances exist. Chemist Professor Oliver Oeckler from Leipzig University and his team are developing methods to make this ...