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, ...

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 ...

Liquid water at 170 degrees Celsius

X-ray laser reveals anomalous dynamics at ultra-fast heating

18-Sep-2020 - Using the X-ray laser European XFEL, a research team has investigated how water heats up under extreme conditions. In the process, the scientists were able to observe water that remained liquid even at temperatures of more than 170 degrees Celsius. The investigation revealed an anomalous dynamic ...

Ultrafast birth of free radicals observed in water

X-ray laser provides unrivalled insight into the first chemical reaction during radiolysis

13-Jan-2020 - Using extremely short X-ray flashes, an international team of researchers has for the first time ever observed details of the ultrafast chemical reaction leading to the formation of aggressive radicals when water is irradiated. The study provides unprecedented insights into the process, which can ...

How molecular footballs burst in an X-ray laser beam

Study shows effect of X-ray flashes on sensitive biomolecules

26-Sep-2019 - An international research team has observed in real time how football molecules made of carbon atoms burst in the beam of an X-ray laser. The study shows the temporal course of the bursting process, which takes less than a trillionth of a second, and is important for the analysis of sensitive ...

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 ...

Scientists film exploding nanoparticles

Imaging nanoscale dynamics with unparalleled detail and speed

08-Feb-2016 - Using a super X-ray microscope, an international research team has “filmed” the explosion of single nanoparticles. The team led by Tais Gorkhover from Technische Universität Berlin, currently working at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the U.S. as a fellow of the Volkswagen Foundation, ...

Physicists shrink particle accelerator

08-Oct-2015 - An interdisciplinary team of researchers has built the first prototype of a miniature particle accelerator that uses terahertz radiation instead of radio frequency structures. A single accelerator module is just 1.5 centimetres long and one millimetre thick. The terahertz technology holds the ...

Scientists watch metal melt in nanoseconds

Novel technique allows scientists to look deep into rocky planets in the lab

04-Sep-2015 - A pilot study opens a new path to analysing the interior of rocky planets in the lab. The research team, led by the University of Edinburgh and including scientists from DESY, has created high pressures and temperatures like those deep within the Earth and used the powerful LCLS X-ray laser at ...

Nanodroplets rotate faster than expected

Scientists observe quantum vortices in cold helium droplets

25-Aug-2014 - An international research team including DESY scientists has observed tiny quantum vortices in cold droplets of liquid helium. The team reports in the journal Science that the exotic vortices arrange themselves as densely packed lattices inside the nanodroplets. It is the first time that the ...