Highlights @en

4. Apr. 2019

New web page

The web page of the cluster of excellence „CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter“ is now online. We invite you to visit us at www.cui-advanced.uni-hamburg.de/en. From now on, news and announcements will be published on the new web page... »

21. Mar. 2019

The taming of the light screw

Scientists create high-order harmonics from solids with controlled polarization states, taking advantage of both crystal symmetry and attosecond electronic dynamics. The newly demonstrated technique might find intriguing applications in petahertz electronics and for spectroscopic studies of novel... »

21. Mar. 2019

Researchers generate the shortest ultraviolet laser pulse ever

Researchers at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) have generated a 1.9-femtosecond ultraviolet laser light pulse - setting arecord for ultraviolet (UV) laser pulses with the shortest duration. The experiments, published in the recent issue of the scientific journal Optics Letters,... »

18. Feb. 2019

New measurement technique for topological quantum systems

Researchers at Universität Hamburg have demonstrated a new scheme for measuring the topological index of a system. The index describes the topological nature of materials and influences certain properties such as the conductivity. The scientists report their findings, which may lead to important... »

5. Dec. 2018

Light-induced increase of transition temperature in superconductors

Recently, physicists at Universität Hamburg demonstrated in a theoretical work that superfluidity emerges, when the atoms of a cold quantum gas are shaken by shining light on them. Now the scientists, who are also members of CUI, could experimentally proof  the predictions. Their findings... »

29. Nov. 2018

Terahertz laser pulses amplify optical phonons in solids

A study led by scientists of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at CFEL presents evidence of the amplification of optical phonons in a solid by intense terahertz laser pulses. These light bursts excite atomic vibrations to very large amplitudes, where their... »

11. Nov. 2018

A new path through the looking-glass

Exploring the mystery of the molecular handedness in nature, scientists have proposed a new experimental scheme to create custom-made mirror molecules for analysis. The technique can make ordinary molecules spin so fast that they lose their normal symmetry and shape and instead form mirrored... »

1. Nov. 2018

Atomic view of nature's amazing molecular machines at work

Researchers from the MPSD's Department of Atomically Resolved Dynamics at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, the Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (all in Hamburg), the University of Toronto in Canada and the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, have developed a new method to watch biomolecules at work.... »

26. Oct. 2018

New technique enables spatial separation of peptide structures

A team of scientists at DESY and Universität Hamburg has reached another milestone towards the direct imaging of individual biomolecules: the group led by Prof. Jochen Küpper from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science developed a new experimental technique which enables the separation of... »

16. Oct. 2018

"Quantum boiling” reveals relativity in atoms

In a way of “quantum boiling” with intense X-ray flashes, scientists have stripped xenon atoms of most of their electrons. The experiments reveal the impact of Albert Einstein's theory of Special Relativity on the quantum structure of atoms. The international team around DESY scientist Sang-Kil... »

12. Oct. 2018

Novel corkscrew-laser technique can send molecules spinning rapidly about a selected axis

Using corkscrew-shaped laser pulses, scientists of DESY and Universität Hamburg have devised a sophisticated optical centrifuge that can make molecules rotate rapidly about a desired molecular axis. The innovative method opens up new ways to control and study super fast spinning molecules, called... »

11. Oct. 2018

Disrupting crystalline order to restore superfluidity

Theoretical and experimental scientists at the Universität Hamburg have together observed light induced superfluidity. The team of scientists led by Prof. Ludwig Mathey and Prof. Andreas Hemmerich, who are both members of the cluster of excellence CUI, identified a fundamental mechanism for how a... »

2. Oct. 2018

First experiments at Europe's new X-ray laser reveal unknown structure of antibiotics killer

An international collaboration consisting of over 120 researchers has announced the results of the first scientific experiments at Europe's new X-ray laser European XFEL. The pioneering work not only demonstrates that the new research facility can speed up experiments by more than an order of... »

15. Aug. 2018

New approach to simulate the quantum dynamics of degenerate atomic gases

The dynamics of atomic gases at ultracold temperatures are a particular challenge for scientists. Researchers from the Center for Optical Quantum Technologies at Universität Hamburg have developed an approach that describes correlations between many particles and helps to develop new techniques.... »

8. Aug. 2018

Editors’ Highlights delve into water

Two current publications from the CUI research have been selected by the editors of the scientific journal Nature Communications as particularly important contributions to inorganic and physical chemistry. Each month the editors select a small number of articles recently published in Nature... »

4. Jul. 2018

Ultracold atoms and ultrafast lasers: Hamburg scientists combine experimental expertise

Two separate research fields have been united in Hamburg for the very first time. Ultrashort laser pulses enable us to observe and manipulate matter on very short time scales, whereas ultracold atoms permit experiments with high precision and controllability. In the cluster of excellence “The... »

21. Jun. 2018

Invisible deuterium makes membrane proteins visible

An international team of researchers led by CUI member Prof. Henning Tidow of Universität Hamburg has found a new method for analyzing membrane proteins. The team made use of the special nature of a hydrogen isotope: deuterium labelled ‘stealth carrier’ nanodiscs (sND) are effectively... »

29. May. 2018

Water is not simply water

Water molecules exist in two different forms with almost identical physical properties. For the first time, researchers have now shown that these forms can exhibit different chemical reactivities. These results were reported by researchers from the University of Basel and their colleagues from DESY... »

15. May. 2018

World's fastest water heater - 100,000 degrees in 0.000 000 000 000 075 seconds

Scientists have used a powerful X-ray laser to heat water from room temperature to 100,000 degrees Celsius in less than a tenth of a picosecond (millionth of a millionth of a second). The experimental set-up, that can be seen as the world's fastest water heater, produced an exotic state of water,... »

9. May. 2018

X-ray laser opens new view on Alzheimer proteins

A new experimental method permits the X-ray analysis of amyloids, a class of large, filamentous biomolecules which are an important hallmark of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. An international team of researchers headed by Hamburg scientists has used a powerful X-ray laser to gain... »

8. May. 2018

Light-induced superconductivity under high pressure

A team of scientists of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg investigated optically-induced superconductivity in the alkali-doped fulleride K3C60under high external pressures. This study allowed, on one... »

3. May. 2018

Freeze-framing nanosecond movements of nanoparticles

A team of scientists from DESY, the Advanced Photon Source APS and National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC, both in the USA, have developed and integrated a new method for monitoring ultrafast movements of nanoscopic systems. With the light of the X-ray laser LCLS at the research center SLAC in... »

24. Apr. 2018

High-energy X-ray method promises 3D images of intact biological cells

A concept for a novel X-ray microscope promises three-dimensional images of delicate objects like biological cells using a thousand times less damaging radiation than conventional methods. The novel microscope would allow to image whole cells at high resolution in their native environment, without... »

3. Apr. 2018

Scientists create “Swiss army knife” for electron beams

Scientists have created a miniature particle accelerator for electrons that can perform four different functions at the push of a button. The experimental device is driven by a Terahertz radiation source and can accelerate, compress, focus and analyse electron bunches in a beam. Its active... »

27. Feb. 2018

Good Vibrations feel the force

A group of researchers led by Prof. Andrea Cavalleri at the Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg has demonstrated a new method enabling precise measurements of the interatomic forces that hold crystalline solids together. A paper published online... »

13. Feb. 2018

Emerging magnetism on vibrating non-magnetic layers

Researchers from the Theory Department of the MPSD (Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg and UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) in Korea used state-of-the-art theoretical simulation tools... »

2. Feb. 2018

Superconductors earn their stripes

Understanding high temperature superconductivity (high Tc) has been a long-standing challenge since its discovery in copper oxide compounds in 1986. A key issue in addressing this problem has involved the study of phases found near superconductivity, typically at temperatures in excess of Tc or at... »

16. Jan. 2018

Scientists decipher key principle behind reaction of metalloenzymes

What enables electrons to be transferred swiftly, for example during photosynthesis? An interdisciplinary team of researchers has worked out the details of how important bioinorganic electron transfer systems operate. Using a combination of very different, time-resolved measurement methods at... »

21. Dec. 2017

New phenomena in quantum matter observed – scientists at Universität Hamburg analyze dynamical phase transitions

For the first time, scientists of CUI, a cluster of excellence at Universität Hamburg, have observed a dynamical quantum phase transition in ultracold quantum gases. These gases, which are almost at absolute zero temperature, can be analyzed to determine the dynamics of atoms and molecules with... »

20. Dec. 2017

Second chance for rejected antibiotic candidate

An antibiotic candidate compound shelved in the 1970s in favour of more worthwhile drugs could be worth a second look, new research has found. The drug, called pentyl pantothenamide, is able to stop the growth of E. coli but not completely kill the bacteria, so was never taken into clinical use.... »

7. Dec. 2017

Novel lenses enable X-ray microscopy with record resolution

Scientists have developed novel lenses that enable X-ray microscopy with record resolution in the nanometre regime. Using new materials, the research team led by DESY scientist Saša Bajt from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) has perfected the design of specialised X-ray optics and... »

28. Nov. 2017

A mixtape for drug discovery

Scientists have developed a new method that enables automated and fast screening of promising drug candidates. This novel technique, called mix-and-diffuse serial synchrotron crystallography, can image the interaction of potential drug targets with drug candidates or other molecules. The concept... »

7. Nov. 2017

Crystals in a pink X-ray beam

A newly developed experimental set-up allows the X-ray structure determination of biomolecules such as proteins with far smaller samples and shorter exposure times than before. At so-called synchrotron sources, protein crystal can be studied considerably more efficiently and quickly by using... »

2. Nov. 2017

Imaging using incoherent light

Physicists at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the University of Hamburg and the research facility DESY have succeeded for the first time in revealing tiny structures using an imaging method that relies on the usual diffraction of light, but which does not require the... »

19. Oct. 2017

Water in nanopores: polarity determines spatial distribution

How do guest molecules act in the pores of porous materials? A group of scientists around CUI member Prof. Michael Fröba from the Institute of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry at Universität Hamburg tried to find answers to this highly relevant question for science and technology. In a study... »

29. Sep. 2017

A new knob to control and create higher harmonics in solids

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) and the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) have demonstrated the possibility of using a new knob to control and optimize the generation of high-order harmonics in bulk materials, one of the most... »

19. Sep. 2017

Revealing the nature of mesoscopic molecular ions

Analyzing ions at zero temperature may provide deep insights into charge transport and may also allow for controlled state-to-state chemical reactions. A group of scientists around Prof. Peter Schmelcher (Universität Hamburg) has succeeded in calculating the potential size of mesoscopic molecular... »

15. Aug. 2017

Scientists shine new light on the “other high temperature superconductor”

A study led by scientists of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) presents evidence of the coexistence of superconductivity and “charge-density-waves” in compounds of the poorly-studied family of bismuthates. This observation opens up new perspectives for a... »

9. Aug. 2017

X-ray analyses with significantly enhanced resolution

Physicists from the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Nuremberg-Erlangen (FAU), Universität Hamburg and DESY have worked out a new technique that could significantly improve the quality of X-ray analysis in crystallography compared to conventional methods. Incoherent diffractive imaging (IDI)... »

18. Jul. 2017

Researchers develop new transistor concept

Transistors, as used in billions on every computer chip, are nowadays based on semiconductor-type materials, usually silicon. As the demands for computer chips in laptops, tablets and smartphones continue to rise, new possibilities are being sought out to fabricate them inexpensively, energy-saving... »

18. Jul. 2017

Microwaves reveal detailed structure of molecular motor

A team of scientists has used microwaves to unravel the exact structure of a tiny molecular motor. The nano-machine consists of just a single molecule, made up of 27 carbon and 20 hydrogen atoms (C27H20). Like a macroscopic motor it has a stator and a rotor, connected by an axle. The analysis... »

27. Jun. 2017

X-ray experiments reveal two different types of water

Liquid water exists in two different forms – at least at very low temperatures. This is the conclusion drawn from X-ray experiments carried out at DESY and at the Argonne National Laboratory in the US. An international team of researchers headed by the University of Stockholm now reports its... »

8. Jun. 2017

Trailblazing discovery: circular-polarized light creates oriented currents in nano-crystals

Nano-crystals created in wet chemicals, meaning in a solution, can already be found in the latest TV screens or in image-making diagnostic procedures in medicine. A research group headed by CUI member PD Dr. Christian Klinke from the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Universität Hamburg has now... »

31. May. 2017

X-ray pulses create “molecular black hole”

Scientists have used an ultra-bright pulse of X-ray light to turn an atom in a molecule briefly into a sort of electromagnetic black hole. Unlike a black hole in space, the X-rayed atom does not draw in matter from its surroundings through the force of gravity, but electrons with its electrical... »

30. May. 2017

Double flashes with attosecond precision

Thanks to a smart mirror scientists can control the phase of X-rays from DESY's free-electron laser FLASH with attosecond precision. The feat enables new investigations of the interactions of light and matter, as the team headed by CUI scientist PD Dr. Tim Laarmann (DESY) reports in the journal... »

6. Apr. 2017

Pinball at the atomic level

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at CFEL in Hamburg and the University of Edinburgh, through improved sample handing, have discovered a new reaction intermediate, the tetraiodide radical anion, formed as a result of the unique... »

21. Mar. 2017

Novel nozzle saves crystals

Thanks to an innovative nozzle, scientists can now analyse more types of proteins while using fewer of the hard-to-get protein crystals. The nozzle can reduce protein consumption eightfold in serial X-ray crystallography experiments, as the team of inventors, headed by DESY scientist Saša Bajt... »

22. Feb. 2017

Scientists analyze smallest ever protein crystals

An international team of scientists has used high-intensity X-ray pulses to determine the structure of the crystalline protein envelope of an insect virus. Their analysis reveals the fine details of the building blocks that make up the viral cocoon down to a scale of 0.2 nanometers (millionths of a... »

8. Feb. 2017

Dynamics of electron clouds unravelled

A US-German research team has elucidated the ultra-fast dynamics of electron clouds in xenon atoms. Using attosecond technology, the scientists around Prof. Stephen R. Leone from the University of California in Berkeley were able to measure the reactions of the electrons to the strong field of an... »

7. Feb. 2017

Experiment in space

In a few days a carrier rocket will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS). Samples from Prof. Christian Betzel’s research group at Universität Hamburg will be aboard to be analyzed in the absence of gravity. [caption id="attachment_12833" align="aligncenter" width="468"] On the... »

1. Feb. 2017

First experimental verification of a phononic frequency comb

A theoretical prediction by CUI scientist Prof. Peter Schmelcher (Universität Hamburg) has just been impressively confirmed: Investigating the behavior of phonons in a rectangular wafer of silicon, Prof. Ashwin Seshia and his colleagues at the University of Cambridge observed a phononic frequency... »

12. Jan. 2017

Laser metronome achieves record synchronization

Scientists at DESY have set up the world's most precise ‘metronome’ for a kilometre-wide network. The timing system synchronizes a 4.7-kilometer-long laser-microwave network with 950 attoseconds precision. An attosecond is a quintillionth of a second, or a millionth of a millionth of a... »

23. Nov. 2016

Molecules change shape when wet

Water promotes the reshaping of molecules.  By means of broadband rotational spectroscopy a team of scientists around CUI researcher Dr. Melanie Schnell from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter at CFEL unravelled the structural reshaping of isolated molecules in the... »

23. Nov. 2016

Scientists shrink electron gun to matchbox size

In a multi-national effort, an interdisciplinary team of researchers has built a new kind of electron gun that is just about the size of a matchbox. Electron guns are used in science to generate high-quality beams of electrons for the investigation of various materials, from biomolecules to... »

16. Nov. 2016

Watching chemical reactions at work using a tabletop laser and special-purpose detector

A team of researchers from the Helmholtz Institute Jena and DESY has paved the way for using conventional lasers to observe chemical bonds being broken apart. For their experiments, the scientists - among them CUI researcher Prof. Jochen Küpper - combined high-performance light generation and... »

15. Nov. 2016

High-speed camera snaps bio-switch in action

With a powerful X-ray camera, scientists have watched a genetic switch at work for the first time. The study led by Yun-Xing Wang from the National Cancer Institute of the U.S. reveals the ultrafast dynamics of a riboswitch, a gene regulator that can switch individual genes on and off. The... »

27. Oct. 2016

Light-driven atomic rotations excite magnetic waves

Controlling functional properties by light is one of the grand goals in modern condensed matter physics and materials science. A new study now demonstrates how the ultrafast light-induced modulation of the atomic positions in a material can control its magnetization. An international research team... »

25. Oct. 2016

Topology opens up intriguing new states of matter

Most many-body quantum states in nature may be categorized in terms of broken symmetries. Often it is the translational symmetry that is broken, for example when water crystallizes to form ice. However, nature provides an additional ordering principle for quantum matter: topology. CUI Prof. Andreas... »

22. Jul. 2016

How do bacteria take up vitamins?

Vitamin transporters are responsible for the uptake of essential nutrients in bacteria. A team of scientists led by CUI member Prof. Henning Tidow (Universität Hamburg) has determined the structure of a thiamine transport protein - an important milestone in membrane transport research and for drug... »

14. Jul. 2016

Nucleocytoplasmic shuttling controls the function of bacterial proteins in infected cells

Bacterial pathogens have developed sophisticated mechanisms to evade the immune system and spread in the human host. A team led by CUI member Prof. Martin Aepfelbacher of University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in collaboration with groups around CUI Prof. Christian Betzel (Universität... »

29. Jun. 2016

Unexpected flexibility found in odorant molecules

High resolution rotational spectroscopy reveals an unprecedented number of conformations of an odorant molecule. In a recent publication in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter at the CFEL led by CUI... »

8. Jun. 2016

Controlling quantum tunnelling with a single ion

Quantum tunnelling is one of the weirdest effects predicted by quantum mechanics: Even though a moving quantum particle has a lower energy than some potential barrier, it will cross or rather tunnel the barrier anyway. CUI PhD student Johannes M. Schurer of the group of Prof. Peter Schmelcher... »

27. May. 2016

Berry curvature of a Bloch band measured for the first time

The research group of CUI member Prof. Klaus Sengstock (Universität Hamburg) has for the first time succeeded in measuring the Berry curvature in a lattice system. Thus a fundamental building block in our understanding of topological matter becomes experimentally accessible. In the long run,... »

11. May. 2016

Custom-made drugs to outwit hospital germs

Together with colleagues from Brazil and China, Hamburg scientists working on DESY’s X-ray light sources have developed a promising approach for outsmarting hospital germs that are resistant to antibiotics. Instead of attacking such MRSA bacteria directly, the scientists meddle with a metabolic... »

10. May. 2016

High-speed camera snaps biosensor’s rapid reaction to light

Using a high-speed X-ray camera, an international team of scientist revealed the ultrafast response of a biosensor to light. The study, published in the US journal Science, shows light-driven atomic motions lasting just 100 quadrillionths of a second (100 femtoseconds). The technique promises... »

4. May. 2016

How do small sugars bind to each other?

Glycolaledehyde, the smallest sugar, is an important player in the discussion on the origin of life in space. A team of scientists led by CUI member Dr. Melanie Schnell (Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, CFEL) has used the technique of broadband rotational spectroscopy... »

26. Apr. 2016

First X-ray laser simulation suite explores single-particle imaging

Virtual X-ray laser developed to more efficiently define how structural biology’s “Holy Grail” method could work. Imagine taking an atomic-resolution X-ray picture of any individual biomolecule, without growing crystals, which can be extremely time-consuming or, in some cases, even... »

25. Feb. 2016

A direct view on spin-waves

Spin-waves are promising candidates for future information processing schemes as there is almost no frictional heating in magnetic transport. Information encoding, however, is only possible in spin-wave packets. A group of CUI researchers has succeeded in creating and capturing such defined... »

11. Feb. 2016

Paradigm shift: new method opens crystal clear views of biomolecules

A scientific breakthrough gives researchers access to the blueprint of thousands of molecules of great relevance to medicine and biology. The novel technique, pioneered by a team led by CUI scientist Prof. Henry Chapman (Universität Hamburg, DESY) and reported this week in the scientific journal... »

9. Feb. 2016

Superconductivity: footballs with no resistance

Indications of light-induced lossless electricity transmission in fullerenes contribute to the search for superconducting materials for practical applications: Superconductors have long been confined to niche applications, due to the fact that the highest temperature at which even the best of these... »

9. Feb. 2016

Scientists film exploding nanoparticles

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... »

20. Jan. 2016

The cellular crystal factory

Scientists from the Wilmanns Group (European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL) have teamed up with experts across the research campus Bahrenfeld and at the U.S. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to X-ray protein crystals naturally produced within biological cells. The study at the world's... »

14. Jan. 2016

Wetting Camphor

An international collaboration centered in CUI scientist Dr. Melanie Schnell’s group from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter at CFEL carried out the first multi-isotopic substitution experiments to precisely determine the structure of a microsolvated organic... »

6. Jan. 2016

Optical funnel for nano particles

Researchers have developed a new method that promises a precise delivery of bio samples into X-ray beams for analysis: they designed an optical funnel that could focus a stream of proteins or viruses precisely into the fine beam of an X-ray laser for analysis. The funnel consists of a specially... »

22. Dec. 2015

Atomic ballet in slow motion

An international team including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter at CFEL in Hamburg has used a type of molecular camera to follow a fast-moving ballet performed by atoms in molecules as they change their structure. The researchers use a... »

25. Nov. 2015

Kick-out in nanocrystals

Using high-resolution electron microscopy, a group of scientists around CUI Professor Horst Weller (Universität Hamburg) has succeeded in observing ion-exchange processes in nanocrystals. The team reports its observations, which will help to design nanomaterials for biomedical applications and... »

19. Nov. 2015

The Molecular Breakdance of Seeing

Our sense of vision is based on highly choreographed, ultrafast molecular motions: The detection of light by pigments in the retina, called rhodopsin or visual purple, leads to our sense of vision. New experiments by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter... »

22. Oct. 2015

Quantum emulation of molecular orbitals

Scientists propose molecular simulation with ultracold atoms. Determining the electronic structure and dynamics of molecular systems presents an intractable computational challenge for all but the simplest of molecules. Scientists surrounding CUI Professor Klaus Sengstock (Universität Hamburg)... »

6. Oct. 2015

Physicists shrink particle accelerator

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 no more than 1.5 centimetres long and one millimetre thick. The terahertz technology... »

23. Jul. 2015

X-ray laser decodes “off” switch for cell signals

Using the world's strongest X-ray laser, scientists have gained unprecedented insights into the regulation of biological cells. Like a super microscope, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Center in the U.S. unravelled the workings of a central “off” switch... »

2. Jun. 2015

Novel X-ray lens sharpens view into the nano world

Innovative high-power X-ray lens: A team of scientists around CUI scientist Prof. Henry Chapman (Universität Hamburg, DESY, CFEL) has designed, fabricated and successfully tested a novel X-ray lens that produces sharper and brighter images of the nano world. The new lens employs an innovative... »

29. Apr. 2015

Scientists X-ray anti-inflammatory drug candidates

An international team of scientists around Prof. Christian Betzel (Universität Hamburg, CUI) has decoded the molecular and three-dimensional structure of two promising drug candidates from the new group of Spiegelmers for the first time. The results provide a deeper understanding of the mode of... »

22. Apr. 2015

Ultrafast tracking of electron spins

A group of researchers has now made a big step towards tracking the electron spin at very high frequencies that are technologically important. The team used the extremely brilliant X-rays generated at DESY's PETRA III facility, to read out a nuclear sensor placed in the investigated magnetic... »

17. Mar. 2015

Molecules perform endless cartwheels

Scientists in Hamburg have resorted to a physical trick to persuade entire groups of molecules to perform synchronized cartwheels, virtually endlessly. This technique opens up new opportunities for imaging molecules and their chemical dynamics. CUI member Prof. Jochen Küpper (Universität Hamburg,... »

24. Feb. 2015

On the way to the “molecular movie“

For the first time, scientists observe the transition state in a chemical reaction on a catalyst’s surface For the first time, an international scientists’ team including CUI researcher Prof. Wilfried Wurth (Universität Hamburg, DESY, CFEL) observed the volatile intermediate stages which... »

19. Feb. 2015

Research team optimizes nanocrystals for solar cells

In order to convert light into electricity efficiently and generate flexible, high-performance solar energy, researchers have been seeking new material for solar cells. A group headed by CUI researcher Dr. Christian Klinke (Department of Chemistry, Universität Hamburg) has now successfully used... »

13. Feb. 2015

Dispersion control freaks: CUI researchers found missing link

Future experiments in attoscience and strong-field physics would profit from ultrafast electromagnetic waveforms sculpted on a sub-optical-cycle time scale. For the first time a group of CUI scientists around Shih-Hsuan Chia could demonstrate dispersion-controlled precision optics covering two... »

29. Jan. 2015

FLASH – the first optically synchronised FEL

A team of scientists has developed and implemented an optical synchronization system for the soft X-ray free-electron laser FLASH, achieving facility-wide synchronization with femtosecond precision. The performance of the system is expected to ultimately be at least ten times better than what has... »

10. Dec. 2014

New research paves the way for nano-movies of biomolecules

An international team of scientists has caught a light sensitive biomolecule at work with an X-ray laser. The study proves that X-ray lasers can capture the fast dynamics of biomolecules in ultra slow-motion, as the scientists led by Prof. Marius Schmidt from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee... »

19. Nov. 2014

Scientists observe the formation of magnetic domains in real-time

Modern computer technology stores data at ever increasing speed and density by writing magnetization patterns into suitable materials. For the first time a group of scientists could observe the magnetic dynamics inside a structure. How do magnetic domains develop in very small structures? A team... »

7. Oct. 2014

Breakthrough allows researchers to watch molecules “wiggle”

A new crystallographic technique is set to transform scientists’ ability to observe how molecules work. A research paper, published by a team of researchers led by Professor Arwen Pearson in the journal Nature Methods describes a new way of doing time-resolved crystallography, a method that... »

9. Sep. 2014

Researchers Part Water

Water is such a fundamental molecule in the universe. Using an "electric prism", scientists have found a new way of separating water molecules that differ only in their nuclear spin states and, under normal conditions, do not part ways. The results, which the scientists reported in the journal... »

22. Jul. 2014

When is a molecule a molecule?

Using ultra-short X-ray flashes, an international team of researchers watched electrons jumping between the fragments of exploding molecules. The study reveals up to what distance a charge transfer between the two molecular fragments can occur, marking the limit of the molecular regime. The... »

10. Jul. 2014

First molecular movie about photosynthesis

Sunlight driven Photosynthesis is the energy source of all green plants. An international team of scientists, including CUI researcher Prof. Henry Chapman, has caught a central step of photosynthesis in action for the first time. The team led by Prof. Petra Fromme from Arizona State University used... »

8. Jul. 2014

Formation of ultralong-range molecules in ultracold atoms

A collaboration between the theory group 'Fundamental processes in quantum physics' at the centre for optical quantum technologies led by Prof. Peter  Schmelcher (CUI) and the experimental group of Tilmann Pfau at the University of Stuttgart has very recently demonstrated the formation of... »

27. Jun. 2014

Scientists watch molecular footballs explode

CUI scientist Prof. Robin Santra (Universität Hamburg, DESY, CFEL) and Prof. Nora Berrah from the University of Connecticut describe an experiment in the scientific journal Nature Communications where the buckyballs disintegrated completely in less than 100 femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a... »

4. Jun. 2014

Pioneering Protein Serial Crystallography at Synchrotrons

A team led by CUI-Prof. Henry Chapman has pioneered a new way to analyse delicate biomolecules. The novel approach, borrowed from a new class of high-intensity X-ray sources called free-electron lasers (FELs), could reveal the atomic structure of proteins that were previously inaccessible to... »

22. May. 2014

Delayed explosion due to cluster shell

Scientists explore new technology to obtain improved snapshots of molecules When decoding molecular structures with free-electron lasers every femtosecond counts: every single light flash brings the analyzed sample to a fast explosion before its destruction within a millionth of a billionth of a... »

25. Mar. 2014

Twisted X-rays Reveal Spin Waves

A novel radar trap for atoms allows glimpses of hitherto invisible details of the magnetic dynamics of materials. The concept proposed by CUI scientist Ralf Röhlsberger (Universität Hamburg/DESY) extends the scope of a method called inelastic X-ray spectroscopy. It can be used to observe... »

18. Mar. 2014

Nonlinear Mechanism for the Generation of Frequency Combs

A team of researchers at the Centre for Optical Quantum Technologies (ZOQ) of Universität Hamburg and at Nanjing University has discovered a way to create the analogue of an optical frequency comb for vibrations in solid matter including crystals. Optical frequency combs have become an important... »

28. Feb. 2014

A Molecular Ballett under the X-ray Laser

Researchers capture snapshots of free molecules by the light of the free electron laser An international team of researchers has used the world’s most powerful X-ray laser to take snapshots of free molecules. The research team headed by Prof. Jochen Küpper of the Hamburg Center for... »

5. Feb. 2014

Novel chiral Bose liquid discovered

A team of researchers to which CUI Professor Andreas Hemmerich belongs proposes an experiment which will directly detect chiral order. Such a direct observation has been thought to be impossible. Ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices offer unique possibilities to experimentally unravel the... »

10. Jan. 2014

Science: Atoms dancing the Viennese Waltz

Flocks of birds, sand dunes or traffic jam – in all of these everyday-life examples, so called collective behavior plays a crucial role: all participating objects move synchronously – no matter if voluntarily. A CUI-research team has now realized a novel quantum system of fermionic atoms... »

7. Jan. 2014

Ultrafast Heating of Water

CUI scientists have devised a novel way to boil water in less than a trillionth of a second. The theoretical concept, which has not yet been demonstrated in practice, could heat a small amount of water by as much as 600 degrees Celsius in just half a picosecond (a trillionth of a second). That is... »

20. Dec. 2013

Scientists decode serotonin receptor at room temperature

An international research team has decoded the molecular structure of the medically important serotonin receptor at room temperature for the first time. This study reveals the dynamics of the receptor at close to its operating temperature and thus gives a more realistic picture of its physiological... »

10. Dec. 2013

Chiral molecules reveal their handedness

An international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg, Germany - among them CUI scientist Dr. Melanie Schnell -, and the Department of Physics at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, USA, have performed the first chirality-sensitive... »

26. Nov. 2013

Teaching matter waves new tricks: making magnets with ultra cold atoms

Magnets have fascinated mankind for millenia. A group of CUI researchers and colleagues has just published the results of a study on magnets in the November issue of Nature Physics; an illustration of the magnetic phases from the computer simulation is featured on the cover. From the Greek... »

7. Nov. 2013

Nature Communications Paper: Dramatic Leap in Energy of Isolated Attosecond Pulses

The work of CUI-scientist Oliver D. Mücke and colleagues, which has just been published in Nature Communications, opens up exciting new possibilities for nonlinear attosecond science: Isolated attosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) obtained from a nonlinear process called high-harmonic... »

4. Oct. 2013

Science Paper: A Matter of Form

The rate of reaction of many molecules depends on their specific form. Most molecules appear in various forms, which can interact quite differently. Using a special sorter for molecules, a German-Swiss research team has for the first time been able to directly measure the various rates of... »

29. Apr. 2013

Complex internal dynamics of double molecule revealed by CUI researchers

In a combined spectroscopic and theoretical study, CUI researcher Melanie Schnell and coworkers solved the 20-year old mystery of the structure and dynamics of the benzene dimer. The benzene dimer is a prototype molecule for non-dispersive interaction forces. Non-dispersive interaction forces also... »