News

Award for FBH researchers from MyoQuant project
At the Berlin Quantum Pioneer Days the young scientists were awarded the jury prize:
A successful week came to an end for Sascha Neinert and Kirti Vardhan. The two young scientists from the Joint Lab Integrated Quantum Sensors (IQS) were awarded the jury prize of the Berlin Quantum Pioneer incubation…

Absolute measurement of electronic properties with a THz nanoprobe
At PTB, a novel calibration approach for scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy has been developed:
In scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM), THz radiation (e.g. from the electron storage ring MLS) is focused onto a metallised probe to enable THz-spectroscopy below the diffraction limit on…

Battery research with the HZB X-ray microscope
Experiments at BESSY II have clarified chemical changes in lithium-ion batteries:
New cathode materials are being developed to further increase the capacity of lithium batteries. Multilayer lithium-rich transition metal oxides (LRTMOs) offer particularly high energy density. However, their capacity…

The molecule sleuth
Carsten Engelhard monitors the reliability of chemical analyses:
Searching for a needle in a haystack. Is that the appropriate metaphor? It could make it easier for a layperson to understand how Carsten Engelhard spends his workdays. In both research and teaching, his home has been…

BAM develops new standards for the surface analysis of nanoparticles
New EU project launched for greater security in the use of nanoparticles:
In a new EU project, the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) is developing standardized measurement methods for investigating the surfaces of nanoparticles. The goal is to further improve the…

Innovative sensor system enables real-time analysis of drinking water
BAM is developing a fast, precise method to detect fecal contamination:
In an EU project, the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) is developing a method to detect fecal contamination in drinking water quickly and efficiently. A mini-sensor system is being used that…

FBH presents trends in photonics and quantum technologies at Photonics Days 2024
On October 9 and 10, 2024, the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut will contribute to the Photonics Days Berlin Brandenburg:
For two days, experts from research and industry will meet in Berlin Adlershof to discuss current trends in laser technology, heterointegration, microsystems technology, and various other topics. A key focus on…

Kasra Amini awarded €2.5 million of funding from the European Research Council
The MBI researcher wants to develop a tool to better track atomic changes in molecules and condensed matter during a reaction:
Kasra Amini has been awarded the prestigious Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). This highly competitive grant is given to exceptional early-career researchers with two to seven years of…

SpinMagIC: 'EPR on a chip' ensures quality of olive oil and beer
HZB spin-off develops sensor to detect free radicals in food:
The first sign of spoilage in many food products is the formation of free radicals, which reduces the shelf-life and the overall quality of the food. Until now, the detection of these molecules has been very costly…

Food safety: Tracking down mould
SAFIA's rapid tests ensure food safety:
They lurk in the shadows, hide in your flour, permeate exotic spices, and swim undetected in sweet juices. We are talking about mycotoxins, the poisonous substances produced by various fungi or mould. They thrive in…

New 'Chiral Vortex' of Light Reveals Molecular Mirror Images
The entirely new structure of light could help drug developers see their work more clearly than before:
An entirely new structure of light is helping to measure chirality in molecules more accurately and robustly than ever before, in a major potential step for the medicine. The study published in Nature Photonics was…

All BESSY II instruments reconnected to the network
After a cyberattack, all experimental stations are integrated into the new IT networks and a novel data control system has been established:
Thirteen months ago, HZB fell victim to a criminal cyberattack that also took BESSY II light source and the instruments in the experimental hall out of operation. BESSY II was up and running again after just three…
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HU researchers develop innovative research approach in nanotechnology
This will facilitate the development of new materials and applications in technology and medicine:
Researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, led by Prof. Dr. Nicola Pinna, have made a groundbreaking advancement in nanotechnology, successfully extending the well-known Stöber method to synthesize amorphous…

LUM science prize Young Scientist Award 2024
M. Sc. Amin Said Amin was honored at the 11th International Conference on Dispersion Analysis and Materials Testing:
From June 10th to 11th, 2024, LUM GmbH hosted the 11th International Conference on Dispersion Analysis and Materials Testing. 70 participants from 14 countries around the world took part. Three candidates from France,…

Precision made in Berlin
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany’s national metrology institute, is considered the cradle of quantum physics and tests the limits of what can be measured. The PTB’s Institut Berlin, or IB, is based in a thriving neighbourhood in Charlottenburg.:
Whenever something requires high precision, the PTB comes into play. As the national metrology institute, it is also the highest authority in Germany for all issues related to correct and reliable measurements.…

New Method for Absorption Correction to Improve Dental Fillings
By combining the laboratory infrastructures at BAM and HZB, more accurate measurements can be conducted:
A research team led by Dr. Ioanna Mantouvalou has developed a method to more accurately depict the elemental distributions in dental materials than previously possible. The used confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence…

Novel Raman spectroscopy technique for investigation of thin films and surfaces
Enhanced surface-to-bulk Raman signal ratio using a transferable porous gold membrane:
In a recent collaboration of the Emmy Noether Research Group "Physics of low-dimensional systems" around IRIS Adlershof member Dr. Sebastian Heeg at HU Berlin, researchers from the Leibniz-Institut für…
Quantum state mixing in photobiology
New insight from ultrafast terahertz Stark spectroscopy:
The membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin is a proton pump, in which proton transport is initiated by the light-induced isomerization of the chromophore retinal. The molecular quantum states involved in this ultrafast…

MXenes for energy storage: Chemical imaging more than just surface deep
Scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) at MAXYMUS beamline of BESSY II enables the characterization of layered materials in complex systems:
A new method in spectromicroscopy significantly improves the study of chemical reactions at the nanoscale, both on surfaces and inside layered materials. Scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) at MAXYMUS beamline of BESSY II…

IKZ and Bruker Nano demonstrate a new X-ray topography method
Non-destructive, high-throughput identification of defects in high-quality single crystals can be facilitated:
The IKZ in cooperation with Bruker Nano GmbH, Berlin, demonstrate that high-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence mapping devices based on a micro focused beam are not restricted to high-speed analyses of…