X-Ray microscopy: HZB-TXM is back in operation
Comparison of the same specimen at the old Beamline (left) and the new HZB-XM-Beamline (right). © HZB
The X-ray microscope (HZB-TXM) is back in operation. The TXM offers significantly better quality images compared to the former X-ray microscopy station.
It is located at the brand-new U41-L06-PGM1-XM Beamline, which was designed to extend the available photon energy range to the tender X-ray regime (2 keV -2,5 keV). This will allow accessing the silicon, phosphor and sulphur K-edges to study crucial processes in cell membranes and catalysts.
Pictures of identical test objects demonstrate the improved performance of the new TXM. The X-ray microscopy is much in demand by users worldwide and the new TXM is already overbooked for the beamtime allocation period 2017-II. First user experiments have been already conducted.
More information
- Scrolls from Buddhist shrine virtually unrolled at BESSY IIThe Mongolian collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin contains a unique Gungervaa shrine. Among the objects found inside were three tiny scrolls, wrapped in silk. Using 3D X-ray tomography, a team at HZB was able to create a digital copy of one of the scrolls. With a mathematical method the scroll could be virtually unrolled to reveal the scripture on the strip. This method is also used in battery research.
- Helmholtz Doctoral Award for Hanna TrzesniowskiDuring her doctoral studies at the Helmholtz Centre Berlin, Hanna Trzesniowski conducted research on nickel-based electrocatalysts for water splitting. Her work contributes to a deeper understanding of alkaline water electrolysis and paves the way for the development of more efficient and stable catalysts. On 8 July 2025, she received the Helmholtz Doctoral Prize, which honours the best and most original doctoral theses in the Helmholtz Association.
- New department at HZB: ‘AI and Biomolecular Structures’Since 1 July 2025, Dr. Andrea Thorn has been setting up the new AI and Biomolecular Structures department at HZB. A biophysicist with many years of experience in AI-based tools for structural biology, she is looking forward to collaborating closely with the macromolecular crystallography team at the MX beamlines of BESSY II.