HZB and Freie Universität Berlin establish the joint research group “X-Ray Microscopy” for studying complex cellular processes
In May this year, the joint research group “X-Ray Microscopy” was launched, combining the expertise of teams led by Prof. Dr. Gerd Schneider (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin) and Prof. Dr. Helge Ewers (Freie Universität Berlin). While Ewers’ group contributes its experience in the field of optical microscopy and biological research, the HZB workgroup is responsible for X-ray microscopy at the synchrotron source BESSY II. The two methods help researchers to gain a detailed insight into the processes taking place inside cells.
We are very pleased about the new cooperation with Prof. Ewers’ workgroup. It gives our own activities in this field a much stronger connection to the biological research being done at the university,” says Prof. Dr. Gerd Schneider. The core duties of his department at HZB include making advancements to the x-ray microscopes and lenses at the synchrotron source BESSY II. The active exchange between the new cooperation partners will give a new boost to method development, says Schneider. Prof. Dr. Helge Ewers is also excited about the future-oriented cooperation: “X-ray microscopy opens up entirely new possibilities for us in the research of intracellular processes.”
The joint research group is all about the complementary use of optical and X-ray microscopy. Optical microscopy and super-resolution methods are excellent for locating proteins marked with dye molecules in tissue samples. X-ray microscopy, in turn, allows correlative imaging of the distribution of proteins, viruses or nanoparticles over a relatively large section in high-resolution and three-dimensions. The two microscopy methods thus deliver a comprehensive picture of the intracellular structures and processes.
After a successful upgrade, the X-ray microscope TXM at the synchrotron source BESSY II is now available again to users. Aside from biological studies, which can now be conducted with the combined expertise in the joint research group, the X-ray microscope is used above all for exploring various questions of materials and energy research.
- Only at BESSY II worldwide: IR nanoscopy at very long THz wavelengthsThe team at the IRIS beamline at BESSY II has created a new experimental option: They achieved infrared nanoscopy with a spatial resolution of around 50 nm at very long THz wavelengths. This was possible thanks to a temporal pattern of light pulses known as the low-alpha operating mode at BESSY II. Worldwide, BESSY II is the only synchrotron light source at which users could perform nanoscopy in a single setup from 25 to 4000 cm-1, a unique opportunity for ultra-broadband characterisation of complex materials at the nanoscale in both the life sciences and materials sciences.
- Ultrafast demagnetisation - Thinner iron, stronger effectThe thinner an iron film, the more easily it can be demagnetised by a laser pulse. Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen, working with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and other partners, have discovered why: the key lies in the magnetic order at the material's interfaces. In the long term, these findings could contribute to the development of new technologies for magnetic data storage. The results have been published in the scientific journal Advanced Science.
- Spin waves inside a nano-oscillator imaged for the first timeFor the first time, researchers have directly imaged the magnetisation dynamics inside a spin Hall nano-oscillator — a nanoscale device that converts direct current into tunable microwave signals and is a promising building block for energy-efficient wireless communication and brain-inspired computing. A Swedish–German team led by the University of Gothenburg and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) achieved this using time-resolved scanning transmission X-ray microscopy at the MAXYMUS instrument at BESSY II. The results, now published in Advanced Materials, reveal spin-wave features that had escaped previous, indirect measurement techniques.