Godehard Wüstefeld receives the Horst Klein Research Prize
Dr. Godehard Wüstefeld was awarded the Horst Klein Research Prize.
© DPG
The prize was awarded on 21 March 2019 at the Spring Conference of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft by the Physikalischer Verein Frankfurt, the Department of Physics of the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Arbeitskreis Beschleunigerphysik (AKBP). © DPG
The physicist Dr. Godehard Wüstefeld was awarded the Horst Klein Research Prize at the annual conference of the German Physical Society. The award recognizes his outstanding scientific achievements in accelerator physics in the development of BESSY II and BESSY VSR.
Over the last thirty years, Dr. Godehard Wüstefeld has made decisive contributions to the further development of storage-ring-based synchrotron radiation sources. Thanks to its innovative concepts, the performance and application areas of storage rings have been consistently expanded. Wüstefeld participated in the development of BESSY II and the Metrology Light Source and implemented several innovations there.
"Low α" operating mode
For example, he was instrumental in enabling a so-called "Low α" operating mode. In this operating mode, short and intensive electron pulses can be generated in storage rings. The "Low α" operating mode has been implemented at BESSY II and the Metrology Light Source as well as at other national and international synchrotron radiation sources and is now available to a large user community. In addition, this mode produces intense and coherent terahertz radiation, which is extremely useful for certain research questions.
Upgrade BESSY VSR
The upgrade to BESSY VSR, which is now being developed, also goes back to a concept in which Godehard Wüstefeld played a leading role. With BESSY VSR, BESSY II will be expanded into a variable pulse length storage ring in which light pulses of varying duration (1.5 picoseconds or 15 picoseconds) will be generated. This allows users to select the optimum pulse duration for their particular experiment. The concept for a variable pulse length storage ring is one of the world's most outstanding further developments of modern synchrotron radiation sources.
Horst Klein Research Prize
The prize was awarded on 21 March 2019 at the Spring Conference (Matter and Cosmos Section) of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft in Munich by the Physikalischer Verein Frankfurt, the Department of Physics of the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Arbeitskreis Beschleunigerphysik (AKBP) of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Horst Klein Research Prize is aimed at internationally renowned scientists from Germany and abroad who have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievements of great significance and originality. The prize, which is intended to commemorate the accelerator physicist Horst Klein, is endowed with 5,000 euros and is awarded by the Goethe University Frankfurt, the Fückstiftung, Professors Schempp and Schmidt-Böcking and Pfeiffer Vacuum.
- Green hydrogen: A cage structured material transforms into a performant catalystClathrates are characterised by a complex cage structure that provides space for guest ions too. Now, for the first time, a team has investigated the suitability of clathrates as catalysts for electrolytic hydrogen production with impressive results: the clathrate sample was even more efficient and robust than currently used nickel-based catalysts. They also found a reason for this enhanced performance. Measurements at BESSY II showed that the clathrates undergo structural changes during the catalytic reaction: the three-dimensional cage structure decays into ultra-thin nanosheets that allow maximum contact with active catalytic centres. The study has been published in the journal ‘Angewandte Chemie’.
- Solar cells on moon glass for a future base on the moonFuture settlements on the moon will need energy, which could be supplied by photovoltaics. However, launching material into space is expensive – transporting one kilogram to the moon costs one million euros. But there are also resources on the moon that can be used. A research team led by Dr. Felix Lang of the University of Potsdam and Dr. Stefan Linke of the Technical University of Berlin have now produced the required glass from ‘moon dust’ (regolith) and coated it with perovskite. This could save up to 99 percent of the weight needed to produce PV modules on the moon. The team tested the radiation tolerance of the solar cells at the proton accelerator of the HZB.
- Accelerator Physics: First electron beam in SEALabThe SEALab team at HZB has achieved a world first by generating an electron beam from a multi-alkali (Na-K-Sb) photocathode and accelerating it to relativistic energies in a superconducting radiofrequency accelerator (SRF photoinjector). This is a real breakthrough and opens up new options for accelerator physics.