Virtual visits at HZB and 360° Panorama
We now also offer virtual tours. © HZB
Many HZB laboratories do offer a 360° panorama. © HZB
Due to Corona, it is currently not possible to welcome groups of visitors at HZB and guide them through the facility. Nevertheless, we open our doors virtually for you and provide insights into research facilities and labs at HZB. Make yourself comfortable and start your own virtual tour through BESSY II. Move through 360-degree images, have a look and linger at selected stations.
BESSY II: Follow the path of light
Have you always wanted to walk through an accelerator? Then let's get started! The two tours "The Path of Light" and "The Experiment" start in the control room of BESSY II. Continue to the place where electrons race through and emit light at almost the speed of light - the storage ring tunnel. Follow the light and see how we experiment with it.
Enjoy the digital tour!
Tours Wannsee site
At the HZB Wannsee site, for example, we are investigating novel catalyst materials needed for the generation of hydrogen with sunlight or the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels. We are working on better battery systems and analyzing materials with different X-ray methods. In cooperation with the Berlin Charité, we offer eye tumor therapy with protons, which takes place at a particle accelerator. Take a look around our laboratories and discover how we do research. A blue sign in the 360° panoramas points to video clips or graphics showing important processes.
Enjoy the digital tours!
More panoramas
Some of the HZB's research facilities can be visited as 360-degree panoramas. These panoramas do not contain any explanations and are mainly available to our researchers and cooperation partners for guided tours or lectures.
- Fascinating archaeological find becomes a source of knowledgeThe Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (BLfD) has sent a rare artefact from the Middle Bronze Age to Berlin for examination using cutting-edge, non-destructive methods. It is a 3,400-year-old bronze sword, unearthed during archaeological excavations in Nördlingen, Swabia, in 2023. Experts have been able to determine how the hilt and blade are connected, as well as how the rare and well-preserved decorations on the pommel were made. This has provided valuable insight into the craft techniques employed in southern Germany during the Bronze Age. The BLfD used 3D computed tomography and X-ray diffraction to analyse internal stresses at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), as well as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at a BESSY II beamline supervised by the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM).
- Element cobalt exhibits surprising propertiesThe element cobalt is considered a typical ferromagnet with no further secrets. However, an international team led by HZB researcher Dr. Jaime Sánchez-Barriga has now uncovered complex topological features in its electronic structure. Spin-resolved measurements of the band structure (spin-ARPES) at BESSY II revealed entangled energy bands that cross each other along extended paths in specific crystallographic directions, even at room temperature. As a result, cobalt can be considered as a highly tunable and unexpectedly rich topological platform, opening new perspectives for exploiting magnetic topological states in future information technologies.
- MXene for energy storage: More versatile than expectedMXene materials are promising candidates for a new energy storage technology. However, the processes by which the charge storage takes place were not yet fully understood. A team at HZB has examined, for the first time, individual MXene flakes to explore these processes in detail. Using the in situ Scanning transmission X-ray microscope 'MYSTIIC' at BESSY II, the scientists mapped the chemical states of Titanium atoms on the MXene flake surfaces. The results revealed two distinct redox reactions, depending on the electrolyte. This lays the groundwork for understanding charge transfer processes at the nanoscale and provides a basis for future research aimed at optimising pseudocapacitive energy storage devices.