DESY operates one of the brightest storage ring X-ray radiation sources in the world: PETRA III offers scientists excellent experimental opportunities with X-rays of particularly high brilliance. Researchers who want to examine very small samples or require highly focused, very short-wave X-ray light for their analyses - from medical research to nanotechnology - benefit from this in particular.
When it was inaugurated in 1978, the 2.3-kilometre-long PETRA storage ring was the largest accelerator in the world. Initially, it provided electron-positron collisions for particle physics. Just one year after commissioning, researchers at PETRA made a groundbreaking discovery: for the first time, they were able to directly observe the gluon - the carrier particle of the strong force that binds the basic building blocks of all matter, the quarks, together and is one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Brilliant X-ray source
After the end of PETRA's particle physics career and an intermezzo as a pre-accelerator for the even larger HERA ring, the storage ring was converted into a high-brilliance X-ray source. Since 2010, PETRA III has been one of the brightest storage ring-based X-ray radiation sources in the world. With 25 beamlines and almost 60 measuring stations, the facility offers optimal research opportunities. An extraordinary experimental hall also contributes to this: The floor of the almost 300-meter-long "Max von Laue" hall consists of the longest concrete slab ever poured in one piece. The slab shields the measuring stations from disruptive vibrations and enables extremely precise experiments.
Researchers from all over the world are very interested in PETRA III. The storage ring is regularly completely overbooked and only a fraction of the experiment requests can be met. For this reason, DESY has expanded the ring with two further experimental halls with additional measuring stations.
Excellent prospects for research
PETRA III's brilliant X-rays are up to 5000 times finer than a human hair. This allows extremely small samples to be examined - tiny crystals of proteins as well as nanocrystals for the hard disks of the future.
Molecular biologists, for example, can use the X-ray light from PETRA III to elucidate the spatial atomic structure of tiny protein crystals. An important application is the development of new drugs that target precisely where a pathogen attacks. With this aim in mind, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL has set up an integrated research facility for structural biology at PETRA III, whose three state-of-the-art measuring stations will significantly accelerate research into molecules that determine human health or disease.
PETRA III can also generate very "hard", i.e. short-wave, X-rays. This has the advantage of penetrating deeper into matter than other X-ray light. PETRA III therefore also offers a wide range of possibilities for materials research, for example for testing weld seams, investigating fatigue phenomena in workpieces or analyzing new metal alloys for the cars and aircraft of the future. The Helmholtz center Hereon, which operates two measuring stations for materials research at PETRA III, makes use of these advantages.
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© DESY, Marta Mayer
Heidrun Hillen
Consultant for large-scale research equipment
© DESY, Marta Mayer
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© DESY, Marta Mayer