New X-ray Beam Scanning technique

A research team from DESY's PETRA III synchrotron source, the Center for X-ray and Nanoscience (CXNS) and the Swedish X-ray source MAX IV has developed a key technique for X-ray ptychography. Rather than moving the sample around the beam, the X-ray beam itself is controlled with high precision across the sample.

One such team is led by Natalia Dubrovinskaia and Leonid Dubrovinsky, a couple of scientists from the Bavarian Geoinstitute at the University of Bayreuth. Their group has developed a unique experimental setup installed at PETRA III’s “Extreme Conditions” beamline.

Their goal is to search for entirely new materials created under extreme pressure and temperature conditions.

Using a high-pressure chamber, diamond anvil cells and laser pulses, the researchers subject material samples to pressures of several million atmospheres and temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius while simultaneously illuminating them with PETRA III’s highly intense, focused X-ray light.

By analysing the scattering pattern of the X-rays diffracted by the crystals, the scientists can determine the material's exact structure. And not only that: 'We can also analyse the chemical composition of the new materials,' says Natalia Dubrovinskaia.

Such experiments aim to discover high-energy materials that could improve propulsion systems in space travel, for example, by releasing more energy per volume than conventional fuels.