Institute for Electronic Structure Dynamics
Scientific News
May 2026. Real-time analysis of magnetic bilayer systems
Congratulations to our Slicing group for their article in Pro-Physik on Real-time analysis of magnetic bilayer systems. Echtzeit-Analyse von magnetischen Doppelschichtsystemen • pro-physik.de - Das Physikportal
Spintronic devices enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. They are based on the interaction between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers. Now, a team from Freie Universität Berlin, HZB, and Uppsala University has succeeded in tracking, for each layer separately, how the magnetic order changes after a short laser pulse has excited the system. In doing so, they were also able to identify the main cause of the loss of antiferromagnetic order in the oxide layer: the excitation is transported from the hot electrons in the ferromagnetic metal to the spins in the antiferromagnet.
October 2025. What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biology
Congratulations to the Dr. Alexander Veber for his Article "What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biology".
Infrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.
This result has been identified as scientific highlight by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.
March 2025. BESSY II: Insight into ultrafast spin processes with femtoslicing
Congratulation to Deeksha Gupta to publish her research in Nature Communications together with the international team at BESSY II, she has succeeded for the first time in elucidating a particularly fast process inside a magnetic layer system, a spin valve: At the femtoslicing beamline of BESSY II, they were able to observe the ultrafast demagnetization caused by spin-polarized current pulses. The results will aid in the development of spintronic components for faster and more energy-efficient information processing and storage. Teams from the University of Strasbourg, HZB, Uppsala University, and other universities participated in the collaboration.
This result has been identified as scientific highlight in the online Journal Pro-Physik and by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.
May 2024. Metrakx project funded by EFRE.
Congratulation to Dr. Iain Wilkinson for obtaining the co-funding from European Regional Development Fund with his project MetrokX - Application laboratory for metrology with coherent X-rays.
July 2024. Our summer student accompanies the IRIS-Beamline group for two months
Eduardo Montoya Gonzales from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg joined the IRIS-Beamline group in terms of the international summer school program 2024, organized by Helmholtz-Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy. During his stay he will master and use infrared spectroscopy and microscopy to reveal the changes in the glass structure that happen upon chemical strengthening of glasses. This technology is of high practical importance and, for example, used for manufacturing strong and crack-resistant glasses for smartphones. The results will help to develop even stronger glasses suitable for a wide range of applications.
Eduardo is supervised by Dr. Alexander Veber.
Eduardo at the IRIS-Beamline - © Alexander Veber | HZB
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May 2024 - New group member in the slicing team
Deeksha Gupta has recently joined as a postdoctoral fellow at the Femtoslicing beamline, BESSYII. Miss Gupta earned her PhD from the Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg at the University of Strasbourg, France, in Spring 2024. Her doctoral research concentrated on investigating ultrafast magnetization dynamics induced by spin-polarized electrons in transition metal-rare earth alloy systems. At BESSY II, she continues her research in the field of ultrafast magnetization dynamics at the Femtoslicing-facility. Here, her activities will focus on projects of the Transregio 227 "Ultrafast spin Dynamics" by which her position is funded.
Deeksha Gupta 2024