Science

European XFEL is a research facility where external research groups can work.

With its unique research opportunities, European XFEL attracts world-class scientists to Schenefeld in the Hamburg metropolitan region. The world's largest X-ray laser opens up areas of research that were previously inaccessible or very difficult to access.

The outstanding properties of the X-ray laser enable researchers, for example, to create films of ultra-fast processes such as chemical reactions or to observe changes in the configuration of biomolecules. The X-ray flashes can as well be used to image atomic details of viruses, decipher the molecular composition of cells, record 3D images of the nanoworld and investigate processes that are similar to those inside planets or stars.

In addition to basic research, European XFEL is particularly focusing on issues relating to the environment and sustainability as well as climate, energy, health and digitalisation. The research facility thus contributes to solving global societal challenges.

Disciplines that benefit from the facility include medicine, pharmacology, chemistry, physics, materials science, nanotechnology, energy technology and electronics. Many scientific disciplines thus benefit from the facility, which inspire each other and thus generate a variety of ideas and results that can lead to new technological applications or improve existing products.

Health and biology

With the X-ray flashes of the European XFEL, scientists analyse the structure of biomolecules and biological entities such as proteins, cells, or membranes. Researchers can also study how these entities change while working. Understanding the structure of these entities, as well as their temporal changes, will provide insights into their functions, and form an important basis for the development of future medicines and therapies.

Energy

Known sources of energy are limited, or their use entails difficulties for the environment. To find answers to these challenges, scientists can use the X-ray flashes of the European XFEL to study processes occurring in solar cells or fuel cells. They can also use them to analyse plasmas that could be exploited in future fusion reactors, or find new solutions such as artificial photosynthesis.

Water

The molecular-scale properties of water are of outmost relevance for several areas of science and have far-reaching practical applications. A dedicated call for proposals resulted in a number of important, forefront experiments carried out in the first half of 2023.

Catalytic processes

Catalysts have been of fundamental importance for the chemical industry for at least 100 years. Today, catalysts are also used to limit the environmental impact of car exhaust gases and are essential in the petrochemical industry and in many other applications, with a market of tens of billions of Euro.

Information technology

The development and improvement of materials for the most advanced technologies poses challenges that X-ray FELs can help to solve. Progress in information technology, for example, results from the ability to store information on smaller and smaller areas, and also on the ability to read and write it as rapidly as possible.

Technology transfer

Even in the construction phase, European XFEL stimulated the development of some high-technology industrial sectors in the participating countries. To achieve the demanding performance indispensable for the European XFEL, the fabrication of many components required all the sophisticated know-how of the contributing research labs; on the other hand, these components need to be produced in large series by industry.