Research field Structure of Matter

The work focuses not only on individual particles, but also on complex phenomena in solids and liquids resulting from interactions between myriad atoms. The insights gained from basic research facilitate the development of new materials with tailored electronic, mechanical and thermal properties.

This research field benefits from a particular strength of the Helmholtz research centres: the operation and utilisation of large-scale research facilities and complex infrastructure. The Helmholtz Association offers a range of large scientific facilities that in many cases are unique in the world, including particle accelerators and synchrotron-radiation, neutron and ion sources. These facilities are used by researchers both within Germany and abroad. With the planned European X-ray laser XFEL, which the Deutsches Elektronen- Synchrotron DESY is building in cooperation with European partners, an X-ray source will go into operation that has a maximum brilliance ten billion times greater than that of all previously built devices.

An additional large-scale research facility is being built with international partners at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt. The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is a next-generation accelerator that will provide ion and antiproton beams of a previously unattained intensity and very high energies.

An important goal is the extension of the network we have established with universities and Max Planck institutes. Over the past few years, the Helmholtz alliances “Physics at the Terascale” and “Extreme Densities and Temperatures – Cosmic Matter in the Laboratory“ have made a decisive contribution to achieving this goal and have significantly improved the coordination of the German groups involved.

Our own research has been significantly strengthened by the recently established Helmholtz institutes in Mainz and, in particular, in Jena, both of which have provided additional expertise in areas that include accelerator-relevant laser technologies and precision X-ray spectroscopy methods .

Our close ties with universities and research centres in Germany and abroad via the CFEL, KNMF, NanoLab, EMSC and CSSB research platforms will be further intensified. Research into the structure of matter is integrated into national and international roadmaps that delineate the focus of work within the individual programmes over a timeframe of ten to fifteen years. This basic research will provide an impetus for a multitude of technological developments.