Image credit: DESY.
DESY’s new X-ray source, PETRA III, has begun operating for the international scientific community, with the first external users welcomed at the third-generation synchrotron source. The first user period, which will last until Christmas, is already overbooked, indicating the user community’s enormous interest in the new facility.
In this period, 32 scientific workgroups will carry out experiments at the first three measuring stations at PETRA III. They were selected from a total of 54 applications for beam time, through an international peer-review process. The experiments cover a variety of science, from high-temperature superconductivity and magnetism to the mapping of biological nanostructures. In parallel with the start of research activities, the remaining measuring stations in the PETRA III experimental hall are being equipped and put into operation. Light will reach 14 beam lines by the end of the year. PETRA III, with a circumference of 2.3 km, is the third reincarnation of the PETRA storage ring, which began life as a leading electron–positron collider in the 1980s. In the newly erected 300-m long experimental hall, it will ultimately be possible to carry out up to 16 experiments simultaneously at 30 measuring stations.
