Brilliant perspectives( Today DESY celebrates the topping-ou...)

Today, DESY celebrates the topping-out ceremony for the experimental hall of PETRA III the new source of especially brilliant X-ray light in Hamburg. On occasion of the structural completion of the building, German Research Minister Dr. Annette Schavan and Hamburgs First Mayor Ole von Beust visited the Helmholtz research centre DESY. Its new light source PETRA III is due to be completed in 2009.

PETRA III is a milestone on the way to a world leading centre for interdisciplinary research with photons in Northern Germany, said Research Minister Schavan. In two years already, scientists from all over the world will be able to carry out research here in Hamburg, paving the way for innovations that will make our lives easier.

With its very brilliant, short-wavelength X-rays, PETRA III will be one of the worlds leading light sources, said Prof. Albrecht Wagner, the Chairman of the DESY Directorate. PETRA III will offer excellent experimental opportunities for a great variety of applications from medicine to materials research. At present, a unique combination of light sources is being realized here at DESY which will attract numerous scientists from Germany and abroad to Hamburg.

Hamburgs Science Senator Jrg Drger added: PETRA III is another important pillar of top-level research in Hamburg. Together with the free-electron laser FLASH and the European X-ray laser XFEL, a worldwide unique centre of structural research is being created at DESY.

One decisive advantage PETRA III has to offer is its hair-thin X-ray beam. Researchers can use it to study even minuscule material samples and precisely determine the arrangement of their atoms. Molecular biologists can explore the atomic structure of tiny protein crystals, in order to find the basis for developing new drugs. Materials researchers need the highly energetic radiation to test welding seams or to check production parts for signs of fatigue. Above all, structural and dynamical
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