Forschung
Projekte der Gruppe Prof. Dr. Markus Ilchen
Spectroscopy with Ultrashort and Ultraintense X-ray Pulses from Free-Electron Lasers
Free-electron lasers (FELs) are the world's most brilliant light sources with rapidly evolving technological capabilities in terms of ultrabright and ultrashort pulses over a large range of accessible photon energies. Their revolutionary and innovative developments have opened new fields of science regarding nonlinear light-matter interaction, the investigation of ultrafast processes from specific observer sites, and approaches to imaging matter with atomic resolution. One core aspect that our group is dedicated to is is the study of isolated and prototypical chiral systems in the gas phase with the possibility of addressing well-defined electronic transitions or particular atomic sites in molecules. Polarization-controlled short-wavelength FELs offer new avenues for investigations of nonlinear and ultrafast phenomena in chiral building blocks of life and for steering reactions and particle emission dynamics in otherwise inaccessible ways.
Project Volt: Voltage Optimization for Broad-Bandwidth High-Resolution Electron Spectroscopy
The research project builds on the findings of a previous master's thesis, titled “Instrument for Broad Bandwidth, High-Resolution Electron Spectroscopy” and extends its scope to applications in the field of ultrafast processes in chiral matter. The initial phase of the project involves validating the results of the ongoing spectrometer optimization using FEniCS at the Beamline P04 (PETRA III). This phase includes the development and adaptation of a new spectrometer for use at Beamline P04. The project aims to compare simulation results with experimental data collected during planned beamtime at P04. Key performance parameters such as energy resolution and transmission are to be determined, along with exploring potential applications of the spectrometer. The planned procedure is based on a test already carried out by De Fanis and Prof. Ilchen .