The Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter has taken up residence on the campus in order to study the structure and properties of matter on an atomic scale and on ultrashort timescales, in the femto- and attosecond range, with the help of DESY’s high-power radiation sources.

Scientists at the MPSD use ultrashort pulses of light to study the structure and atomic and electronic movements of matter. These dynamic phenomena are examined using ultrashort sampling pulses in the femto- and attosecond range – in other words, lasting billionths of a millionth of a second.

Time-resolved observations like this can afford completely new insights into the properties of a wide range of matter and its possible uses. A unique variety of very powerful radiation sources is available at DESY for this purpose, from the free-electron lasers FLASH and European XFEL to the synchrotron radiation source PETRA III.