From November 10 to 14, the doctoral student and the scientific assistant from the ISSP UL’s Laboratory of Organic Materials, Oskars Bitmens, visited DESY electron synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany. During his visit, he carried out measurements at the PETRA III P65 experimental line. The electron synchrotron is a source of X-ray radiation, which is used for fundamental research and characterization of the structure of materials. Visiting DESY was a new experience for the young researcher.
During the visit, he acquired knowledge about the principles of X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Seeing the experimental setup in person was a great possibility to learn about the construction and operation of the equipment being used at the synchrotron. The meaning of various radiation detectors and measurement control with custom software was learned. The young researcher gained knowledge about safety measures while doing experiments, and skills to perform measurements at different x-ray energies, which depend on the material under study. Helium cryostat was used to measure the samples at different temperatures. Knowledge was gained about the application of obtained results to characterize the atomic structure of materials. The skills of making sample tablets in the chemistry laboratory have been learned too.
The results obtained from the performed measurements of nanoparticles with thermoelectric properties will be used to draw conclusions about the quality and structure of the researched materials and will be used for the doctoral thesis and new publications.
Established in 1959, DESY is one of the world’s leading accelerator centers with large-scale facilities to explore the microcosm in all its variety – from the interactions of tiny elementary particles and the behavior of new types of nanomaterials to biomolecular processes that are essential to life.
