News

Tuned crystals

For the first time, researchers at the MLZ have provided a comprehensive overview of the production of superconducting niobium films. Using electron diffraction, they investigated the influence of temperature on production.

On 13 September, our much-loved and highly respected long-standing colleague, Dr. Marie-Sousai Appavou, passed away suddenly at the age of 46.

For 20 years, the reactor operators at the research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) have been working in three shifts. Their day to day operations are intense, as they shoulder a great responsibility. An extraordinary profession from training to the workplace:

Prof. Dr. Tomoo Katsura and his international research team at the Bavarian Research Institute of Experimental Geochemistry and Geophysics, University of Bayreuth, have discovered why rocks in the Earth’s interior suddenly become more viscous at depths of 800 to 1,200 kilometres.

The restoration of artworks often involves solvents which have toxic properties. Now researchers have succeeded for the first time in creating a non-toxic and sustainable cleaning agent for paintings. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) investigated the structure of the agent, referred to as an…

Dr. Axel Pichlmaier is the new head of the International Group of Research Reactors IGORR, which represents research reactor interests worldwide. The FRM II Technical Director and his new leadership team were elected at a meeting at the University of Maryland, USA. They aim to continue the work of predecessor Gilles Bignan and recruit more members, especially from…

As part of their summer program, the children of the Minikinderhaus from Garching visited the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle FRM II. After a short introduction to the research at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), the 25 children and their companions went to the neutron guide hall. There they marveled at the many instruments and learned what a dosimeter is. Final…

Currently, the FRM II is working towards installing a new central channel. The work is progressing and it is planned to provide neutrons for research and innovation again from the second half of 2024.

For the MLZ Conference 2023 more than 50 conference participants met at Schloss Fürstenried from May 22 to 25. A total of 44 speakers discussed the application of neutrons in biomaterials research. Exciting lectures were given about the SARS-CoV-2 fusion process and new possibilities for cancer therapy.

A scientific team from Forschungszentrum Jülich has developed a new approach at MLZ to improve the efficiency of neutron spectroscopy experiments and successfully tested it at the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Neutron spectroscopy detects forces such as those between atoms arranged in an atomic lattice. The researchers optimized the data acquisition using an…