12,3 million Euros for research at the neutron source

Sample position at ANTARES Engineer at the sample position of the instrument ANTARES of the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technische Universität München. © Wenzel Schürmann / TUM

Engineer at the sample position of the instrument ANTARES of the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technische Universität München. © Wenzel Schürmann / TUM

The MLZ is a cooperation of Technische Universität München (TUM) and the Helmholtz centres in Jülich and Geesthacht. They guarantee the access to the instruments, which will be newly constructed or upgraded at the Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) in Garching. The support originates from the BMBF program „Erforschung kondensierter Materie an Großgeräten“ and will stimulate the research of eleven universities at the MLZ for the upcoming three years.

Professor Dr. Winfried Petry and Professor Dr. Dieter Richter, the two scientific directors at the MLZ, are satisfied: „The research with neutrons at the MLZ adresses the grand challenges of our society, as energy, health, information technology nanomaterials or mobility. This special support of the BMBF enables the groups of the German universities to realise their expertise for these grand challenges at the MLZ .“

The university of Bayreuth receives 3.5 million Euros for the upgrade of the existing high pressure press SAPHiR. It will be able to examine materials under extreme pressure and very high temperatures.

Several scientific instruments will be completely new: For example, the RWTH Aachen will put up a new polarisator for the new diffractometer POLI. The three axes spectrometer KOMPASS, which is under construction, will receive additional parts for measuring a larger variety of magnetic and electronic structures.

The three axes spectrometer PUMA, which is operated by the Universität Göttingen at the FRM II, will be able to even measure faster thanks to the support. Researchers of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München will investigate new phenomena at the interface between living cells and a carrier substance at the reflectometer REFSANS. The Technische Universität Dresden will use the support to build a prototype for a more efficient detection of neutrons at the three axes spectrometer PANDA.

The RWTH Aachen and the Geowissenschaftliche Zentrum of the Universität Göttingen will build the new diffractometers POWTEX, which will examine chemical composition and structures of geomaterials.

A combined neutron and X-ray tomograph, which generates
X-ray and neutron images of for example batteries or fuel cells, will be realized at the instrument ANTARES. The project of the Technische Universität München receives a first funding for a high resolution neutron detector and an X-ray tube.

Not only the research with neutrons, but also with positrons at NEPOMUC is supported by the BMBF. The Universität der Bundeswehr München and the Technische Universität München will construct instruments for pulsed positrons. They will be able to distinguish missing atoms in materials with higher precision.