Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

At PTB’s electron storage ring Metrology Light Source (MLS), a scattering type near-field microscope for the infrared (IR) regime has been successfully put into operation in cooperation with the Freie Universität Berlin (group of Prof. E. Rühl). The near-field micros is based on the principle of a scanning force microscope and enables the acquisition of the specimen’s infrared signature simultaneously with the topographic information. For this purpose, a sharp metallic tip ...

The ‘2011 Norman Hackerman Young Author Award’ of the Electrochemical Society (ECS) was given to C. Fleischmann, S. Couet (both KU Leuven, Belgium), P. Hönicke (PTB Berlin) and K. Schouteden (IMEC, Belgium). Their publication in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society on "Towards Passivation of Ge(100) surfaces by Sulfur Adsorption from a (NH4)2S Solution: A Combined NEXAFS, STM and LEED Study" was awarded at the ...

In cooperation with PTB, the Swiss company Dectris has developed a vacuum-compatible version of the "Pilatus" hybrid pixel detector for X-rays. This device now allows, for example, experiments for the size determination of nanoparticles to be carried out with Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) also around the absorption edges of light elements like calcium, sulfur, phosphor or silicon at photon energies below 5 keV with high dynamics and good spatial resolution. This is ...

PTB has been characterizing optical components and detectors in the VUV and EUV spectral ranges by means of synchrotron radiation for a long time. To date, there had been, however, no possibility of performing measurements in the wavelength range from 30 nm to 40 nm. This spectral range is important, for example, to study in space the physical properties of the sun. One of the objectives with the new EUV beamline at the Metrology Light Source was therefore ...

The national metrology institutes prepare intensively for the redefinition of the base units which is scheduled - from 2015 on – to be traced back to fundamental constants. For that purpose, recommendations for implementation - so called Mises en Pratiques - are elaborated and published. According to the planned redefinition of the Kelvin - the base unit for the temperature - temperature measurements will, in some temperature ranges, be carried out increasingly ...