Fraunhofer IZM scientists supply camera components for the world’s most powerful X-ray laser

The world’s most power X-ray laser, the European XFEL, was officially approved for research purposes on September 1. It took an international team — including scientists from Berlin’s Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM — eight years to develop the new technology.

 SPB camera at the XFEL with modules built at Fraunhofer IZM
© A. Allahgholi – CFEL
SPB camera at the XFEL with modules built at Fraunhofer IZM

The 3-km long X-ray laser runs between Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and lies almost 40 meters beneath the ground. It will allow research groups to decode the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules and to analyze synthetic materials. The X-ray laser takes snapshots of the molecules by producing extremely bright and ultra-short light flashes. The camera is triggered up to 27,000 times a second — 200 times more than other X-ray lasers. Strung together the images produce entire movies, which can be used to research biochemical and chemical processes. As part of their participation in the European XFEL consortium, Berlin’s Fraunhofer IZM took on manufacturing of the modules for the SPB camera, the uses of which include the analysis of biomolecules. The electronic components were soldered to silicon wafers using micrometer-sized solder balls and 16 electronic read-out chips were then bonded onto each of the 11 X 3 cm² X-ray sensitive silicon sensor chips, producing the largest detector modules ever assembled at Fraunhofer IZM. The new technology will significantly advance our understanding of the nano-cosmos and is a key step towards answering longstanding questions, such as the structure of the Alzheimer protein or what happens in the body when cancer cells develop. This subterranean research could form the basis for developing drugs for diseases that have been incurable to date.

Fraunhofer IZM’s cooperation in the European XFEL advances on the institute’s previous work on pixel detectors. Here, detector modules were developed for the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva, which is being used to uncover the secrets of particle masses and the nature of dark matter. Although Fraunhofer IZM has already completed 20 camera modules for the European XFEL, the heavy stress of the X-ray laser’s radiation emission are ensuring the institute’s scientists are working hard to assemble up to 100 of the units.

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