With the European XFEL, we will be able to decode the atomic details of viruses and cells, capture three-dimensional images of the nanoworld, film chemical reactions and study processes under the kind of extreme conditions, for example, in the interior of planets. Such research will provide new insights into practically all of the scientific and technical fields that are of central importance to our everyday lives, including medicine, pharmacology, chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, power engineering and electronics.
The high-energy electron beam with genuine laser properties opens up research opportunities scientists could previously only dream of. For instance, this kind of radiation enables us, for the first time, to observe processes in the nano cosmos in real time that is view “live broadcasts” of chemical reactions.
