Matter and Technologies - Key Technologies for Science
To study matter in all its facets in as much detail as possible requires the most powerful research tools in the world.
They don’t come off the shelf, so experts have to develop new, cutting-edge technologies. The Matter and Technologies research program lays the foundation for future scientific tools, and to do so, it must push the boundaries of what is possible. The program focuses on the development of three key technologies: particle accelerators, detectors, and scientific computing.
Accelerators are an invaluable research tool. They can create and study fundamental particles, revealing the nature of matter at its most fundamental level. They also provide powerful sources of X-ray flashes that can be used to study nanomaterials and proteins. The research program seeks to exploit the potential of current technology, which is based on using radio waves to make particles move. While the most advanced superconducting accelerators only accelerate groups of particles and then pause for a few moments, in the future they should also be able to bring continuous particle beams to high energies – an advantage for many experiments. At the same time, the program is exploring entirely new approaches that have the potential to revolutionize technology. One example is plasma acceleration: laser pulses can catapult electrons over an extremely short distance, making the accelerators of the future much smaller. This will enable ultra-compact X-ray lasers for science and new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for medicine.
In particle physics, they act as oversized “cameras” that track and record the particle collisions. At the X-ray sources, they record with enormous precision how the samples react to the high-intensity flashes – and can even be used to make conventional X-ray films. The challenge: Facilities such as the European XFEL deliver enormous intensities of X-ray light, and future large-scale facilities such as the FAIR accelerator complex and the second-generation LHC will produce extreme amounts of particle traces. Innovative concepts are needed to capture this flood of events. The program is developing new detectors that are highly sensitive and offer fine spatial and temporal resolution.
Modern large-scale facilities produce enormous amounts of measurement data. To be able to store and process this data, completely new methods of data processing are required: scientific computing is becoming increasingly important as an element in the acquisition of knowledge and is now regarded as a research field in its own right. The research program “Matter and Technologies” is dedicated to the development of ultrafast hardware as well as novel software tools and algorithms. Among other things, artificial intelligence (AI) methods are used. They can detect hidden patterns and regularities in the chaos of data that simply escape the human eye.
Factsheet
Key research questions:
- How can today's accelerator technology be made even more powerful, stable, compact and cost-effective?
- Can continuous particle beams be efficiently brought to high energies?
- How can ultrafast and high-precision detectors be built?
- How can detectors handle the high data rates and extreme environmental conditions of future experiments?
- How can the new technologies be translated into applications?
- What software and hardware will be needed to analyze the enormous amounts of data? Can AI algorithms help?
- How can the new digital methods be made available to the entire scientific community?
- How can new digital methods help to make the best use of experiments and facilities?
Three program topics:
- Research in accelerator technologies
- Research in detector technologies
- Data Management and Analysis
Research Infrastructures:
- SINBAD: Development Center for New Accelerator Concepts, Hamburg
- PITZ Test Facility, Zeuthen
- Center for Data and Computing Science (CDCS), Hamburg
- Data and Analysis Facility (IDAF), Hamburg
- ATHENA: Distributed Infrastructure for Plasma Acceleration, Berlin, Dresden-Rossendorf, Hamburg, Jülich, Darmstadt, Jena, Karlsruhe
- bERLinPro: Test Facility for New Accelerator Technologies, Berlin
- BESSY II: soft X-ray test facility for accelerator development, Berlin
- Cryoplatform: experiments and detector development at very low temperatures, Hamburg
- cStart: compact storage ring for accelerator research and development, Karlsruhe
- DAF: Laboratory for the production of high-precision silicon detectors, Hamburg
- ELBE @ ELBE Center, accelerator for the production of compact particle and photon beams of different wavelengths, Dresden-Rossendorf
- FLASH: Free-Electron Laser, Hamburg
- FLUTE: Test facility for the generation of intense ultra-short electromagnetic pulses, Karlsruhe
- Helmholtz Data Federation (HDF), Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Jülich, Bremerhaven, Heidelberg
- High Power Laser Systems: High-power laser with facilities and measurement technology for plasma acceleration, Jena, Darmstadt
- HL-LHC: Upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Hamburg/Zeuthen, Karlsruhe
- HSS: Laboratory for the Production and Testing of Superconducting Sensors, Karlsruhe
- KARA: Electron storage ring for accelerator and detector development, Karlsruhe
- Petawatt Laser @ ELBE Center, high-power laser with facilities and measurement technology for plasma acceleration, Dresden-Rossendorf
- Supralab: Laboratory for the development of accelerator technologies, Berlin
- Testbeam: Electron test beam facility for detector development, Hamburg
- X-ray Detector Program: Facility for the development of detectors specialized for hard and soft X-rays, Hamburg
Participating Helmholtz Centers:
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Helmholtz Institute Jena (HI Jena), Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)
Behnke Ties
Programm spokes person Matter and Technologies
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
