Simone Techert

Last updated
Simone Techert
Born
Alma mater Justus Liebig University, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Scientific career
Fields X-ray physics, Physical Chemistry
Institutions DESY, Goettingen University
Thesis  (1997)

Simone Techert is an X-ray physicist and physicochemist. She develops methods for time-resolved X-ray experiments to illuminate chemical molecular processes for example 'filming' chemical reactions in real time.

Contents

Biography

Techert studied chemistry from 1988 to 1993 at the Justus Liebig-University in Giessen. She graduated in 1994. She finished her doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen in 1997. The title of her doctoral thesis was "Spectroscopy and charge separation. Theoretical and experimental studies on pyrene derivatives". [1]

Afterwards, she worked as a scientist at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, until she returned to the Max Planck Institute as a group leader in 2001. [2] She was the head of the Minerva group from 2006 to 2012. She has been a professor of physical chemistry since 2004. Since 2008 she has been a lecturer at the International Research School for Molecular Biophysics at the Göttingen Research Campus. In 2013, she became a professor at the University of Göttingen with a connection to the Helmholtz Association and the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg. She is a Leading Scientist in the group "Chemical Structural Dynamics" at DESY. [3]

Awards

Research area

Techert conducts research in the field of physical chemistry. She has specialized in time-resolved methods in X-ray physics, time-resolved structure determination and time-resolved spectroscopy. At DESY she works with her research group on the structural dynamics of chemical systems, especially the development of time-resolved X-ray experiments, their application and optimization for the investigation of elementary chemical processes and structure-dynamic relationships in chemical reactions, ie the "filming" of chemical reactions in real time. Her research team succeeded in 2010 in using the radiation from a free-electron laser to investigate chemical reactions. [5] [6] She worked on the experimental recording of hydrogen bonds as part of the Helmholtz working group. [7] [8] In 2017 her research (with collaborators) using time-resolved x-ray methods, laid the foundation for a new type of solar cell. [9]

Publications (selected, peer reviewed)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystallography</span> Scientific study of crystal structures

Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics. The word "crystallography" is derived from the Greek word κρύσταλλος (krystallos) "clear ice, rock-crystal", with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and γράφειν (graphein) "to write". In July 2012, the United Nations recognised the importance of the science of crystallography by proclaiming that 2014 would be the International Year of Crystallography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X-ray crystallography</span> Technique used for determining crystal structures and identifying mineral compounds

X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a three-dimensional picture of the density of electrons within the crystal. From this electron density, the mean positions of the atoms in the crystal can be determined, as well as their chemical bonds, their crystallographic disorder, and various other information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DESY</span> German national research center

The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, commonly referred to by the abbreviation DESY, is a national research center in Germany. It operates particle accelerators used to investigate the structure of matter, and conducts a broad spectrum of inter-disciplinary scientific research in three main areas: particle and high energy physics; photon science, and the development, construction and operation of particle accelerators. Its name refers to its first project, an electron synchrotron. DESY is publicly financed by the Federal Republic of Germany, the States of Germany, and the German Research Foundation (DFG). DESY is a member of the Helmholtz Association and operates at sites in Hamburg and Zeuthen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface science</span> Study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases

Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid–gas interfaces. It includes the fields of surface chemistry and surface physics. Some related practical applications are classed as surface engineering. The science encompasses concepts such as heterogeneous catalysis, semiconductor device fabrication, fuel cells, self-assembled monolayers, and adhesives. Surface science is closely related to interface and colloid science. Interfacial chemistry and physics are common subjects for both. The methods are different. In addition, interface and colloid science studies macroscopic phenomena that occur in heterogeneous systems due to peculiarities of interfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchrotron light source</span>

A synchrotron light source is a source of electromagnetic radiation (EM) usually produced by a storage ring, for scientific and technical purposes. First observed in synchrotrons, synchrotron light is now produced by storage rings and other specialized particle accelerators, typically accelerating electrons. Once the high-energy electron beam has been generated, it is directed into auxiliary components such as bending magnets and insertion devices in storage rings and free electron lasers. These supply the strong magnetic fields perpendicular to the beam which are needed to convert high energy electrons into photons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchrotron</span> Type of cyclic particle accelerator

A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The magnetic field which bends the particle beam into its closed path increases with time during the accelerating process, being synchronized to the increasing kinetic energy of the particles. The synchrotron is one of the first accelerator concepts to enable the construction of large-scale facilities, since bending, beam focusing and acceleration can be separated into different components. The most powerful modern particle accelerators use versions of the synchrotron design. The largest synchrotron-type accelerator, also the largest particle accelerator in the world, is the 27-kilometre-circumference (17 mi) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland, built in 2008 by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). It can accelerate beams of protons to an energy of 6.5 tera electronvolts (TeV or 1012 eV).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X-ray microscope</span> Type of microscope that uses X-rays

An X-ray microscope uses electromagnetic radiation in the X-ray band to produce magnified images of objects. Since X-rays penetrate most objects, there is no need to specially prepare them for X-ray microscopy observations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Synchrotron Radiation Facility</span> Particle accelerator

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a joint research facility situated in Grenoble, France, supported by 22 countries.

High-energy X-rays or HEX-rays are very hard X-rays, with typical energies of 80–1000 keV (1 MeV), about one order of magnitude higher than conventional X-rays used for X-ray crystallography. They are produced at modern synchrotron radiation sources such as the beamline ID15 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). The main benefit is the deep penetration into matter which makes them a probe for thick samples in physics and materials science and permits an in-air sample environment and operation. Scattering angles are small and diffraction directed forward allows for simple detector setups.

An X-ray microscope uses electromagnetic radiation in the soft X-ray band to produce images of very small objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European XFEL</span>

The European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility is an X-ray research laser facility commissioned during 2017. The first laser pulses were produced in May 2017 and the facility started user operation in September 2017. The international project with twelve participating countries; nine shareholders at the time of commissioning, later joined by three other partners, is located in the German federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. A free-electron laser generates high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by accelerating electrons to relativistic speeds and directing them through special magnetic structures. The European XFEL is constructed such that the electrons produce X-ray light in synchronisation, resulting in high-intensity X-ray pulses with the properties of laser light and at intensities much brighter than those produced by conventional synchrotron light sources.

The International Max Planck Research School for Ultrafast Imaging and Structural Dynamics (IMPRS-UFAST) is a graduate school of the Max Planck Society. It is a joint venture of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), the University of Hamburg, the Center for Free Electron Laser Science, the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), and the European XFEL GmbH. It was established in 2011 and is now based at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg, Germany.

Ultrafast X-rays or ultrashort X-ray pulses are femtosecond x-ray pulses with wavelengths occurring at interatomic distances. This beam uses the X-ray's inherent abilities to interact at the level of atomic nuclei and core electrons. This ability combined with the shorter pulses at 30 femtosecond could capture the change in position of atoms, or molecules during phase transitions, chemical reactions, and other transient processes in physics, chemistry, and biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction</span>

Energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) is an analytical technique for characterizing materials. It differs from conventional X-ray diffraction by using polychromatic photons as the source and is usually operated at a fixed angle. With no need for a goniometer, EDXRD is able to collect full diffraction patterns very quickly. EDXRD is almost exclusively used with synchrotron radiation which allows for measurement within real engineering materials.

S. Samar Hasnain FInstP, FRSC, is the inaugural Max Perutz professor of Molecular Biophysics at the University of Liverpool. In 1991 he became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and in 2002 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 1997 he became a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences. He became Foreign Fellows of Pakistan Academy of Sciences in 2017.

A materials oscilloscope is a time-resolved synchrotron high-energy X-ray technique to study rapid phase composition and microstructural related changes in a polycrystalline sample. Such device has been developed for in-situ studies of specimens undergoing physical thermo-mechanical simulation.

3D X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) is a microscopy technique using hard X-rays to investigate the internal structure of polycrystalline materials in three dimensions. For a given sample, 3DXRD returns the shape, juxtaposition, and orientation of the crystallites ("grains") it is made of. 3DXRD allows investigating micrometer- to millimetre-sized samples with resolution ranging from hundreds of nanometers to micrometers. Other techniques employing X-rays to investigate the internal structure of polycrystalline materials include X-ray diffraction contrast tomography (DCT) and high energy X-ray diffraction (HEDM).

Diffraction-limited storage rings (DLSR), or ultra-low emittance storage rings, are synchrotron light sources where the emittance of the electron-beam in the storage ring is smaller or comparable to the emittance of the x-ray photon beam they produce at the end of their insertion devices. These facilities operate in the soft to hard x-ray range (100eV—100keV) with extremely high brilliance (in the order of 1021—1022 photons/s/mm2/mrad2/0.1%BW)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franziska Emmerling</span> German chemist

Franziska L. Emmerling is a German chemist. Emmerling is Head of Department 1 Analytical Sciences and Reference Materials, and Head of Division 1.3 Structural Analysis at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). She is a privatdozent at Humboldt University.

Richard Neutze is a biophysicist from New Zealand, now a Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Molecular Biology at Gothenburg University in Gothenburg, Sweden. He has made fundamental contributions to X-ray crystallography of biomolecules, including proposal of the idea of diffract before destroy along with Janos Hajdu and others, which in part led to the invention of serial femtosecond crystallography.

References

  1. "PD Dr. Simone Techert - AcademiaNet". www.academia-net.org. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  2. "Simone Techert". www.mpibpc.mpg.de. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  3. "Simone Techert". www.desy.de. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  4. "List of Winners of the Roentgen Prize". Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  5. "X-ray flashes "film" molecular switches" . Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  6. "Deciphered the reaction kinetics of iron pentacarbonyl". analytik-news.de. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2017-06-24.
  7. "The measurement of chemistry: experimentally recorded hydrogen bonds". Idw-online.de. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  8. "Measuring chemistry: Local fingerprint of hydrogen bonding captured in experiments". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  9. "Scientists lay foundations for new type of solar cell". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-05-27.