X-radiation is the light for going into the depth. It has the appropriate energy to penetrate and explore matter on a macroscopic as well as on an atomic scale. In atoms deep core holes can be created in order to investigate the fundamental reactions of the many electron system to this “deep” perturbation. X-ray absorption and emission/fluorescence can be utilized as highly sensitive “fingerprints” of the acting atom and its chemical environment. On the macroscopic scale matter can be illuminated and investigated within depths ranging up to the cm regime.

On the other hand, X-radiation is also the light for the micro- and nanotechnologies. It has the appropriate wavelength for structural investigation and manipulation of matter on the micro- and nanometer scale. The latter is only possible since the advent of efficient X-ray optics and the use of synchrotron radiation. Since the installation of dedicated synchrotron sources in the 1970`s and more recently the advent of coherent sources such as free electron lasers, X-ray science and technology see an enormous revival and development.

The research group Analytical X-ray Physics aims at the development of novel instrumentation as well as analytical methodology in the large field of X-ray science. The projects range from fundamental research concerning e.g. the investigation of dynamic processes in biomolecules to the adaptation of methodology to optimally analyze samples from biomedicine, catalysis or cultural heritage to the very practical designing and construction of novel laboratory instrumentation.