German scope for scientists

TheTelegraphCalcuttaIndia: German scope for scientists
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics has inked a pact with Germany’s Deutsches Elektronen-Synchroton that will enable Indian scientists to access one of the world’s best “super microscopes”.

The German institute is home to a high-energy synchroton, a large source of radiation that can help reveal information invaluable in various fields of basic research.

There are about 50 synchrotrons in the world. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchroton is regarded as one of the best for investigating the structure of matter.

The agreement was signed by Milan K. Sanyal, the director of the city institute, and Helmut Dosch, the director of the German one, in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi on May 31.

“The huge ring-shaped radiation source, PETRA III, at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchroton is the most powerful light source of its kind,” said Sanyal on Friday.

“Hair-thin, brilliant X-ray beams produced by PETRA III offer scientists outstanding opportunities to study minuscule material samples and precisely determine arrangements of atoms in them,” he added. In other words, it will help scientists study and manipulate matter in an ultra-small or nano scale.

India will contribute 14 million Euros for the project. But this will also give Indian scientists the opportunity to create their own synchroton. Sanyal has written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee with a proposal to build a synchroton near Salt Lake.