1981 HASYLAB, the X-ray laboratory

Researchers' interest in DESY's synchrotron radiation grew so strongly that in 1978, the field got its own big laboratory: the Hamburg Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, or HASYLAB, whose adjacent experiment hall was completed in 1981.

HASYLAB quickly counted as one of the world's most important addresses for research with X-ray light in many disciplines – from physics, chemistry, and materials science to biology and medicine.

A meeting of the user community of the Hamburg Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (HASYLAB). Photo: DESY

The "X-ray lamp from Hamburg-Bahrenfeld" attracted scientists from across the world. Year after year, thousands of scientists from around 300 different universities and research institutes came to the storage ring DORIS III to perform experiments using its highly intense synchrotron radiation.

It was a highly international location: guest scientists came from 36 countries, from Armenia to the United States. The Universität Hamburg, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), as well as the Max Planck Society established permanent outstations at HASYLAB.