Time-resolved spectroscopies have provided insights in the quest for understanding the fundamental properties of quantum materials and towards controlling their functional properties through light-matter interaction. In this regard, Free Electrons Lasers (FELs) have developed as a powerful tool to perform ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy to obtain energy and momentum-resolved information. In this contribution, we introduce the SwissFEL soft-x-ray condensed matter experimental endstation, named Furka, which is dedicated to Time-Resolved X-ray Absorption (TR-XAS), resonant X-Ray Diffraction (TR-RXRD) and Resonant Inelastic x-ray Scattering (TR-RIXS) experiments to study quantum materials. The current status of the endstation and the first results from the commissioning phase will also be discussed.
Preserving the coherence and wavefront of a diffraction limited x-ray beam from the source to the experiment poses stringent quality requirements on the production processes for X-ray optics. In the near future this will require on-line and in-situ at-wavelength metrology for both, free electron lasers and diffraction limited storage rings. A compact and easy to move X-ray grating interferometry (XGI) setup has been implemented by the Beamline Optics Group at PSI in order to characterize x-ray optical components by determining the aberrations from reconstructing the x-ray wavefront. The XGI setup was configured for measurements in the moire mode and tested with focusing optic at Swiss Light Source, Diamond Light Source and LCLS. In this paper measurements on a bendable toroidal mirror, a zone plate, a single and a stack of beryllium compound refractive lenses (CRL) are presented. From these measurements the focal position and quality of the beam spot in terms of wavefront distortions are determined by analysing the phase-signal obtained from the XGI measurement. In addition, using a bendable toroidal mirror, we directly compare radius of curvature measurements obtained from XGI data with data from a long-trace profilometer, and compare the CRL wavefront distortions with data obtained by ptychography.
The Photon Arrival and Length Monitor (PALM), a THz streak camera device developed by PSI for non-destructive hard x-ray measurements of photon pulse length and arrival time versus a pump laser[1], was brought to the SACLA XFEL[2] in Japan in a cross-calibration temporal diagnostics campaign after an initial experiment where only the PALM was being used[3]. The device was used with 9 keV pink beam and a 9.0 and 8.8 keV two-color mode, successfully measuring the temporal ifnromation of the pulses for several different FEL operating conditions. The most interesting achievement is the PALM’s ability to measure two arrival times of the two colorors as tey are shifted against each other by the FEL, opening up new possibilities in temporal accuracy for two-color experiments. SwissFEL will employ two such devices at the end stations for use by both operators and experimenters to improve the operation of the FEL and to better interpret experimental data.
References
[1]P. N. Juranić et. al, Journal of Instrumentation (2014) 9.
[2]T. Ishikawa et. al., Nature Photonics (2012) 6(8).
[3] P. N. Juranić et. al., Optics Express (2014) 22.
SwissFEL is the Free Electron Laser (FEL) facility under construction at the Paul Scherrer institute (PSI), aiming to provide users with X-ray pulses of lengths down to 2 femtoseconds at standard operation. The measurement of the length of the FEL pulses and their arrival time relative to the experimental laser is crucial for the pump-probe experiments carried out in such facilities. This work presents a new device that measures hard X-ray FEL pulses based on the THz streak camera concept. It describes the prototype setup called pulse arrival and length monitor (PALM) developed at PSI and tested in Spring-8 Angstrom Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA) in Japan. Based on the first results obtained from the measurements, we introduce the new improved design of the second generation PALM setup that is currently under construction and will be used in SwissFEL photon diagnostics.
Yi-De Chuang, Dionisio Doering, Alejandro Cruz, Nadeem Tahir, Nord Andresen, Ken Chow, Devis Contarato, Curtis Cummings, Edward Domning, John Joseph, John Pepper, Brian Smith, G. Zizka, Christopher Ford, Wei-Sheng Lee, Matt Weaver, Luc Patthey, John Weizeowick, Peter Denes, Zahid Hussain
Localized charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom can compete with electronic itinerancy and such competition lies at the heart of emergent material properties. To study these electronic orderings, resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSXS) spectroscopy has been demonstrated as one of the most powerful direct probes, and its time-resolved capability can be implemented through pump-probe technique. The ultrafast/ultra-intense X-ray pulses from LCLS can be used as the probe in the time-resolved RSXS experiments, but the inherent fluctuations in intensity and timing between pulses can degrade the superior temporal resolution. To overcome such fluctuations, a compact fast CCD (cFCCD) was developed to enable shot-by-shot data acquisitions and a dedicated RSXS endstation, constructed to house this cFCCD and other single-channel photon detectors, has been extensively used at both ALS and LCLS. Time-resolved RSXS experiments on La1.75Sr0.25 NiO4 nickelate have revealed an unexpected transient behavior of charge and spin ordering (CO/SO) states. After 800nm laser excitation, the CO can be fully suppressed at higher pump fluence while SO remains detectable, creating a transient state that is not accessible by tuning thermodynamic variables. Furthermore, two distinct time scales are identified in the recovery of CO and can be attributed to the amplitude (fast) and phase (slow) dynamics of order parameter. A new version of cFCCD, with eight times the detection area and the readout electronics moved into vacuum side to minimize the pickup noise, has been developed and will be incorporated into the RSXS endstation.
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