We demonstrate X-ray phase contrast microscopy performed at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser sampled at 1.128 MHz rate. We have applied this method to image stochastic processes induced by an optical laser incident on water-filled capillaries with micrometer scale spatial resolution. The generated high speed water jet, cavitation formation and annihilation in water and glass, as well as glass explosions are observed. The comparison between XFEL and previous synchrotron MHz microscopy shows the superior contrast and spatial resolution at the XFEL over the synchrotron. This work opens up new possibilities for the characterization of dynamic stochastic systems on nanosecond to microsecond time scales at megahertz rate with object velocities up to few kilometers per second using X-ray Free-Electron Laser sources.
Free-electron lasers (FELs) opened a new window on imaging the motion of atoms and molecules. At SLAC, FEL experiments are performed at LCLS using 120 Hz pulses with 10^12 to 10^13 photons in 10 fs (billions of times brighter than at the most powerful synchrotrons). Concurrently, users and staff operate under high pressure due to flexible and often rapidly changing setups and low tolerance for system malfunction. This extreme detection environment raises unique challenges, from obvious to surprising, and leads to treating detectors as consumables. We discuss in detail the detector damage mechanisms observed in 7 years of operation at LCLS, together with the corresponding damage mitigation strategies and their effectiveness. Main types of damage mechanisms already identified include: (1) x-ray radiation damage (from catastrophic to classical), (2) direct and indirect damage caused by optical lasers, (3) sample induced damage, (4) vacuum related damage, (5) high-pressure environment. In total, 19 damage mechanisms have been identified. We also present general strategies for reducing damage risk or minimizing the impact of detector damage on the science program. These include availability of replacement parts and skilled operators and also careful planning, incident investigation resulting in updated designs, procedures and operator training.
Resonant elastic X-ray scattering has been widely employed for exploring complex electronic ordering phenomena, like charge, spin, and orbital order, in particular in strongly correlated electronic systems. In addition, recent developments of pump-probe X-ray scattering allow us to expand the investigation of the temporal dynamics of such orders. Here, we introduce a new time-resolved Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering (tr-RSXS) endstation developed at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL). This endstation has an optical laser (wavelength of 800 nm plus harmonics) as the pump source. Based on the commissioning results, the tr-RSXS at PAL-XFEL can deliver a soft X-ray probe (400-1300 eV) with a time resolution about ~100 fs without jitter correction. As an example, the temporal dynamics of a charge density wave on a high-temperature cuprate superconductor is demonstrated.
X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) is a widely used X-ray diagnostic method. While synchrotrons have large communities of XAS users, its use on X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL) facilities has been rather limited. At a first glance, the relatively narrow bandwidth and the highly fluctuating spectral structure of XFEL sources seem to prevent high-quality XAS measurements without accumulating over many shots. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the collection of single-shot XAS spectra on an XFEL, with error bars of only a few percent, over tens of eV. We show how this technique can be extended over wider spectral ranges towards Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) measurements, by concatenating a few tens of single-shot measurements. Such results open indisputable perspectives for future femtosecond time resolved XAS studies, especially for transient processes that can be initiated at low repetition rate.
An X-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) is a new type of hard X-ray source that would produce fully coherent pulses with meV bandwidth and stable intensity. The XFELO complements existing sources based on self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) from high-gain X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL) that produce ultra-short pulses with broad-band chaotic spectra. This report is based on discussions of scientific opportunities enabled by an XFELO during a workshop held at SLAC on June 29 - July 1, 2016
Following the recent developement of Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) in the visible range by Zheng et al. (2013), we propose an adaptation for hard x-rays. FPM employs ptychographic reconstruction to merge a series of low-resolution, wide field of view images into a high-resolution image. In the x-ray range this opens the possibility to overcome the limited numerical aperture of existing x-ray lenses. Furthermore, digital wave front correction (DWC) may be used to charaterize and correct lens imperfections. Given the diffraction limit achievable with x-ray lenses (below 100 nm), x-ray Fourier ptychographic microscopy (XFPM) should be able to reach resolutions in the 10 nm range.