Calls for Proposals

  • We call for proposals for the Alvra and Bernina instrument at the Aramis hard X-ray line and for the new Maloja instrument at the Athos soft X-ray line. The branch lines and instruments are described in detail below.
  • SwissFEL is being continuously developed but the proposals must be based on the parameters outlined below on this page.
  • For Aramis Alvra, we offer SFX beamtime slots in standard configuration.
  • For Bernina a new RIXS spectrometer and a cryogenic sample chamber for THz pump experiments are available.
  • After the submission deadline the proposals are evaluated in terms of safety and technical feasibility. Then they are ranked in terms of scientific criteria by the international SwissFEL Proposal Review Committee (PRC). More information about the evaluation procedure is published on Evaluation. The result of this rating is the basis for the beamtime assessment made by SwissFEL.
  • The main proposers are informed by email about the result of the ranking and beamtime assessment.
  • The annual calendar for the proposal evaluation is as seen below.
  • Proposals can be submitted to the PSI User Office.

Schedule for Calls

We will open a call for proposals for SwissFEL in August 2021.

SwissFEL call schedule
Experimental Period 01.07.2022
Call 08.02.2022
Submission deadline 15.03.2022
Start period 01.07.2022
End period 31.12.2022
EVALUATION
 		 15.03.2022 - 23.04.2022

Machine parameters

  • photon energy: 1.8-12.7 keV
  • typical bandwidth: 0.25% dE/E
  • typical pulse energies: 200-600 µJ
  • repetition rate: single shot - 100Hz
  • X-ray pulse duration: 50 - 100 fs fwhm
  • X-ray-laser arrival-time jitter:  < 150 fs fwhm (for time tool options see instrument sections)

Advanced machine modes with lower operation experience are available on a best effort basis.

These include

  • large bandwidth mode (up to 2%)
  • short pulses mode (20-50 fs fwhm)

Please contact the instrument teams for specific details that may help to enhance the technical feasibility of the proposed experiment. Note that the facility resource requirements may be important criteria in this call due to the concurrent buildup of the ATHOS soft X-ray branch.

Experimental Endstations

For the new run the Alvra and Bernina endstations are available with the following parameters:

The Alvra instrument specializes in ultrafast dynamics in chemical and biological systems, especially in solutions, liquids, or crystals in viscous media. Alvra is equipped for X-ray spectroscopy (absorption and emission), liquid scattering, and serial femtosecond crystallography measurements, as well as flexible user-provided setups. In Alvra there are two endstations available, the Alvra Prime chamber (vacuum and He environment) and Alvra Flex (in air) in the parameters described below.

For high time resolution experiments, a single pulse timing diagnostics, for jitter and drift corrections, can be used with pink FEL beam and Si-111 monochromatic on best effort basis (please contact instrument responsible).

We offer short and dedicated SFX beamtime slots for experiments in the following standard configuration: X-ray photon energy of 12 keV with standard bandwidth, femtosecond laser excitation between 500 nm - 600 nm or at 800 nm and at best 100 fsec time resolution, Jungfrau 4M detector, LCP injector. The max. beamtime length is 3 days (9 shifts) including setup. Indicate in the abstract of your proposal if it should be considered for the new standard SFX beamtime and add a detailed beamtime plan in the experimental description.

Alvra Prime
Photon energy range 2 keV – 12.4 keV, instrument fully commissioned over the full energy range
Beam profile
  • Measured focus <10 x 10 µm2 (fwhw) below 4.5 keV.
  • Measured focus  < 5 x 5 µm2 (fwhm) for energies > 6 keV
  • 1 x 1 µm2 (fwhm) achieved for 12 keV
  • Focus can be adjusted to meet experimental requirements
  • Unfocused beam: ~1 x 1 mm2 (fwhm) energy dependent
Bandwidth Monochromatic (Si(111), InSb(111), Si(311)) and pink beam (0.25% of fundamental); larger bandwidths of up to 2% are also possible (photon energy dependent)
Environment Vacuum (down to 5x10-4 mbar ) up to atmospheric pressure (He or N2)
Sample delivery Liquid jet:
  • Flat jet (100, 200, and 300 µm) with peristaltic pump
  • Round jet (25-200 µm) with HPLC pump

LCP injector (50-100 µm)
Solid samples

GDVN operation possible for user-supplied and operated injector
Detectors and Spectrometers
  • 16M Jungfrau forward scattering detector at a fixed 10 cm sample-detector distance
  • 2 x 2 crystal von Hamos dispersive X-ray emission spectrometer (1-12.4 keV)
  • Diodes for integrated x-ray absorption measurements
  • 4.2M PCO edge CMOS camera (flexible setup)
Alvra Flex
Photon energy range 5 keV – 12.4 keV
Beam profile Focused 100 x 100 µm2 (fwhm) from design
Unfocused beam 1 x 1 mm2 (fwhm) energy dependent
Bandwidth Monochromatic (Si(111), InSb(111), Si(311; commissioning 2019) and pink beam (0.25% of fundamental)
Environment Normal atmosphere
Sample delivery Liquid jet:
  • Flat jet (100, 200, and 300 µm) with peristaltic pump
  • Round jet (25-200 µm) with HPLC pump

Solid samples
Detectors and Spectrometers
  • 3 crystal von Hamos dispersive X-ray emission spectrometer with 0.5 M Jungfrau detector (75 µm pixels) or 0.5M Stripsel Jungfrau (25 x 225 µm pixels)
  • Diodes for x-ray absorption measurements
  • 4.2M PCO edge CMOS camera (flexible setup)
Alvra experimental laser
Fundamental 800 nm, 35 fs (fwhm), 10 mJ (Ti:Sapphire)
Harmonics 800/400/266 nm branch available in parallel to OPA
OPA conversion 240 nm – 2.5 µm
Pulse energy at the sample position

Measured OPA pulse energies at the sample location vary with wavelength, ranging between 5 to 100 µJ. For specific pump wavelengths please inquire. Pulse durations are expected to be approximately 75 fs fwhm.

Harmonics branch allows for higher pulse energies at 800/400/266 nm with shorter pulse durations achievable. For current status please inquire.
Focus 50 x 50 – 500 x 500 µm2 (fwhm)

General information about the Alvra endstations can be found at: Alvra
For questions and further information about Alvra contact: Dr. Camila Bacellar

The Bernina Instrument is specialized on studying condensed matter systems by selective light excitation and selective resonant X-ray probes. It is equipped with flexible but precise positioning hardware for diffraction on solid state samples, but also larger user-supplied hardware. The instrument can interchange large endstations on rails transverse to beam direction. Two endstation platforms are  permanently installed, which can be configured for different sample and detector degrees of freedom for varying loads of sample environment or detection schemes. Both endstations can be completed with different sample platforms that allow a large range of of specialized sample environment being precisely positioned. An additional 6 DOF robot arm can be used for flexible detector positioning.

Endstation platforms

  • X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), equipped with a two circle detector arm,
  • General Purpose Station (GPS), with a multi-purpose horizontal 2-theta arm.

Sample platforms

  • Six degree of freedom (DOF) heavy load goniometer,
  • Two-circle surface diffractometer combination plus six DOF hexapod,
  • Kappa arm (6 DOF).

New setups

  • For low sample temperature (down to 5K), high electric field THz pulse excitation, and tender X-ray range experiments, a  vacuum chamber sample environment is available . It is advised to explore the compatibility of proposed experiments with the chamber geometry before proposal submission. For details about the chamber please refer to https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ac08b5
  • A newly commissioned Resonant Inelastic X-ray Spectrometer (RIXS) with spherical Si(844) diced analyzer crystals is available for this call. The spectrometer features a 1m arm following the Rowland geometry. Using the beamline double crystal Si-(333) monochromator, the reached energy resolution at the IR L-edge at 11.215keV is 130meV.

For high time resolution experiments, a single pulse timing diagnostics can be used at Si-111 monochromatic and the pink FEL beam.

Bernina
Photon energy range 4 keV – 12.7 keV,  2 – 4 keV available at higher effort
Beam profile Focused down to 2x2 µm2 (fwhm, measured) to unfocused 1000x1000 µm2 (fwhm, photon energy dependent).
Bandwidth Monochromatic (Si(111) routinely used, InSb(111), Si(311) and pink beam (~0.2% of fundamental, transmissive single FEL pulse spectrometer available).
Environment He or ambient atmosphere, platform for user-supplied chambers, N2 and He based cryostream coolers down to ~80 K. Vacuum chamber available for low sample Temperature (<5 K), high field THz excitation, and tender X-ray range.
Sample systems

Solids: single crystals, powders, amorphous systems. Liquid/Gas only with user supplied equipment.
Detectors and Spectrometer
  • 1.5 M Jungfrau detector
  • 16 M Jungfrau detector
  • Diodes or single element (0.5 M) Jungfrau detectors for multi- purpose applications.
  • Resonant Inelastic X-ray spectrometer with spherical diced Si(844) analyzer crystals
Bernina optical pump laser
Primary pump source    800 nm, 35 fs FWHM, 20 mJ (Ti:Sapphire)
Secondary pump sources Wavelength range Pulse energy / max. Field Pulse length Comments
240 – 400 nm      10 – 30 uJ (measured)   50 fs (fwhm)  
400 – 780 nm 150 – 500 uJ 50 fs (fwhm)  
1 – 2.5 µm 150 – 500 uJ 50 fs (fwhm)  
2.5 – 15 µm 5 – 30 µJ 250 fs (fwhm) Pulse length and energy depend highly on wavelength
~1 THz single cycle >300 kV/cm (measured) —  
0.5 – 2.5 THz >500 kV/cm (measured) —  

General information can be found at: Aramis Bernina Experimental Endstations
For questions and further information about Bernina, please contact: Dr. Henrik Lemke

Athos beam parameters:

Standard SASE:

  • Photon energies:
    • 350 - 1000eV with 1mJ pulse energy
    • 1000 - 1300eV with 500μJ pulse energy
    • 1300 - 1600eV with 100μJ pulse energy
  • Typical bandwidth ≤ 1 %
  • Repetition rate 100Hz
  • X-ray pulse duration ≤ 100fs FWHM
  • Polarization adjustable: Circular +/- (delivers highest pulse energy), linear horizontal, linear vertical
  • Energy scan: feasible over +/- 5 % of fundamental energy

Advanced machine modes with lower operation experience are available on a best effort basis. These include:

  • Short pulse mode: Tuneable pulse duration down to factor of x5 relative to standard SASE mode. Pulse energy directly proportional to pulse duration. Repetition rate > 10Hz.
  • Two colour X-ray mode: Two X-ray pulses with independently tuneable photon energies up to 1000eV, maximum delay between the pulses is 500fs and minimum delay is the pulse duration. Negative delays up to 50fs are currently under investigation.

Please note, that advanced modes will result in overall reduced machine performance, like lower repetition rate and reduced pulse energy as compared to standard SASE operation. In case you plan to submit a proposal which requires an advanced mode, we advice to consult with the Maloja contact beforehand.

The Maloja instrument specializes on studying ultrafast processes in atomic, molecular, non-linear and chemical sciences. The endstation is still in the commissioning and buildout phase. The following setups will be available for this call:

Setup Configuration
Time resolved XPS setup
  • Hemispherical electron analyzer: Specs Phoibos 150 EP
  • Gas needle for sample delivery
  • Grating spectrometer after interaction point (Scienta XES350) for single shot spectral diagnostics
Pink beam XAS setup
  • Grating spectrometer after interaction point (Scienta XES350) in transmission geometry
  • Transmissive spectral characterization with electron spectrometer prior to sample (Specs Phoibos 150 EP)
  • Gas cell or solid sample support
Single shot single particle imaging
  • 4M Jungfrau forward scattering detector, in standard configuration 34cm detector to sample distance
  • Pulsed supersonic gas jet (room temperature) or aerodynamic lens stack injectors
  • Optional: ion time of flight spectrometer to be used with supersonic jet
Beam profile                                  
  • Tightest focus reaching 5um x 5um (FWHM)
  • Unfocused beam 3-7mm, depending on photon energy
  • Focus adjustable with bendable KB optics to meet experimental requirements                                                      
Optical laser
  • Fundamental wavelength: 800nm
  • Pulse energy 10mJ
  • Pulse duration 35fs
  • Harmonics of the fundamental at 400nm and 266nm are available

Natural jitter between X-ray and optical pulse ~300fs, which could be improved with an arrival time monitor (under development).

Restrictions for hazardous samples apply, please consult with the Maloja contact before submission in case you plan to use such substances.

General information about the Maloja endstations can be found at: Maloja
For questions and further information about Maloja contact: Dr. Kirsten Schnorr

Contact

PSI User Office

Paul Scherrer Institut
Room WLGA/018
CH-5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland

Phone +41 56 310 46 66
Fax +41 56 310 32 94
Email: useroffice@psi.ch

Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 to 17:00

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