The PSI User Office invites user proposals for the next user run at SwissFEL
- We call for proposals for the Alvra, Bernina, and Cristallina instrument at the Aramis hard X-ray line and for the Maloja and Furka instrument at the Athos soft X-ray line. Please take particular note of the restricted configurations for this run described below and on the respective instrument tabs.
- Newly, the Cristallina-Q instrument ultralow-T vectormagnet is offered to the users’ community. It is designed for X-ray diffraction of quantum condensed-matter systems at sub-Kelvin temperatures and in magnetic fields up to 5 Tesla.
- SwissFEL is being continuously developed but the proposals must be based on the parameters outlined below on this page.
- 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.
For the current call, we can only offer restricted instrument capabilities.
In early July a small fire has damaged a modulator of the SwissFEL injector and our subsequent machine studies have shown that we will not be able to offer beam to users with the quality and reliability that we expect from SwissFEL until all repairs have been finished. As a result, we need to reschedule a significant number of experiments into the first semester of 2025 and thus the number of available beamtime slots will be reduced.
In order to serve the overall users’ community well and to operate as efficiently as possible during the following run, we will offer the following capabilities for this call:
- ARAMIS-Alvra: Prime endstation with liquid jet spectroscopy setup
- ARAMIS-Bernina: High-field THz cryo chamber setup or Surface Diffractometer setup
- ARAMIS-Cristallina-MX: Fixed target SFX setup
- ARAMIS-Cristallina-Q: Ultralow-T Vectormagnet setup
- ATHOS-Maloja: Time-resolved XPS, ion momentum spectroscopy or single-particle imaging or time-resolved XAS
- ATHOS-Furka: RIXS setup, REXS and XAS setup
Schedule for Calls
We will open a call for proposals for SwissFEL in August 2024.
SwissFEL call schedule | |||
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Experimental Period | 01.01.2025 - 31.07.2025 | ||
Call | 15.08.2024 | ||
Submission deadline | 15.09.2024 | ||
Start period | 01.01.2025 | ||
End period | 31.07.2025 | ||
EVALUATION | 21. - 23.10.2024 |
Status of SwissFEL Aramis
Aramis beam parameters
Regular SASE:
- photon energy: 1.8 - 12.7 keV
- polarization: linear horizontal
- typical relative bandwidth (cumulated): 0.25% fwhm
- pulse energy: typically up to 1000 µJ
- repetition rate: single shot - 100Hz (accelerator at 100 Hz, rate reduction via fast shutter)
- pulse duration: 40-70 fs fwhm
- X-ray pump-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: relative bandwidth up to 2%
- Short pulse mode: pulse length 10-40 fs fwhm, pulse energy scales with pulse length
- Ultrashort pulse mode: pulse length < 1 fs fwhm, typical pulse energy 5 – 10 uJ
In case you plan to submit a proposal which requires an advanced mode, we advice to consult with the endstation contacts beforehand.
For the new run the Alvra, Bernina and Cristallina 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. For the current call, the Alvra Prime instrument (vacuum and He environment) is available for liquid jet spectroscopy setups. The details are described below.
Alvra Prime | |||
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Photon energy range | 2 keV – 12.4 keV (fully commissioned over the full energy range) | ||
Beam profile |
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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:
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Detectors and Spectrometers |
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Alvra experimental laser infrastructure | |||
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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 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 two endstations, which can be configured for different sample and detector configurations. Bernina features versatile pump laser excitation from UV to single cycle THz pulses.
For the call of 2025A experiments, the flexible Bernina endstation platform will be limited to the following standardized configurations:
- Six circle kappa surface diffractometer, equipped with area detector on 2-circle detector arm (XRD). Sample in air or N2-cryostream atmosphere (80-500K stream temperature). Standard pump laser wavelengths from UV to near Ir. An optional polarisation analyzer can be used upon early request.
- Vacuum chamber setup for low sample temperature (down to ~5K), high electric field THz pulse excitation, and tender X-ray range experiments. 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
Experiments requiring a custom assembly using the flexible platform are encouraged to start communication with the Instrument staff and potentially submit a proposal for early evaluation of technical and scientific feasibility of their idea, respectively.
New developments
- Visible short pulse pump (500 – 750 nm; ≤ 25 fs fwhm) by Non-Collinear Optical Parametric Amplifier (NOPA).
- Load lock for High-field THz cryo chamber for quick sample exchange and transfer from inert atmosphere (under commissioning, usable upon request).
For high time resolution experiments, a single pulse timing diagnostics is used for time-delay feedback and time delay measurement close to pulse length limit. The diagnostics works reliably at Si-111 monochromatic and pink FEL beam.
Bernina | |||
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Photon energy range | 2 keV – 13.0 keV | ||
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), special modes like broadband SASE operation possible. | ||
Pulse length | Standard SASE pulse length ~50 fs (fwhm), short pulse options at cost of pulse energy down to ~20 fs. | ||
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. |
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Detectors and Spectrometer |
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Bernina optical pump laser | ||||
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Source type | Wavelength range | Pulse energy / max. Field | Pulse length | Comments |
Primary pump source | 800 nm | 20 mJ |
35 fs |
2nd and 3rd Harmonic (400 nm and 266 nm), as well as ~10 fs compressed fundamental 800 nm available upon request. |
OPA | ||||
240 – 480 nm | 10 – 100 uJ | ≤ 50 fs (fwhm) | Pulse energy variation includes typical losses between source and sample. |
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480 – 780 nm | 150 – 1000 uJ | ≤ 50 fs (fwhm) | ||
780 – 1160 nm | 10 – 100 uJ | ≤ 50 fs (fwhm) | ||
1.16 – 1.58 µm |
≤ 50 fs |
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1.58 – 2.4 um | 500 – 1000 uJ | ≤ 50 fs | ||
NOPA | 500 – 750 nm | 10 – 70uJ |
≤ 25 fs | |
OPA DFG |
4.4 – 20 um (70 – 15 THz) |
1 – 20 µJ |
≤ 300 fs | |
Opt. rect. | 2 – 5 THz single cycle | >500 kV/cm | — | |
LiNbO3 based |
0.5 – 2 THz single cycle |
>500 kV/cm | — |
General information can be found at: Aramis Bernina Experimental Endstations
For questions and further information about Bernina, please contact: Dr. Henrik Lemke
The first Cristallina-MX experimental station is called SwissMX (Serial WIth Solid-Support MX), a fixed-target setup designed for high-throughput SFX and SFX pump-probe. SwissMX has been commissioned with an in-air sample environment since May 2022 and is currently available for users.
The SwissMX has currently only been commissioned to accept two styles of fixed-target: the PSI MISP (MIcro-Structured Polymer) and the MPI SOS (Sheet-On-Sheet) chip (Doak et al., 2018). The MISP-chip is composed of an array of apertures in defined locations in a similar style to the Oxford (Horrell et al., 2021) and HARE chips (Mehrabi et al., 2020). The MISP-chips can be fabricated in either a clear or an opaque polymer, with the only latter being compatible with pump-probe measurements. The SOS chip by comparison is made by carefully sandwiching a sample between two sheets of polymer film and are ideal for samples of limited volume in viscous media such as LCP. Liquid-crystal samples will need to be embedded in a moderately viscous medium to be used effectively. Please indicate in the DUO which chip or both you would like to use.
The SwissMX is capable of both SFX and nanosecond resolution SFX pump-probe measurements. An EKSPLA nanosecond OPO can be used for pump-probe measurements and has been commissioned using the opaque MISP chips. Pump-probe is only possible using these chips.
Our standard SFX beamtime configurations are: X-ray photon energy of 12 keV with standard bandwidth (0.15 % SASE), nano-second laser excitation between 410 nm - 700 nm (if required), Jungfrau 8M detector and either MISP or SOS chips. Max beamtime length will be 2 days (6 shifts). Please indicate if you would only like 0.5/1 shifts for non-pump-probe SFX measurements.
SwissMX | |||
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Photon energy range |
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Beam profile |
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Bandwidth |
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Environment |
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Fixed-targets | PSI MISP-chip
MPI SOS chip
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Detectors |
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Optical pump laser |
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General information can be found at the Cristallina-MX project page.
For questions and further information about Cristallina-MX, please contact: Dr. John Beale
The Cristallina-Q team has recently commissioned an experimental station named Ultralow-T Vectormagnet that enables resonant and non-resonant X-ray diffraction in high-magnetic fields and sub-Kelvin temperatures. It includes a dedicated cryostat with beryllium and mylar windows for the incident and the diffracted beams in the horizontal diffraction plane. The cryostat is installed on a heavy-load diffractometer to orient the sample with respect to the vertical axis (θ), as well as to position the detector at the Bragg angle (2θ) and at a suitable distance from the sample. The beam size on the sample can be varied by means of bendable KB focusing mirrors. The station can be placed at custom distances from the last KB mirror.
The ultralow-T sample environment requires mounting the sample and closing the cryostat at least 1 week before the beamtime start, to allow for cooling to the base temperature and offline tests. Depending on the requested measurement temperature and the sample properties, reduced repetition rates and/or high attenuation have to be used to ensure recovery of sub-Kelvin temperatures between subsequent X-ray pulses. Because of the latter, it is advantageous, although not mandatory, to operate the ARAMIS beamline in the ultrashort pulse mode such that that thermal and electronic modification of the sample can be outrun.
In this first user call, the capabilities of the Ultralow-T Vectormagnet are restricted in terms of the maximal θ range, due to mechanical limitations, and to higher photon energies to cope with in-air propagation and due to absorption of the X-ray windows.
Cristallina-Q Instruments | |||
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Photon energy range |
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Repetition rate |
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Beam profile on the sample |
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Bandwidth |
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Pulse length & energy |
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Temperature |
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Magnetic field |
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Scattering geometry |
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Detectors |
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General information about the Cristallina-Q experimental station can be found at: Cristallina-Q.
Because of the novelty of this experimental station, the inherent challenges due to the ultralow-T environment, and operational limitations, proposers must contact the Cristallina-Q team well ahead of submission.
Status of SwissFEL Athos
Athos beam parameters
Standard SASE:
- Photon energies and pulse energies for circular polarization (linear polarization 30-40% less) :
- 350 - 1000eV with more than 2000μJ pulse energy
- 1000 - 1300eV with more than 1000μJ pulse energy
- 1300 - 1600eV with more than 250μJ pulse energy
- Typical bandwidth ≤ 1 %
- Repetition rate 100Hz
- Standard X-ray pulse duration ≤ 100fs FWHM
- Short X-ray pulses with tuneable pulse duration down to factor of x5 relative to standard SASE mode. Pulse energy directly proportional to pulse duration
- Polarization adjustable: Circular +/- (delivers highest pulse energy), linear horizontal, linear vertical
- Energy scan: feasible over +/- 10 % of fundamental energy
Advanced machine modes with lower operation experience are available on a best effort basis. These include:
- 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 -50fs.
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 endstation contacts beforehand.
The Maloja instrument specializes on studying ultrafast processes in atomic, molecular, non-linear and chemical sciences. The flexible setup allows for a variety of spectroscopy and imaging approaches. For the current call only the following standard setups and parameters will be available:
Setup | Configuration |
Time-resolved XPS |
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Time-resolved XAS |
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Ion momentum spectroscopy |
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Single-particle imaging |
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Beam profile |
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Optical laser |
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Natural jitter between X-ray and optical pulse ~150fs (FWHM), which can be improved with an arrival time monitor.
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
The Furka experimental endstation, located at the soft x-ray Athos beamline of the SwissFEL, is dedicated to the study of quantum materials using time-resolved Resonant Inelastic and Elastic X-ray Scattering (tr-RIXS and tr-REXS) as well as X-Ray Absorption (tr-XAS) spectroscopy.
The endstation is equipped with at 4-circles UHV diffractometer (Tmin=25 K), a set of x-ray detectors (APDs) rotating on two independent circles around the sample and 6 meter long RIXS spectrometer (200 meV min energy resolution). Sample cleaving in the load lock (room temperature, vacuum 10-7 mbar) is available. The THz radiation is focused using a parabolic mirror mounted on a motorized manipulator (5 DOF) located inside the vacuum chamber.
Natural jitter between X-ray and optical pulses ~150fs (FWHM). For higher time resolution experiments, a single pulse timing diagnostics, for jitter and drift corrections, can be used (please contact instrument responsible for more info).
Furka | |
Setup | Configuration |
Time resolved XAS and REXS |
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Time resolved RIXS |
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Furka | |
Beam profile |
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Enviroment |
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Furka optical pump laser | ||||
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Primary pump source | 800 nm, 35 fs / 100 fs FWHM, 20 mJ (Ti:Sapphire) | |||
Secondary pump sources with 35 fs 800 nm pulses |
Wavelength range | Pulse energy / max. Field | Pulse length | Comments |
400 nm | 200 uJ (measured) |
~ 50 fs (fwhm) | — | |
266 nm | 30 uJ (measured) |
~ 50 fs (fwhm) | — | |
Secondary pump sources with 100 fs 800 nm pulses |
240 – 780 nm | 10 – 350 µJ | ~ 100 fs (fwhm) | Pulse energy depends highly on wavelength, for more information please contact the instrument responsible. |
1.2 – 2.5 µm | 200 – 500 µJ | ~ 100 fs (fwhm) | ||
~1 THz single cycle | Up to 300 kV/cm (measured) |
— | THz generation with nonlinear organic crystals, for mor information please contact the instrument responsible |
General information about the Furka endstations can be found at: Furka
For questions and further information about Furka contact: Dr Elia Razzoli
Contact
PSI User Office
Paul Scherrer Institute
building WBBC
CH-5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland
+41 56 310 46 66
useroffice@psi.ch
Office hours:
Monday through Friday from 8:00-11:30 and 12:30-17:00
otherwise please contact us per email