SwissFEL Cristallina-Q experimental station

The Cristallina experimental station will be the third instrument of the SwissFEL Aramis hard X-ray beamline and serves both quantum science (Cristallina-Q) and serial femtosecond crystallography (Cristallina-MX). Diffract-before-destroy schemes will be employed to image biological macromolecules at work and quantum many-body states under extreme conditions.

Cristallina-Q is realised in close collaboration with the Laboratory for Quantum Matter Research of Prof. Johan Chang (UZH) and is partially funded via an SNSF R’Equip project.

Offline and beamline experimental capabilities will be uniquely combined at Cristallina and complemented by a beamline which is optimized for highly focused, sub-femtosecond X-ray pulses. The beamline layout and hutch occupation are designed for flexible movement of heavy infrastructure, such as the fixed-target instrument SwissMX and bespoke low-temperature, high-magnetic field sample environments.

Commissioning is scheduled until 2023, which will be followed by user operation.

Recent highlights

2 September 2022

Swiss-French Pulsed Magnetic Field Retreat

The Cristallina-Q team has welcomed French high-field experts at SwissFEL for an informal 2-day retreat. The ten participants discussed which technical capabilities of the UZH-PSI pulsed magnet setup should be further developed and which science cases targeted in the upcoming commissioning and pilot experiment phase.

14 March 2022

SwissFEL Cristallina "first light" milestone achieved

First X-rays have reached the SwissFEL Cristallina experimental station on 14.03.2021 which is one day ahead of schedule. The achievement of this important milestone marks the beginning of the commissioning phase of the Cristallina project.

8 June 2020

Diffractometer stand built in collaboration with local SME

A light-weight, low-vibration diffractometer stand has been designed and produced in close collaboration with the local supplier Heinz Baumgartner AG. This component will be used in conjunction with a cryomagnet system to study quantum matter at the SwissFEL Bernina and Cristallina-Q endstations.

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