SwissFEL ARAMIS and ATHOS Beamlines

SwissFEL has two beamlines, the hard X-ray beamline ARAMIS as well as the soft X-ray beamline ATHOS.

ARAMIS hard X-ray beamline

(in operation)

hard X-ray FEL, λ=0.1-0.7 nm
linear polarization, variable gap, in-vacuum undulators
first users 2017
operation modes: SASE & self seeded

For the ARAMIS beamline, two experimental stations are active and one under construction, namely:

experimental station Alvra
experimental station Bernina
experimental station Cristallina

The X-ray pulses are deflected by special high precision mirrors to the different experimental stations. Every 10 ms, an X-ray pulse is generated in the ARAMIS beam line

ATHOS soft X-ray beamlines

(under construction/commissioning)

soft X-ray FEL, λ=0.65-5.0 nm
variable polarization, Apple X undulators
first users 2021
operation modes: SASE

For the ATHOS beamline, two experimental stations are active, namely:

experimental station Maloja
experimental station Furka

Experimental Endstations

ARAMIS Beamline

All three endstations Alvra, Bernina and Cristallina endstations are available to users. Click on the header to reach their respective homepage.

Alvra Instrument

The Alvra end station of SwissFEL specializes in measuring the ultrafast dynamics of photochemical and photobiological systems using a variety of X-ray scattering and spectroscopic techniques. For the Alvra branch, the Alvra Prime chamber and Alvra Flex in-air instruments are available with the following parameters: SwissFEL Alvra experimental station

For questions and further information about Alvra contact: Dr. Camila Bacellar

Bernina Instrument

The Bernina instrument provides two versatile modular platforms and instrumentation optimized for ultrafast condensed matter science. Standardized are a 6-circle surface diffractometer configuration as well as vacuum chamber allowing down to 5K sample temperature, tender-to hard X-ray diffraction, and high THz field sample excitation. The pump laser system provides high degree of specificity through a large range of excitation options, from ultraviolet to phase stable THz pulses, including short pulse options targeted towards studying phenomena down to 10-20 fs total time resolution.

For questions and further information about Bernina contact: Dr. Henrik Lemke

Cristallina Instrument

The Cristallina endstation hosts experimental stations for protein crystallography (Cristallina-MX) and quantum condensed-matter science (Cristallina-Q). For the former, a fixed-target sample delivery platform is available, which can be operated in combination with a pump laser generating nanosecond excitation pulses in the mid-IR to UV wavelength range. The latter provides extreme conditions of temperature and magnetic field necessary to access the quantum regime, and includes an Ultralow-T Vectormagnet as well as a Pulsed Magnet setup, each installed on a heavy load diffractometer. The experimental stations are moved on airpads between preparation areas and the beam position, allowing for vibration-free sliding on the large granite floor.

For questions and further information about Cristallina contact: Dr. Bill Pedrini

ATHOS Beamline

Maloja Instrument

The Maloja instrument targets atomic, molecular and non-linear physics as well as chemical sciences with a broad suite of experimental techniques ranging from electron- and ion-spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy to single-particle diffractive imaging.

For questions and further information about Maloja contact: Dr. Kirsten Schnorr

Furka Instrument

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. In particular, tr-RIXS opens new scientific opportunities thanks to its unique capability to probe energy and momentum-resolved dynamics of elementary excitations involving different degrees of freedom in solids.

For questions and further information about Furka contact: Dr. Elia Razzoli