SwissFEL Maloja Experimental Station

The Maloja endstation is located at the soft X-ray branch Athos of SwissFEL and is dedicated to atomic, molecular and non-linear X-ray physics and chemical dynamics. It will take direct advantage of the novel X-ray beam modes from the Athos branch at SwissFEL. With the highly flexible Maloja endstation, we will be able to trace electronic structure changes and nuclear rearrangement on their natural time scales of femtoseconds to attoseconds, to exploit the state selectivity of X-rays for spatial resolution, and to explore novel opportunities in nonlinear X-ray spectroscopy and single-shot imaging. Maloja will enable innovative research on the ultrafast dynamics of gas-phase atoms, molecules, and clusters as well as liquids and nanoparticles.

Technical Overview

Projected X-ray parameters
Photon energy range	250 - 1800 eV (full Athos range)
Pulse duration	sub-fs to 100 fs
Bandwidth	0.02 - 10 % (SASE pulses)
Focus	Adaptable KB system, smallest focus expected 1 μm x 1 μm (FWHM)
Sample delivery systems
	Room temperature and heated supersonic gas jet with pulsed valves
	Gas needle
	Microfluidic liquid jet
	Aerosol injector
Spectrometers and detectors
	Hemispherical electron analyzer
	Ion-Time-of-Flight spectrometer
	Photon spectrometer
	Ion momentum spectrometer (planned)
	Jungfrau 4M detector (planned)
Optical laser system
Fundamental wavelength	800 nm
Pulse energy fundamental	20 mJ
Pulse duration fundamental	35 fs
Other wavelengths	2nd (400 nm) and 3rd (266 nm) harmonic of fundamental

User Information

The Maloja endstation is currently under construction and early commissioning. We have received first, unfocused light in the endstation in June 2020. The focusing optics will be installed and commissioned in Fall 2020.

User operations is anticipated to start in mid 2021. Check back often for updates on the user program.

Endstation Layout

Maloja is designed as a highly flexible endstation covering a wide range of experimental techniques, including electron and ion spectrometers as well as large-area detectors for ultrafast imaging. The endstation consists of four interaction points that can each accommodate the various spectrometers and sample delivery systems. The best X-ray focus of an estimated 1 micrometer (FWHM) will be achieved in the first interaction point closest to the KB mirrors.