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 (under construction)

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 beamline (under construction; operation foreseen for 2020)

soft X-ray FEL, λ=0.65-5.0 nm
variable polarization, Apple II undulators
first users 2020
operation modes: SASE & self seeded

Status of SwissFEL

Current achieved parameters (August 1, 2018)

photon energy: 1.8-8 keV (planned for 2019: up to 12.4 keV)
typical pulse energies: 200-500 µJ
repetition rate: single shot - 25Hz
X-ray pulse duration: 100 - 200 fs fwhm (planned for 2019: ~50 fs fwhm)
X-ray-laser arrival time jitter: ~ 200 fs fwhm

Please note that due to the early operation phase of the SwissFEL facility, the evolution in 2019 toward advanced parameters is based on best effort.

Experimental Endstations in the ARAMIS Beamline

For the first run, the Alvra and Bernina endstations are available. 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 will be available with the following parameters:

Alvra Prime
Photon energy range	2 keV – 8 keV (12.4 keV planned)
Beam profile	Measured focus 20 x 30 µm² (fwhw) at 2 and 4.5 keV Measured focus 5 x 5 µm² (fwhm) at 6 keV Unfocused beam: ~1 x 1 mm² (fwhm) energy dependent
Bandwidth	Monochromatic (Si(111) commissioned, InSb(111), Si(311) available) and pink beam (0.5% of fundamental)
Environment	Vacuum (down to 5x10^-4 mbar ) up to atmospheric pressure (He or N2)
Sample systems	Liquid jet: -Flat jet (100, 200 and 300 µm) with gear or peristaltic pump -Round jet (20-100 µm) with HPLC pump LCP injector (50-100 µm) Solid samples
Detectors and Spectrometers	-16M Jungfrau forward scattering detector at 10 cm distance -2 x 2 crystal von Hamos dispersive X-ray emission spectrometer (1-12.4 keV) -Diodes for integrated x-ray absorption measurements

Alvra Flex
Photon energy range	6 keV – 8 keV (12.4 keV planned)
Beam profile	Focused 100 x 100 µm² (fwhm) from design Unfocused beam 1 x 1 mm² (fwhm) energy dependent
Bandwidth	Monochromatic (Si(111) commissioned, InSb(111), Si(311) available) and pink beam (0.5% of fundamental)
Environment	Atmosphere
Sample delivery	Liquid jet: -flat jet (100 to 250 µm) with gear or peristaltic pump -round jet (20-100 µm) with HPLC pump Solid samples
Detectors and Spectrometers	-3 crystal von Hamos dispersive X-ray emission spectrometer with 1 M Jungfrau detector -Diodes for X-ray absorption measurements

Alvra optical pump laser
Primary pump source	800 nm, 35 fs FWHM, 10 mJ (Ti:Sapphire)
Secondary pump sources	240 nm – 2.5 micron (OPA with additional nonlinear conversion options). At present, pulse energies at the sample location for 240-400 nm have been measured in the range of 10-30 µJ. We expect pulse energies of 150-500 µJ between 400 nm and 780 nm; 150-500 µJ between 1 µm and 2.5 µm. Pulse durations are expected to be approximately 50 fs fwhm.

General information can be found at:
Station Alvra experimental Endstations
For questions and further information about Alvra contact: Dr. Chris Milne

Bernina Instrument

The Bernina instrument presently provides two interchangeable platforms, the X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) equipped with a two circle detector arm, and the General Purpose Station (GPS) with a multi-purpose horizontal 2-theta arm. Both platforms/endstations can be completed with a sample platform choice of a 6 DOF heavy load goniometer, a 2-circle surface diffractometer combination plus hexapod, and a kappa arm. An additional 6 DOF robot arm can be used for flexible detector positioning.

Bernina
Photon energy range	4.5 keV – 8 keV (12.4 keV planned)
Beam profile	Focused 5x5 µm² (fwhm, measured) to unfocused 1000x1000 µm² (fwhm, photon energy dependent)
Bandwidth	Monochromatic (Si(111) commissioned, InSb(111), Si(311) available) and pink beam (0.5% of fundamental)
Environment	He or ambient atmosphere, platform for user-supplied chambers, N2 and He based cryo stream coolers down to ~80 K (tested)
Sample systems	Solids: single crystals, powders, amorphous systems
Detectors and Spectrometer	-1.5 M Jungfrau detector -16 M Jungfrau detector (planned) -Diodes or single element (0.5 M) Jungfrau detectors for multi- purpose applications

Bernina optical pump laser
Primary pump source	800 nm, 35 fs FWHM, 10 mJ (Ti:Sapphire)
Secondary pump sources	240 nm - 14 micron (OPA with additional nonlinear conversion options). At present pulse energies at the sample location for 240-400 nm have been measured in the range of 10-30 µJ. We expect pulse energies of 150-500 µJ between 400 nm and 780 nm; 150-500 µJ between 1 µm and 2.5 µm; 15-30 µJ between 2.5 µm and 14 µm. Pulse durations are expected to be approximately 50 fs fwhm and up to 250 fs for the 2.5 µm to 14 µm range depending on the wavelength. Nearly single cycle THz (~ 1THz center frequency). Preliminary commissioning measurements have measured fields of > 300 kV/cm for nearly-single-cycle pulses with a center frequency near 1 THz. Other center frequencies in the range of 1-2.5 THz are possible but not yet tested.

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