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| Open AccessMultiple-core-hole resonance spectroscopy with ultraintense X-ray pulses
Intense light pulses can create nonlinear ionization processes in atoms and molecules. Here the authors study the photoionization of xenon atoms using intense free-electron laser pulses that can create extremely high charge states and produce hollow atoms, featuring up to six simultaneous core-holes.
- Aljoscha Rörig
- , Sang-Kil Son
- & Rebecca Boll
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Article
| Open AccessAn X-ray free-electron laser with a highly configurable undulator and integrated chicanes for tailored pulse properties
Since their initial operation, free-electron lasers are regularly upgraded in their performance and parameter control. Here the authors present the first lasing results of the soft X-ray free-electron laser beamline of the Paul Scherrer Institute, demonstrating different modes of operation and polarisation control of the tailored soft X-ray pulses.
- Eduard Prat
- , Andre Al Haddad
- & Tobias Weilbach
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| Open AccessAttosecond-Angstrom free-electron-laser towards the cold beam limit
Free-electron lasers (FELs) can produce bright X-ray pulses, but require high quality electron beams. Here the authors show how to generate and preserve ultrabright electron beams from plasma-based accelerators for ultra-compact, high-brightness X-ray FELs.
- A. F. Habib
- , G. G. Manahan
- & B. Hidding
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| Open AccessResolving molecular diffusion and aggregation of antibody proteins with megahertz X-ray free-electron laser pulses
The European X-ray FreeElectron Laser Facility generates ultrashort hard X-ray pulses with megahertz repetition rate. Here, the authors probe the dynamics of dense antibody protein (Ig-PEG) solutions using megahertz X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy at the European XFEL.
- Mario Reiser
- , Anita Girelli
- & Christian Gutt
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| Open AccessMegahertz pulse trains enable multi-hit serial femtosecond crystallography experiments at X-ray free electron lasers
Free-electron lasers are capable of high repetition rates and it is assumed that protein crystals often do not survive the first X-ray pulse. Here the authors address these issues with a demonstration of multi-hit serial crystallography in which multiple FEL pulses interact with the sample without destroying it.
- Susannah Holmes
- , Henry J. Kirkwood
- & Connie Darmanin
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Article
| Open AccessGeneration of ultrahigh-brightness pre-bunched beams from a plasma cathode for X-ray free-electron lasers
Laser-produced plasma can be used for acceleration and tuning of particle beams. Here the authors discuss the generation of a bunched electron beam using simulations and its application to X-ray free-electron laser.
- Xinlu Xu
- , Fei Li
- & Warren B. Mori
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| Open AccessMeasuring the frequency chirp of extreme-ultraviolet free-electron laser pulses by transient absorption spectroscopy
Free-electron laser pulses generated from self-amplification of spontaneous emission scheme vary from one another in their characteristics. Here the authors demonstrate a transient absorption spectroscopy method to characterize the frequency chirp of the FEL pulses.
- Thomas Ding
- , Marc Rebholz
- & Thomas Pfeifer
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| Open AccessSplit-pulse X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy with seeded X-rays from X-ray laser to study atomic-level dynamics
Here the authors study atomic scale dynamics in water by using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. They use a split-and-delay optics with self-seeding of X-rays to generate pulses of enough energy and controlled time delay between two X-ray pulses.
- Yuya Shinohara
- , Taito Osaka
- & Takeshi Egami
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Article
| Open AccessThe role of transient resonances for ultra-fast imaging of single sucrose nanoclusters
X-ray free electron lasers provide high photon flux to explore single particle diffraction imaging of biological samples. Here the authors present dynamic electronic structure calculations and benchmark them to single-particle XFEL diffraction data of sucrose clusters to predict optimal single-shot imaging conditions.
- Phay J. Ho
- , Benedikt J. Daurer
- & Christoph Bostedt
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| Open AccessReal-time observation of X-ray-induced intramolecular and interatomic electronic decay in CH2I2
Understanding strong X-ray induced phenomena is important for applications of X-ray free-electron laser imaging. Here, the authors show time-resolved measurements of X-ray free-electron laser induced electronic decay of CH2I2 molecule probed with NIR pulses and identify mechanisms behind different transient states lifetimes.
- Hironobu Fukuzawa
- , Tsukasa Takanashi
- & Kiyoshi Ueda
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| Open AccessSymmetry breakdown of electron emission in extreme ultraviolet photoionization of argon
Exploring the photoionization process leads to better understanding of the fundamental interactions between light and matter. Here the authors show the non-dipole contribution in the form of asymmetric photoelectron angular distribution from the ionization of argon atoms and ions.
- M. Ilchen
- , G. Hartmann
- & M. Meyer
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| Open AccessSeeded X-ray free-electron laser generating radiation with laser statistical properties
Free electron lasers are emerging as important tools for nonlinear spectroscopy in the X-ray regime. Here the authors demonstrate the second order coherence of a seeded FEL source that may be useful for measurements in quantum optics.
- Oleg Yu. Gorobtsov
- , Giuseppe Mercurio
- & Ivan A. Vartanyants
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| Open AccessRelativistic and resonant effects in the ionization of heavy atoms by ultra-intense hard X-rays
Availability of intense hard X-ray pulses allows exploration of multiple ionization effects in heavier elements. Here, the authors measure the complex charge state distributions of xenon and found a reasonable agreement by comparing with the model including the relativistic and resonance effects.
- Benedikt Rudek
- , Koudai Toyota
- & Daniel Rolles
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| Open AccessMegahertz data collection from protein microcrystals at an X-ray free-electron laser
The European X-ray free-electron laser (EuXFEL) in Hamburg is the first megahertz (MHz) repetition rate XFEL. Here the authors use lysozyme crystals and microcrystals from jack bean proteins and demonstrate that damage-free high quality data can be collected at a MHz repetition rate.
- Marie Luise Grünbein
- , Johan Bielecki
- & Ilme Schlichting
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| Open AccessControl of laser plasma accelerated electrons for light sources
Electron beam quality in accelerators is crucial for light source application. Here the authors demonstrate beam conditioning of laser plasma electrons thanks to a specific transport line enabling the control of divergence, energy, steering and dispersion and the application to observe undulator radiation.
- T. André
- , I. A. Andriyash
- & M.-E. Couprie
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Article
| Open AccessIn situ single-shot diffractive fluence mapping for X-ray free-electron laser pulses
Free electron laser beam profile characterization is usually performed separately from the actual measurements and this leads to considerable uncertainty in the results. Here the authors demonstrate the simultaneous measurement of the FEL beam profile with the experiment by using integrated gratings.
- Michael Schneider
- , Christian M. Günther
- & Stefan Eisebitt
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| Open AccessChirped pulse amplification in an extreme-ultraviolet free-electron laser
Short laser pulses of femtosecond time scales are in high demand in order to explore the fast electron dynamics in light-matter interactions. Here, the authors demonstrated the compression of free electron laser pulses in the extreme ultraviolet range by using a chirped pulse amplification technique.
- David Gauthier
- , Enrico Allaria
- & Giovanni De Ninno
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| Open AccessDirect single-shot phase retrieval from the diffraction pattern of separated objects
Short X-ray pulses from free-electron lasers enable coherent diffractive imaging of noncrystalline objects such as single molecules. Here, the authors reconstructing full image information from a single-shot diffraction pattern by using two sufficiently separated objects to act as references for each other.
- Ben Leshem
- , Rui Xu
- & Oren Raz
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Article
| Open AccessWidely tunable two-colour seeded free-electron laser source for resonant-pump resonant-probe magnetic scattering
Two-colour X-ray free electron laser is a powerful tool for pump–probe measurements, but currently constrained by limited tunability. Here, Ferrari et al. develop a configuration that allows tuning both the pump and the probe to specific electronic excitations, providing element selectivity.
- Eugenio Ferrari
- , Carlo Spezzani
- & Maurizio Sacchi
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| Open AccessSingle-shot spectro-temporal characterization of XUV pulses from a seeded free-electron laser
X-ray free-electron laser is a power probe for materials, but it is challenging to measure the spectro-temporal characters of individual pulses. Here, De Ninno et al.implement an interferometric method allowing one to characterize and control the ultrashort XUV pulses seeded by a femtosecond laser.
- Giovanni De Ninno
- , David Gauthier
- & Matija Stupar
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| Open AccessHigh-intensity double-pulse X-ray free-electron laser
Two-colour X-ray pulses from free-electron lasers can be used to probe ultrafast dynamics, but the total power is a fraction of the saturation power. Here, Marinelli et al. use twin electron bunches to reach full saturation power and increase the two-colour intensity by an order of magnitude at hard-X-ray energies.
- A. Marinelli
- , D. Ratner
- & Z. Huang
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Imaging single cells in a beam of live cyanobacteria with an X-ray laser
Imaging live cells at nanometre resolution is challenging because radiation damage kills the cells during exposure. Here, the authors overcome this difficulty in a ‘diffraction before destruction’ experiment using an X-ray laser and record signal to 4 nm resolution on a free-flying cell.
- Gijs van der Schot
- , Martin Svenda
- & Tomas Ekeberg
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| Open AccessFemtosecond all-optical synchronization of an X-ray free-electron laser
Few-femtosecond synchronization at free-electron lasers is key for nearly all experimental applications, stable operation and future light source development. Here, Schulz et al. demonstrate all-optical synchronization of the soft X-ray FEL FLASH to better than 30 fs and illustrate a pathway to sub-10 fs.
- S. Schulz
- , I. Grguraš
- & A. L. Cavalieri
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High-quality electron beams from a helical inverse free-electron laser accelerator
Electrons moving in strongly curved paths emit radiation that is used in free-electron laser designs. Here, the authors demonstrate the inverse force principle, where a laser light field is used in a compact experimental design to accelerate electrons to produce high-quality electron beams.
- J. Duris
- , P. Musumeci
- & V. Yakimenko
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Single-shot three-dimensional structure determination of nanocrystals with femtosecond X-ray free-electron laser pulses
Three-dimensional imaging is typically complex and time consuming. Here, the authors report the use of X-ray free-electron laser pulses for single-shot three-dimensional imaging of nanocrystals at ~5.5 nm resolution, using the symmetry in the nanocrystal and the curvature of the Ewald sphere.
- Rui Xu
- , Huaidong Jiang
- & Jianwei Miao
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Macromolecular structures probed by combining single-shot free-electron laser diffraction with synchrotron coherent X-ray imaging
Macromolecular complexes hold promise for future generations of drug delivery carriers, but probing their structures with high resolution is challenging. Here, the authors combine X-ray free-electron laser and synchrotron approaches to reveal the core-shell structure of RNA interference microsponges.
- Marcus Gallagher-Jones
- , Yoshitaka Bessho
- & Changyong Song
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Few-femtosecond time-resolved measurements of X-ray free-electron lasers
Characterizing femtosecond X-ray pulses that vary from shot to shot is important for data interpretation. Here, Behrens et al.measure time-resolved lasing effects on the electron beam and extract the temporal profile of X-ray pulses using an X-band radiofrequency transverse deflector.
- C. Behrens
- , F.-J. Decker
- & J. Wu
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Generation of 1020 W cm−2 hard X-ray laser pulses with two-stage reflective focusing system
X-ray-free electron lasers produce X-ray pulses for use in applications such as the determination of molecular structures or the study of materials. Here, Mimura and colleagues demonstrate a two-stage focusing scheme to achieve unprecedented laser power densities of over 1020 W cm−2.
- Hidekazu Mimura
- , Hirokatsu Yumoto
- & Kazuto Yamauchi
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Determining the polarization state of an extreme ultraviolet free-electron laser beam using atomic circular dichroism
Intense extreme UV and X-ray coherent sources are set to revolutionize numerous research areas, yet characterization of their polarization remains elusive. Here, Mazza et al.measure the polarization state of circularly polarized extreme UV light from a free-electron laser using circular dichroism.
- T. Mazza
- , M. Ilchen
- & M. Meyer
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| Open AccessImaging live cell in micro-liquid enclosure by X-ray laser diffraction
Live cell imaging at high resolution is very challenging because cells die upon prolonged radiation exposure. Kimura et al.overcome this problem by using pulsed coherent X-ray diffraction to image live microbacterium in a nanofabricated liquid enclosure at resolution far exceeding optical methods.
- Takashi Kimura
- , Yasumasa Joti
- & Yoshinori Nishino
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Two-colour hard X-ray free-electron laser with wide tunability
To study the dynamics of materials and biological samples at ultrafast time scales it is beneficial to use two short laser pulses, ideally at different energies. Here, the authors demonstrate the generation of two femtosecond hard X-ray laser pulses in a free electron laser, with more than 30% energy separation.
- Toru Hara
- , Yuichi Inubushi
- & Tetsuya Ishikawa
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| Open AccessTwo-colour pump–probe experiments with a twin-pulse-seed extreme ultraviolet free-electron laser
Free-electron lasers are a powerful new tool for studying properties and transient states of matter. Here, the authors use a novel seed scheme for generation of two XUV laser pulses of controlled wavelength and time separation that enables access to ultrafast phenomena with elemental sensitivity.
- E. Allaria
- , F. Bencivenga
- & M. Zangrando
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Single-shot pulse duration monitor for extreme ultraviolet and X-ray free-electron lasers
Free-electron lasers offer exciting new possibilities for X-ray studies on ultrafast timescales, but their shot-to-shot variability requires new diagnostic tools. Using a plasma switch cross-correlator, Riedel et al. present a single-shot online diagnostic to retrieve the duration of extreme ultraviolet pulses.
- R. Riedel
- , A. Al-Shemmary
- & F. Tavella
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Single-particle structure determination by correlations of snapshot X-ray diffraction patterns
Free-electron lasers enable diffractive imaging of single nanostructures, but algorithms, such as correlation analyses, are needed to determine their diffraction volume from accumulated data. Starodub et al.present such a method for X-ray diffractive imaging of nanometre-scale polystyrene dimers.
- D. Starodub
- , A. Aquila
- & M.J. Bogan
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Exploring the wavefront of hard X-ray free-electron laser radiation
X-ray free-electron lasers offer a wealth of possibilities for future diffraction studies, but variations in successive pulses mean the wavefront is not well defined. Rutishauseret al. use grating interferometry to characterize the wavefronts shot to shot, both in situand under operating conditions.
- Simon Rutishauser
- , Liubov Samoylova
- & Christian David