A configurable charge-coupled-device (CCD) detector is used in a scanning transmission x-ray microscope to record the transmitted intensity distribution for every pixel in a raster scan of the sample. Real-time processing of the CCD frames gives simultaneous absorption and phase contrast image signals from a single scan. The CCD combines fast frame-transfer readout with very high sensitivity and makes use of x-ray to visible-light coupling to allow operation over a wide range of photon energies, from the oxygen K edge upwards. Tests on the Twinmic end station at the Elettra synchrotron are reported.

The FERMI@Elettra free electron laser (FEL) user facility is currently under construction at the Sincrotrone Trieste laboratory in Trieste (Italy). It will cover the wavelength range from 100 to about 5 nm in the fundamental and 3 or 1 nm using the third harmonic. We report the layout of the photon beam diagnostics section, the radiation transport system to the experimental area, and the photon beam distribution system. Due to the peculiar characteristics of the emitted FEL radiation (high peak power, short pulse length, and statistical variation of the emitted intensity and distribution), the realization of the diagnostics system is particularly challenging. The end users are interested in parameters such as the radiation pulse intensity and spectral distribution, as well as in the possibility to attenuate the intensity. In order to accomplish these tasks, a photon analysis, delivery, and reduction system is now under development and construction and is presented here. This system will work on-line producing pulse-resolved information and will let users keep track of the photon beam parameters during the experiments.

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We report on a low‐energy x‐ray fluorescence (LEXRF) spectrometer system implemented in the European TwinMic x‐ray spectromicroscope,1 which is operated in the 280–2200 eV energy range and allows sub‐100 nm optical resolution by means of focusing with diffractive optics. The LEXRF setup is a modular system based on the use of multiple windowless large‐area silicon drift detectors (SDD). The detectors are read out by a custom pulsed reset preamplifier system optimized for SDDs and specially designed and adapted to geometrical requirements for microscopies at synchrotron facilities. Moreover, a customized fast multi‐channel acquisition system developed for elemental mapping applications has been adapted to the microscope requirements. Acquisition of elemental composition by LEXRF maps is accomplished by simultaneous acquisition of absorption and phase contrast images to correlate the morphological structure. The instrumental setup is described and its potential illustrated by recently performed pilot experiments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We present a compact modular apparatus with a flexible design that will be operated at the DiProI beamline of the Fermi@Elettra free electron laser (FEL) for performing static and time-resolved coherent diffraction imaging experiments, taking advantage of the full coherence and variable polarization of the short seeded FEL pulses. The apparatus has been assembled and the potential of the experimental setup is demonstrated by commissioning tests with coherent synchrotron radiation. This multipurpose experimental station will be open to general users after installation at the Fermi@Elettra free electron laser in 2011.