New frontiers in extreme conditions science at synchrotrons and free electron lasers

Abstract

Synchrotrons and free electron lasers are unique facilities to probe the atomic structure and electronic properties of matter at extreme thermodynamical conditions. In this context, ‘matter at extreme pressures and temperatures’ was one of the science drivers for the construction of low emittance 4th generation synchrotron sources such as the Extremely Brilliant Source of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and hard x-ray free electron lasers, such as the European x-ray free electron laser. These new user facilities combine static high pressure and dynamic shock compression experiments to outstanding high brilliance and submicron beams. This combination not only increases the data-quality but also enlarges tremendously the accessible pressure, temperature and density space. At the same time, the large spectrum of available complementary x-ray diagnostics for static and shock compression studies opens unprecedented insights into the state of matter at extremes. The article aims at highlighting a new horizon of scientific opportunities based on the synergy between extremely brilliant synchrotrons and hard x-ray free electron lasers.

Modular droplet injector for sample conservation providing new structural insight for the conformational heterogeneity in the disease-associated NQO1 enzyme

“…12 These two X-ray sources are, however, characterized by significant differences in pulse duration, peak brilliance, and repetition structure and therefore require the development of different approaches to sample handling. 13 With the increased availability of XFELs over the past 10 years, serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) methods have been developed to obtain room-temperature structural information from crystals that are too small, weakly scattering, or radiation damage-sensitive to be probed at synchrotrons. 14,15 In SFX, each crystal is typically exposed only once because the intense, ultrashort XFEL pulse triggers a cascade of ionization events that ends with the crystal exploding.…”

“…12 These two X-ray sources are, however, characterized by significant differences in pulse duration, peak brilliance, and repetition structure and therefore require the development of different approaches to sample handling. 13…”

A von Hámos spectrometer for diamond anvil cell experiments at the High Energy Density Instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser

“…The (Fe 0.5 Mg 0.5 )O powder was mixed with Pt which served as an in situ pressure standard and X-ray coupler for stronger X-ray absorption, which could also ensure indirect heating of the sample composed of lower-Z elements. The X-ray trains, arriving at 10 Hz repetition rate, induce a step-wise temperature increase over the duration of the X-ray trains while the sample partially cools down between the trains (Meza-Galvez et al, 2020;Cerantola et al, 2021). During the high-temperature state, XES and XRD signals are collected in a combined fashion to give information on the electronic spinstate change of Fe via the K 1, 3 emission, using four Si(531) crystals and its crystalline structure, respectively.…”

The beam stop as an intensity monitor

“…Free-electron lasers (FELs) have brought about exciting new possibilities in investigating structural and electronic properties, particularly dynamics, in a wide variety of systems [1]. With their gain in peak photon flux as compared to state-of-the-art storage-ring sources they also allow for entirely new experiments including the study of X-ray induced non-linear effects [2][3][4]. Yet, the increase in peak power comes at the price of losing the stability that is readily available nowadays at synchrotron sources.…”