The Single-Particle, Clusters and Biomolecules and Serial Femtosecond Crystallography instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser: Interaction Region Downstream at atmospheric pressure (IRD)
The Single-Particle, Clusters and Biomolecules and Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SPB/SFX) scientific instrument at the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL) became operational with user experiments in September 2017. The unique properties and capabilities of the EuXFEL, enabling megahertz data collection rates, provide more rapid data collection with improved statistics compared with other XFEL facilities. This improves the feasibility of obtaining multiple data points in time-resolved experiments and hence enables the observation of reactions in greater detail (molecular movies). In collaboration with the SFX User Consortium (SFX UC), the SPB/SFX instrument was designed to further increase user access and research outcomes. Focusing the pulses downstream of the first interaction region [described previously (Mancuso et al., 2019)], a second experiment plane is enabled, which allows for greater optimization and more efficient usage of available beam time. Additionally, the SFX UC provided further instrumentation to provide improved capabilities on SPB/SFX. The aim for additional and extended functionality for the second interaction region was to enable sample-efficient data collection at atmospheric pressure in an environment where the sample temperature and humidity can be controlled. This paper describes the extended capabilities of the downstream interaction region of the SPB/SFX instrument and its major components, in particular its X-ray focusing optics, vacuum to atmospheric pressure out-coupling, available sample delivery methods and 2D detector, and the supporting optical laser systems for pump-probe experiments.
Authors
- Tim Pakendorf
- Tokushi Sato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3155-3487)
- O. Turkot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5352-7744)
- Gabriele Giovanetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4804-7006)
- Alke Meents (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6078-4095)
- Henry N. Chapman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4655-1743)
- P. Fischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5543-6018)
- Raphaël de Wijn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8342-1008)
- Fabio Dall’Antonia
- Raúl Villanueva Guerrero
- V. Hennicke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2997-2722)
- Prasad Thute
- Allen Milster Orville (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7803-1777)
- Mohammad Vakili (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9776-0177)
- Huijong Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1197-3014)
- Jayanath Koliyadu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0245-3842)
- Joachim Schulz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9310-8832)
- N. E. Devenish (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3030-6180)
- Katerina Doerner
- Johan Bielecki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3012-603X)
- Adrian P. Mancuso⋈ (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1710-8969)
- T. Tschentscher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2009-6869)
- Pierre Aller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1793-7030)
- Juan Sánchez-Weatherby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5893-9641)
- Cedric Signe Takem
- Nadja Reimers
- P. Reinke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7354-0839)
- Romain Letrun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0569-5193)
- Marco Ramilli
- Richard Bean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8151-7439)
- Adam Round (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0723-8228)
- Agata Butryn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5227-4770)
- С. Л. Молодцов
- Patrik Vagovič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9083-6447)
- S. Pascarelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4658-3195)
- F. Trost (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5628-598X)
- Luis López Morillo
- Robin Schubert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6213-2872)
- Marcin Sikorski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1243-4785)
- Marco Kloos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8745-9740)
- Sebastian Günther (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7329-6653)
- Gabriel Leen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2448-4428)
- Chan Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4559-7982)
- Yoonhee Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9209-9500)
- Thomas Dietze
Institutions
- PepsiCo (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Diamond Light Source (GB)
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (DE)
- European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Synchrotron Radiation
- Published
- 2025-11-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1107/s1600577525008999
- Primary Topic
- Enzyme Structure and Function
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00