The X‐ray Pump–Probe instrument achieves femtosecond time‐resolution with hard X‐ray methods using a free‐electron laser source. It covers a photon energy range of 4–24 keV. A femtosecond optical ...laser system is available across a broad spectrum of wavelengths for generating transient states of matter. The instrument is designed to emphasize versatility and the scientific goals encompass ultrafast physical, chemical and biological processes involved in the transformation of matter and transfer of energy at the atomic scale.
The X‐ray Correlation Spectroscopy instrument is dedicated to the study of dynamics in condensed matter systems using the unique coherence properties of free‐electron lasers. It covers a photon ...energy range of 4–25 keV. The intrinsic temporal characteristics of the Linac Coherent Light Source, in particular the 120 Hz repetition rate, allow for the investigation of slow dynamics (milliseconds) by means of X‐ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Double‐pulse schemes could probe dynamics on the picosecond timescale. A description of the instrument capabilities and recent achievements is presented.
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) provide very intense X-ray pulses suitable for macromolecular crystallography. Each X-ray pulse typically lasts for tens of femtoseconds and the interval between ...pulses is many orders of magnitude longer. Here we describe two novel acoustic injection systems that use focused sound waves to eject picoliter to nanoliter crystal-containing droplets out of microplates and into the X-ray pulse from which diffraction data are collected. The on-demand droplet delivery is synchronized to the XFEL pulse scheme, resulting in X-ray pulses intersecting up to 88% of the droplets. We tested several types of samples in a range of crystallization conditions, wherein the overall crystal hit ratio (e.g., fraction of images with observable diffraction patterns) is a function of the microcrystal slurry concentration. We report crystal structures from lysozyme, thermolysin, and stachydrine demethylase (Stc2). Additional samples were screened to demonstrate that these methods can be applied to rare samples.
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•Acoustic methods inject crystal-containing droplets directly from microplate wells•On-demand acoustic injection uses crystals efficiently without orifices or clogging•Diffraction patterns from crystals measuring several tens of μm are of high quality•Complete datasets can be obtained from fewer than 50,000 crystals
Acoustic droplet ejection provides an automated tool for efficient use of protein crystals in SFX experiments. Roessler et al. used this method to deliver crystal-containing droplets into the XFEL beam to coincide with each X-ray pulse.
An X‐ray emission spectrometer that can detect the sulfur Kα emission lines with large throughput and a high energy resolution is presented. The instrument is based on a large d‐spacing perfect Bragg ...analyzer that diffracts the sulfur Kα emission at close to backscattering angles. This facilitates the application of efficient concepts routinely employed in hard X‐ray spectrometers towards the tender X‐ray regime. The instrument described in this work is based on an energy‐dispersive von Hamos geometry that is well suited for photon‐in photon‐out spectroscopy at X‐ray free‐electron laser and synchrotron sources. Comparison of its performance with previously used instrumentation is presented through measurements using sulfur‐containing species performed at the LCLS. It is shown that the overall signal intensity is increased by a factor of ∼15. Implementation of this approach in the design of a tender X‐ray spectroscopy endstation for LCLS‐II is also discussed.
An instrument for photon‐in photon‐out spectroscopy at XFELs in the energy range between soft and hard X‐rays is presented.
An instrument for photon-in photon-out spectroscopy at XFELs in the energy range between soft and hard X-rays is presented.
An X-ray emission spectrometer that can detect the sulfur
K
α emission ...lines with large throughput and a high energy resolution is presented. The instrument is based on a large
d
-spacing perfect Bragg analyzer that diffracts the sulfur
K
α emission at close to backscattering angles. This facilitates the application of efficient concepts routinely employed in hard X-ray spectrometers towards the tender X-ray regime. The instrument described in this work is based on an energy-dispersive von Hamos geometry that is well suited for photon-in photon-out spectroscopy at X-ray free-electron laser and synchrotron sources. Comparison of its performance with previously used instrumentation is presented through measurements using sulfur-containing species performed at the LCLS. It is shown that the overall signal intensity is increased by a factor of ∼15. Implementation of this approach in the design of a tender X-ray spectroscopy endstation for LCLS-II is also discussed.
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) provide very intense X-ray pulses suitable for macromolecular crystallography. Each X-ray pulse typically lasts for tens of femtoseconds and the interval between ...pulses is many orders of magnitude longer. Here we describe two novel acoustic injection systems that use focused sound waves to eject picoliter to nanoliter crystal-containing droplets out of microplates and into the X-ray pulse from which diffraction data are collected. The on-demand droplet delivery is synchronized to the XFEL pulse scheme, resulting in X-ray pulses intersecting up to 88% of the droplets. We tested several types of samples in a range of crystallization conditions, wherein the overall crystal hit ratio (e.g., fraction of images with observable diffraction patterns) is a function of the microcrystal slurry concentration. Lastly, we report crystal structures from lysozyme, thermolysin, and stachydrine demethylase (Stc2). In addition, samples were screened to demonstrate that these methods can be applied to rare samples
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