Abstract
With the intense and coherent x-ray pulses available from free-electron lasers, the possibility to transfer non-linear spectroscopic methods from the laser lab to the x-ray world arises. Advantages especially regarding selectivity and thus information content as well as an improvement of signal levels are expected. The use of coherences is especially fruitful and the example of coherent x-ray/optical sum-frequency generation is discussed. However, many non-linear x-ray methods still await discovery, partially due to the necessity for extremely adaptable and versatile instrumentation that can be brought to free-electron lasers for the analysis of the spectral content emitted from the sample into a continuous range of emission angles. Such an instrument (called MUSIX) is being developed and employed at FLASH, the free-electron laser in Hamburg and is described in this contribution together with first results.
Highlights
Non-linear soft x-ray spectroscopies promise a unique access to functional materials
Many non-linear x-ray methods still await discovery, partially due to the necessity for extremely adaptable and versatile instrumentation that can be brought to free-electron lasers for the analysis of the spectral content emitted from the sample into a continuous range of emission angles
While the optical beams can be transmitted through large optical windows, all soft x-ray beam paths need to be realised in an ultra-high vacuum environment
Summary
Non-linear soft x-ray spectroscopies promise a unique access to functional materials. In order to realise and explore novel techniques adequately, very flexible instrumentation is needed that allows us to freely choose the relative angles between the sample, incoming and outgoing x-ray and optical laser beams. We present x-ray/optical sum-frequency generation (SFG) as a potential candidate to yield similar information as the more traditional synchrotron spectroscopy resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), which is very successful in the study of functional materials but suffers from low signal levels [5]. The MUSIX instrument was designed as an appropriate mobile setup to implement such experiments, while its flexibility enables it to be used as a platform for various other studies. On the way towards the realisation of the SFG experiment, we recorded fluorescence spectra of test samples to demonstrate the spectroscopic capabilities of the instrument and present the results in this publication
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