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This article reports on energy-dispersive micro Laue (µLaue) diffraction of an individual gold nanowire that was mechanically deformed in three-point bending geometry using an atomic force microscope. The nanowire deformation was investigated by scanning the focused polychromatic X-ray beam along the nanowire and recording µLaue diffraction patterns using an energy-sensitive pnCCD detector that permits measurement of the angular positions of the Laue spots and the energies of the diffracted X-rays simultaneously., This article reports on energy-dispersive micro Laue (µLaue) diffraction of an individual gold nanowire that was mechanically deformed in three-point bending geometry using an atomic force microscope. The nanowire deformation was investigated by scanning the focused polychromatic X-ray beam along the nanowire and recording µLaue diffraction patterns using an energy-sensitive pnCCD detector that permits measurement of the angular positions of the Laue spots and the energies of the diffracted X-rays simultaneously. The plastic deformation of the nanowire was shown by a bending of up to 3.0 ± 0.1°, a torsion of up to 0.3 ± 0.1° and a maximum deformation depth of 80 ± 5 nm close to the position where the mechanical load was applied. In addition, extended Laue spots in the vicinity of one of the clamping points indicated the storage of geometrically necessary dislocations with a density of 7.5 × 1013 m−2. While µLaue diffraction with a non-energy-sensitive detector only gives access to the deviatoric strain, the energy sensitivity of the employed pnCCD offers absolute strain measurements with a resolution of 1%. Here, the residual strain after complete unloading of the nanowire amounted to maximum tensile and compressive strains of the order of +1.2 and −3%, which is comparable to the actual resolution limit. The combination of white-beam µLaue diffraction using an energy-sensitive pixel detector with nano-mechanical testing opens up new possibilities for the study of mechanical behavior at the nanoscale.

eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) is the primary instrument on the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission, which was successfully launched on July 13, 2019, from the Baikonour cosmodrome. After the commissioning of the instrument and a subsequent calibration and performance verification phase, eROSITA started a survey of the entire sky on December 13, 2019. By the end of 2023, eight complete scans of the celestial sphere will have been performed, each lasting six months. At the end of this program, the eROSITA all-sky survey in the soft X-ray band (0.2--2.3\,keV) will be about 25 times more sensitive than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, while in the hard band (2.3--8\,keV) it will provide the first ever true imaging survey of the sky. The eROSITA design driving science is the detection of large samples of galaxy clusters up to redshifts $z>1$ in order to study the large-scale structure of the universe and test cosmological models including Dark Energy. In addition, eROSITA is expected to yield a sample of a few million AGNs, including obscured objects, revolutionizing our view of the evolution of supermassive black holes. The survey will also provide new insights into a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, including X-ray binaries, active stars, and diffuse emission within the Galaxy. Results from early observations, some of which are presented here, confirm that the performance of the instrument is able to fulfil its scientific promise. With this paper, we aim to give a concise description of the instrument, its performance as measured on ground, its operation in space, and also the first results from in-orbit measurements., 16 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics

In a semiconductor tracking detector, a single X-ray photon can create signals in a cluster of adjacent pixels. We present a novel technique to reconstruct the points of entry (PoEs) of X-ray photons from these clusters based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). The new method allows improving the spatial resolution into subpixel regime. Beside the improved accuracy of the reconstruction, the method is much less computational intensive than conventional event analyses and therefore can be run even on less powerful machines in realtime. Due to its special architecture, the CNN can handle different frame sizes without adjustments or retraining processes.

Full list of authors: Bunce, Emma J.; Martindale, Adrian; Lindsay, Simon; Muinonen, Karri; Rothery, David A.; Pearson, Jim; McDonnell, Ivor; Thomas, Chris; Thornhill, Julian; Tikkanen, Tuomo; Feldman, Charly; Huovelin, Juhani; Korpela, Seppo; Esko, Eero; Lehtolainen, Arto; Treis, Johannes; Majewski, Petra; Hilchenbach, Martin; Väisänen, Timo; Luttinen, Arto; Kohout, Tomas; Penttilä, Antti; Bridges, John; Joy, Katherine H.; Alcacera-Gil, Maria Angeles; Alibert, Guilhem; Anand, Mahesh; Bannister, Nigel; Barcelo-Garcia, Corinne; Bicknell, Chris; Blake, Oliver; Bland, Phil; Butcher, Gillian; Cheney, Andy; Christensen, Ulrich; Crawford, Tony; Crawford, Ian A.; Dennerl, Konrad; Dougherty, Michele; Drumm, Paul; Fairbend, Raymond; Genzer, Maria; Grande, Manuel; Hall, Graeme P.; Hodnett, Rosie; Houghton, Paul; Imber, Suzanne; Kallio, Esa; Lara, Maria Luisa; Balado Margeli, Ana; Mas-Hesse, Miguel J.; Maurice, Sylvestre; Milan, Steve; Millington-Hotze, Peter; Nenonen, Seppo; Nittler, Larry; Okada, Tatsuaki; Ormö, Jens; Perez-Mercader, Juan; Poyner, Richard; Robert, Eddy; Ross, Duncan; Pajas-Sanz, Miriam; Schyns, Emile; Seguy, Julien; Strüder, Lothar; Vaudon, Nathalie; Viceira-Martín, Jose; Williams, Hugo; Willingale, Dick; Yeoman, Tim.-- This is an open access article., The Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer is a highly novel instrument that is designed to map Mercury’s elemental composition from orbit at two angular resolutions. By observing the fluorescence X-rays generated when solar-coronal X-rays and charged particles interact with the surface regolith, MIXS will be able to measure the atomic composition of the upper ∼10-20 μm of Mercury’s surface on the day-side. Through precipitating particles on the night-side, MIXS will also determine the dynamic interaction of the planet’s surface with the surrounding space environment. MIXS is composed of two complementary elements: MIXS-C is a collimated instrument which will achieve global coverage at a similar spatial resolution to that achieved (in the northern hemisphere only – i.e. ∼ 50 – 100 km) by MESSENGER; MIXS-T is the first ever X-ray telescope to be sent to another planet and will, during periods of high solar activity (or intense precipitation of charged particles), reveal the X-ray flux from Mercury at better than 10 km resolution. The design, performance, scientific goals and operations plans of the instrument are discussed, including the initial results from commissioning in space. © 2020, The Author(s)., The MIXS team has gratefully received funding from a consortium of agencies across Europe. The UK Space Agency are the lead funding agency, supported by national contributions from our amazing panEuropean team and the European Space Agency. UK funding has come from, the science and technology facilities council - STFC (grant numbers: PP/E002056/1; PP/E002412/1; ST/L000776/1; ST/M002101/1; ST/M002187/1; ST/N00339X/1; ST/N000471/1; ST/P001963/1; ST/S002596/1; ST/J000213/1), the United Kingdom Space Agency -UKSA (grant numbers: ST/P000908/1; ST/T001542/1; ST/K003194/1; ST/L000318/1; ST/M000702/1) and the European Space Agency -ESA (contract numbers: 4000118221/16/ES/JD; RES-PSS/NR/035-B/200; 20919/07/NF/FG). Images shown in Fig. 4, Fig. 6 and Fig. 9 are adapted from drawings produced by MagnaParva Ltd. under ESA contract number 20919/07/NL/FG. EJB is supported by a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. The DEPFET X-ray detectors were contributed with the support of dedicated Max Planck Society grants by MPG and MPS as well as ESA contract number 4000108312. The Spanish contribution was funded by MEC/MINECO/MICINN grants; AYA200803467/ESP, AYA2011-24780, AYA2012-39362-C02-01, ESP2014-59789-P and ESP2015-65712-C5-1-R. Finnish hardware contributions were funded by Tekes (now "Business Finland") during the era from 2004 to 2019. Research at the University of Helsinki is supported, in part, by the Academy of Finland (grant number 1325805).

By simultaneously measuring changes in energy and reflection angle of Laue spots with respect to a reference position, it is possible to measure all lattice parameters of a unit cell and calculate the full strain/stress tensors in a single-shot experiment with high spatial resolution., The full strain and stress tensor determination in a triaxially stressed single crystal using X-ray diffraction requires a series of lattice spacing measurements at different crystal orientations. This can be achieved using a tunable X-ray source. This article reports on a novel experimental procedure for single-shot full strain tensor determination using polychromatic synchrotron radiation with an energy range from 5 to 23 keV. Microbeam X-ray Laue diffraction patterns were collected from a copper micro-bending beam along the central axis (centroid of the cross section). Taking advantage of a two-dimensional energy-dispersive X-ray detector (pnCCD), the position and energy of the collected Laue spots were measured for multiple positions on the sample, allowing the measurement of variations in the local microstructure. At the same time, both the deviatoric and hydrostatic components of the elastic strain and stress tensors were calculated.

By combining a low noise fully depleted pnCCD detector with a CsI(Tl) scintillator, an energy-dispersive area detector can be realized with a high quantum efficiency (QE) in the range from below 1 keV to above 100 keV. In direct detection mode the pnCCD exhibits a relative energy resolution of 1% at 122 keV and spatial resolution of less than 75 µm, the pixel size of the pnCCD. In the indirect detection mode, i.e. conversion of the incoming X-rays in the scintillator, the measured energy resolution was about 9–13% at 122 keV, depending on the depth of interaction in the scintillator, while the position resolution, extracted with the help of simulations, was 30 µm only. We show simulated data for incident photons of 122 keV and compare the various interaction processes and relevant physical parameters to experimental results obtained with a radioactive 57 Co source.

Energy dispersive X-ray Laue diffraction is applied to investigate the deformation behavior of individual grains in a polycrystalline nickel wire under tensile loading. 38 Laue spots are identified in the Laue pattern which originate from 9 separate grains. The simultaneous measurements of the Laue spot's position and energy obtained by using a 2D energy dispersive detector, allows to track the evolution of the 9 grains through multiple stages of deformation. Angular and spectral elongation (streaking) of the Laue spots increases as tensile loading is increased and is attributed to macroscopic texture changed and strain due to defect accumulation. On the single grain level, a correlation between crystallographic orientation and strain is investigated. Moreover, spatially resolved anisotropic deformation within a single grain is measured to increase at the grain boundaries. Comparison of the grain specific responses allow for development of a deformation scenario for the whole specimen. The presented experiment demonstrates an alternative protocol for the investigation of deformation mechanisms in polycrystalline materials.

The lattice parameters and unit-cell orientation of an SrLaAlO4crystal have been determined by means of energy-dispersive X-ray Laue diffraction (EDLD) using a pnCCD detector coupled to a columnar structure CsI(Tl) scintillator in the energy range between 40 and 130 keV. By exploiting the high quantum efficiency (QE) achieved by this combined detection system for hard X-rays, a large number of Bragg reflections could be recorded by the relatively small detector area, allowing accurate and fast determination of the lattice parameters and the moduli of the structure factors. The experiment was performed on the energy-dispersive diffraction (EDDI) beamline at the BESSY II synchrotron using a pnCCD detector with 128 × 128 pixels. Since the energies and positions of the Laue peaks can be recorded simultaneously by the pnCCD system, the tetragonal structure of the investigated specimen was determined without any prior information. The unit-cell parameters and the angles between the lattice vectors were evaluated with an accuracy of better than 0.7%, while the structure-factor moduli of the reflections were determined with a mean deviation of 2.5% relative to the theoretical values.

Long wavelength vibrational modes in the ferromagnetic semiconductor ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.91}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{0.09}\mathrm{As}$ are investigated using time resolved x-ray diffraction. At room temperature, we measure oscillations in the x-ray diffraction intensity corresponding to coherent vibrational modes with well-defined wavelengths. When the correlation of magnetic impurities sets in, we observe the transition of the lattice into a disordered state that does not support coherent modes at large wavelengths. Our measurements point toward a magnetically induced broadening of long wavelength vibrational modes in momentum space and their quasilocalization in the real space. More specifically, long wavelength vibrational modes cannot be assigned to a single wavelength but rather should be represented as a superposition of plane waves with different wavelengths. Our findings have strong implications for the phonon-related processes, especially carrier-phonon and phonon-phonon scattering, which govern the electrical conductivity and thermal management of semiconductor-based devices.

We present results of recent development of the color X-ray camera, type SLcam®, allowing detection of X-ray images with few microns resolution. Such spectral resolution is achieved with the use of high-quality polycapillary optics combined with sub-pixel resolution. Imaging of Siemens star resolution test chart reveals that the resolution limit of SLcam® can go down to nearly 5μm. Several real sample examples of measurements carried out at the laboratory, synchrotron, and particle-induced X-ray emission beamlines are shown. This is the first time SLcam® is used as particle-induced X-ray emission detector. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL.EU) is a high-intensity X-ray light source currently being commissioned in the area of Hamburg/Schenefeld, Germany, that will provide spatially coherent X-rays in the energy range between 0.25keV and 20keV [1]. The machine will deliver a unique time structure, consisting of up to 2700 pulses, with a 4.5MHz repetition rate, 10 times per second at very high photon fluxes up to 1013, photons per pulse [2]. The LPD [3], [4], DSSC [5], [6] and AGIPD [7] detectors are being developed to provide mega-pixel imaging capabilities at the aforementioned repetition rates for a dynamic range spanning from single photon sensitivity to 104, - 105, photons per pixel. Data analysis of Bragg diffraction experiments relies on localizing and indexing of diffracted X-rays in the detector image. Pixelated, two dimensional X-ray detectors add uncertainty to the localization. The finite pixel size, scattering of diffracted photons in the sensitive sensor layer and the entrance window, and charge diffusion, contribute to a non-trivial signal distributionUsing X-ray Detector Simulation Pipelines (XDSPs) the uncertainty in correct attribution of the point of impact (POI) of diffracted photons on the detector’s pixel matrix is evaluated ovetthe XFEL.EU’s energy range and relevant pixel sizes. We quantify how steeper angles of incidence (AOIs) cause the signal distribution’s center of mass to shift away from the X-ray’s POI. Shifts increase with the photon energy, as far as 255$\mu m$ for E ph =25keV and θ max =50° AOI in our model detector.

Grazing incidence and grazing emission X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (GI/GE-XRF) are techniques that enable nondestructive, quantitative analysis of elemental depth profiles with a resolution in the nanometer regime. A laboratory setup for soft X-ray GEXRF measurements is presented. Reasonable measurement times could be achieved by combining a highly brilliant laser produced plasma (LPP) source with a scanning-free GEXRF setup, providing a large solid angle of detection. The detector, a pnCCD, was operated in a single photon counting mode in order to utilize its energy dispersive properties. GEXRF profiles of the Ni–Lα,β line of a nickel–carbon multilayer sample, which displays a lateral (bi)layer thickness gradient, were recorded at several positions. Simulations of theoretical profiles predicted a prominent intensity minimum at grazing emission angles between 5° and 12°, depending strongly on the bilayer thickness of the sample. This information was used to retrieve the bilayer thickness gradient. The...

The Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (MIXS) will be launched on board of the 5th ESA cornerstone mission BepiColombo. The two channel instrument MIXS is dedicated to the exploration of the elemental composition of the mercurian surface by imaging x-ray spectroscopy of the elemental fluorescence lines. One of the main scientific goals of MIXS is to provide spatially resolved elemental abundance maps of key rock-forming elements. MIXS will be the successor of the XRS instrument, which is currently orbiting Mercury on board of NASAs satellite MESSENGER. MIXS will provide unprecedented spectral and spatial resolution due to its innovative detector and optics concepts. The MIXS target energy band ranges from 0.5 to 7 keV and allows to directly access the Fe-L line at 0.7 keV, which was not accessible to previous missions. In addition, the high spectroscopic resolution of FWHM ≤ 200 eV at the reference energy of 1 keV after one year in Mercury orbit, allows to separate the x-ray fluorescence emission lines of important elements like Mg (1.25 keV) and Al (1.49 keV) without the need for any filter. The detectors for the energy and spatially resolved detection of x-rays for both channels are identical DEPFET (DEpleted P-channel FET) active pixel detectors. We report on the calibration of the MIXS flight and flight spare detector modules at the PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt) beamlines at the BESSY II synchrotron radiation facility. Each detector was calibrated at least at 10 discrete energies in the energy range from 0.5 to 10 keV. The excellent spectroscopic performance of all three detector modules was verified.

In this work we study the response of a pnCCD by means of X-ray spectroscopy in the energy range between 6 keV and 20 keV and by Laue diffraction techniques. The analyses include measurements of characteristic detector parameters like energy resolution, count rate capability and effects of different gain settings. The limit of a single photon counting operation in white beam X-ray diffraction experiments is discussed with regard to the occurrence of pile-up events, for which the energy information about individual photons is lost. In case of monochromatic illumination the pnCCD can be used as a fast conventional CCD with a charge handling capacity (CHC) of about 300,000 electrons per pixel. If the CHC is exceeded, any surplus charge will spill to neighboring pixels perpendicular to the transfer direction due to electrostatic repulsion. The possibilities of increasing the number of storable electrons are investigated for different voltage settings by exposing a single pixel with X-rays generated by a microfocus X-ray source. The pixel binning mode is tested as an alternative approach that enables a pnCCD operation with significantly shorter readout times.

VERITAS (VErsatile Readout based on Integrated Trapezoidal Analog Shapers) is the first 128-channel ASIC developed to read out both the pnCCDs and the DEPFET arrays produced at the MPI-Halbleiterlabor in Munich. These detectors are used in a large variety of scientific applications, ranging from high-speed optical astronomy and X-ray astronomy to the new X-ray Free Electron Laser sources. The main concept of VERITAS is to provide a flexible readout chip able to cope not only with different kinds of detectors, but also with a large set of operating conditions that may require very different noise thresholds and input dynamic ranges. These can vary by more than two orders of magnitude. Every analog channel of VERITAS provides a trapezoidal weighting function. This filtering strategy had never been applied to the pnCCD before. The very first measurements obtained coupling VERITAS with a 128 × 256 pnCCD are shown. With a readout time of 4 μs/line a noise of 3.9 electrons has been measured in the highest gain mode. The resolution obtained on the Mn-Kα peak of a 55Fe source is 136 eV for single events. A noise of 30 electrons has been achieved in the lowest gain mode at a speed of 6.4 μs/line. In this low gain setting an input charge up to 2 5 × 105 electrons can be processed. These striking results fulfill the requirements of the main foreseen applications of large-size pnCCDs. In order to further improve the performance and the flexibility of the ASIC, a second version based on a fully differential architecture has been designed. The new topology allows one also to switch with the same ASIC between the source follower and drain current readout of the DEPFET sensors and to reach a processing time of about 2-3 μs/line with an electronics noise ≤10 el. For this reason the second version of VERITAS is very attractive for the proposed ESA X-ray astronomy mission ATHENA.

The ability to observe ultrafast structural changes in nanoscopic samples is essential for understanding non-equilibrium phenomena such as chemical reactions(1), matter under extreme conditions(2), ultrafast phase transitions(3) and intense light-matter interactions(4). Established imaging techniques are limited either in time or spatial resolution and typically require samples to be deposited on a substrate, which interferes with the dynamics. Here, we show that coherent X-ray diffraction images from isolated single samples can be used to visualize femtosecond electron density dynamics. We recorded X-ray snapshot images from a nanoplasma expansion, a prototypical non-equilibrium phenomenon(4,5). Single Xe clusters are superheated using an intense optical laser pulse and the structural evolution of the sample is imaged with a single X-ray pulse. We resolved ultrafast surface softening on the nanometre scale at the plasma/vacuum interface within 100 fs of the heating pulse. Our study is the first time-resolved visualization of irreversible femtosecond processes in free, individual nanometre-sized samples.

Scientific data 3, 160060 (2016). doi:10.1038/sdata.2016.60, Free-electron lasers (FEL) hold the potential to revolutionize structural biology by producing X-ray pules short enough to outrun radiation damage, thus allowing imaging of biological samples without the limitation from radiation damage. Thus, a major part of the scientific case for the first FELs was three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of non-crystalline biological objects. In a recent publication we demonstrated the first 3D reconstruction of a biological object from an X-ray FEL using this technique. The sample was the giant Mimivirus, which is one of the largest known viruses with a diameter of 450 nm. Here we present the dataset used for this successful reconstruction. Data-analysis methods for single-particle imaging at FELs are undergoing heavy development but data collection relies on very limited time available through a highly competitive proposal process. This dataset provides experimental data to the entire community and could boost algorithm development and provide a benchmark dataset for new algorithms., Published by Nature Publ. Group, London

In this paper we describe a setup for x-ray scattering experiments on complex fluids using a liquid jet. The setup supports Small and Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS/WAXS) geometries. The jet is formed by a gas-dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN) allowing for diameters ranging between 1 μm and 20 μm at a jet length of several hundred μm. To control jet properties such as jet length, diameter, or flow rate, the instrument is equipped with several diagnostic tools. Three microscopes are installed to quantify jet dimensions and stability in situ. The setup has been used at several beamlines performing both SAXS and WAXS experiments. As a typical example we show an experiment on a colloidal dispersion in a liquid jet at the X-ray Correlation Spectroscopy instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source free-electron laser.

For many years pnCCDs have been well known as X-ray detectors for spectroscopic imaging in many fields of science: X-Ray Fluorescence analysis (XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) with light sources in large accelerator facilities as well as with laboratory light sources or with X -rays from celestial sources in X-ray astronomy. A brief introduction in GEXRF (Grazing Emission XRF) measurements with a laboratory laser produced plasma source will be given, PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) measurements and D2XRF (Double Dispersive X -Ray Fluorescence) and Slicing experiments with pnCCDs coupled to polycapillary optics performed at the BESSY synchrotron will be shown. Energy - dispersive Laue diffraction with ultra - hard X-rays for the analysis of defects in metals will conclude the overview of spectroscopic X-ray imaging measurements in the field of structure and dynamics of matter. pnCCDs are radiation detectors on high resistivity 450 μm thick fully sensitive silicon [1]. They are back-illuminated devices with an ultra-thin, homogeneous radiation entrance window, enabling the proper detection of X-rays up to 30 keV with high quantum efficiency. As all pnCCDs are equipped with a fully column parallel readout, frame rates on more than 1200 frames per second are achieved, keeping the read noise level at 3 electrons (rms). Some of the key performance figures are (1) a quantum efficiency above 90% from 1 keV up to 10 keV, (2) single photon counting capability starting at only 30 eV, (3) extreme radiation hardness due to the avoidance of active MOS structures, and (4) energy resolution of 130eV (FWHM) at 6 keV and 37 eV (FWHM) at 90 eV. These properties have enabled a variety of spectacular measurements. (a) GEXRF: By combining a highly brilliant laser produced plasma (LPP) source with a scanning - free setup, grazing emission X-ray fluorescence (GEXRF) measurements in the soft X - ray range were realized [2]. The detector, a pnCCD, was operated in a single photon counting mode in order to utilize its energy dispersive properties. GEXRF profiles of the Ni - Lα line of a carbon - nickel multilayer sample, which displays a lateral (bi-)layer thickness gradient, were recorded at several positions. Simulations of theoretical profiles predicted a prominent intensity dip at emission angles between 5° and 12°, depending strongly on the bi-layer thickness of the sample (see Fig.1). This information was used to retrieve the bi - layer thickness gradient. The results are in good agreement with values obtained by X-ray reflectometry, conventional X-ray fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy measurements and serve as proof of principle for the suggested GEXRF setup. (b) PIXE: The unique properties pnCCDs, coupled to polycapillary X-ray optics, allows a fast position resolved overview over a large detection area with first results visible in real time. The maximum field of view exceeds 1 cm2 and the spatial resolution approaches a few microns when using sub-pixel algorithms by centroiding the signal charge cloud in the pixel structure [3] . The device has been used as an X-ray detector at the PIXE beamline at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (see Fig. 2). In addition to the above measurements (c) D2XRF and Slicing experiments performed at the BESSY synchrotron will be presented (see Fig. 3) as well as (d) Energy Dispersive Hard X-ray Laue Diffraction measurements at the ESRF.

X-ray free-electron lasers provide unique opportunities for exploring ultrafast dynamics and for imaging the structures of complex systems. Understanding the response of individual atoms to intense X-rays is essential for most free-electron laser applications. First experiments have shown that, for light atoms, the dominant interaction mechanism is ionization by sequential electron ejection, where the highest charge state produced is defined by the last ionic state that can be ionized with one photon. Here, we report an unprecedentedly high degree of ionization of xenon atoms by 1.5 keV free-electron laser pulses to charge states with ionization energies far exceeding the photon energy. Comparing ion charge-state distributions and fluorescence spectra with state-of-the-art calculations, we find that these surprisingly high charge states are created via excitation of transient resonances in highly charged ions, and predict resonance enhanced absorption to be a general phenomenon in the interaction of intense X-rays with systems containing high-Z constituents. Researchers create high ionization states, up to Xe36+, using 1.5 keV free-electron laser pulses. The higher than expected ionization may be due to transient resonance-enhanced absorption and the effect may play an important role in interactions of intense X-rays with high-Z elements and radiation damage.

The Mercury imaging X-ray spectrometer (MIXS) on board of ESA's fifth cornerstone mission BepiColombo will be the first space instrument using DEpleted P-channel FET (DEPFET) based detectors. The MIXS spectrometer comprises two channels with identical focal plane detectors and is dedicated to energy resolved imaging of X-ray fluorescence from the mercurial surface. We report on the characterization, integration, and spectroscopic qualification of MIXS flight detectors. Detector chips were precharacterized at die level in order to select the best dies for integration and to do homogeneity and yield studies. Then, the detector chips were integrated to MIXS Detector Plane Arrays (DPAs), a complicated process due to the sophisticated mechanical structure, which allows the thermal decoupling of the detector from its readout and control chips. After integration, spectroscopic qualification measurements were done in order to analyze the detector performance and to prove the excellent spectroscopic performance of the DEPFET Macropixel detectors over a wide temperature range. The integration and spectroscopic qualification of all flight grade modules is now successfully completed.

Protein crystallization in cells has been observed several times in nature. However, owing to their small size these crystals have not yet been used for X-ray crystallographic analysis. We prepared nano-sized in vivo-grown crystals of Trypanosoma brucei enzymes and applied the emerging method of free-electron laser-based serial femtosecond crystallography to record interpretable diffraction data. This combined approach will open new opportunities in structural systems biology.

A frame store pn-junction CCD (pnCCD) detector was applied to study thermally induced interdiffusion in Fe/Pt thin film multilayers (MLs) in a temperature range between 300 and 585 K. Based on the energy resolution of the detector the reflectivity was measured simultaneously in a spectral range between 8 keV

We present a new high resolution X-ray imager based on a pnCCD detector and a polycapillary optics. The properties of the pnCCD like high quantum efficiency, high energy resolution and radiation hardness are maintained, while color corrected polycapillary lenses are used to direct the fluorescence photons from every spot on a sample to a corresponding pixel on the detector. The camera is sensitive to photons from 3 to 40 keV with still 30% quantum efficiency at 20 keV. The pnCCD is operated in split frame mode allowing a high frame rate of 400 Hz with an energy resolution of 152 eV for Mn K α (5.9 keV) at 450 kcps. In single-photon counting mode (SPC), the time, energy and position of every fluorescence photon is recorded for every frame. A dedicated software enables the visualization of the elements distribution in real time without the need of post-processing the data. A description of the key components including detector, X-ray optics and camera is given. First experiments show the capability of the camera to perform fast full-field X-Ray Fluorescence (FF-XRF) for element analysis. The imaging performance with a magnifying optics (3×) has also been successfully tested.

For many applications there is a requirement for nondestructive analytical investigation of the elemental distribution in a sample. With the improvement of X-ray optics and spectroscopic X-ray imagers, full field X-ray fluorescence (FF-XRF) methods are feasible. A new device for high-resolution X-ray imaging, an energy and spatial resolving X-ray camera, is presented. The basic idea behind this so-called "color X-ray camera" (CXC) is to combine an energy dispersive array detector for X-rays, in this case a pnCCD, with polycapillary optics. Imaging is achieved using multiframe recording of the energy and the point of impact of single photons. The camera was tested using a laboratory 30 μm microfocus X-ray tube and synchrotron radiation from BESSY II at the BAMline facility. These experiments demonstrate the suitability of the camera for X-ray fluorescence analytics. The camera simultaneously records 69,696 spectra with an energy resolution of 152 eV for manganese K(α) with a spatial resolution of 50 μm over an imaging area of 12.7 × 12.7 mm(2). It is sensitive to photons in the energy region between 3 and 40 keV, limited by a 50 μm beryllium window, and the sensitive thickness of 450 μm of the chip. Online preview of the sample is possible as the software updates the sums of the counts for certain energy channel ranges during the measurement and displays 2-D false-color maps as well as spectra of selected regions. The complete data cube of 264 × 264 spectra is saved for further qualitative and quantitative processing.

The K ¯ N system at rest makes a sensitive testing ground for chiral SU(3) symmetry in QCD, especially for the explicit symmetry breaking induced by the relatively large mass of the strange quark. At the DAΦNE electron-positron collider of Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati we study kaonic atoms, taking advantage of the low-energy kaons from Φ-mesons decaying nearly at rest. The low-energy antikaon-nucleon interaction in kaonic hydrogen and kaonic deuterium can be investigated under favorable conditions. The DEAR (DAΦNE Exotic Atom Research) experiment at LNF delivered the most precise data on kaonic hydrogen up to now. DEAR and its follow-up experiment SIDDHARTA (Silicon Drift Detector for Hadronic Atom Research by Timing Application) are using X-ray spectroscopy of kaonic atoms to measure the strong interaction induced shift and width of the ground state. SIDDHARTA is the first experiment on kaonic deuterium ever, and kaonic hydrogen is remeasured with improved precision. From the shift and width in K-p and K-d the isospin-dependent antikaon-nucleon scattering lengths can be determined, quantities essential as constraints for low-energy QCD.

Most charge coupled devices (CCDs) are made of silicon (Si) with typical active layer thicknesses of several microns. In case of a pnCCD detector the sensitive Si thickness is 450 μm. However, for silicon based detectors the quantum efficiency for hard X-rays drops significantly for photon energies above 10 keV . This drawback can be overcome by combining a pixelated silicon-based detector system with a columnar scintillator. Here we report on the characterization of a low noise, fully depleted 128×128 pixels pnCCD detector with 75×75 μm2 pixel size coupled to a 700 μm thick columnar CsI(Tl) scintillator in the photon range between 1 keV to 130 keV . The excellent performance of the detection system in the hard X-ray range is demonstrated in a Laue type X-ray diffraction experiment performed at EDDI beamline of the BESSY II synchrotron taken at a set of several GaAs single crystals irradiated by white synchrotron radiation. With the columnar structure of the scintillator, the position resolution of the whole system reaches a value of less than one pixel. Using the presented detector system and considering the functional relation between indirect and direct photon events Laue diffraction peaks with X-ray energies up to 120 keV were efficiently detected. As one of possible applications of the combined CsI-pnCCD system we demonstrate that the accuracy of X-ray structure factors extracted from Laue diffraction peaks can be significantly improved in hard X-ray range using the combined CsI(Tl)-pnCCD system compared to a bare pnCCD.

Hadronic atoms being Coulomb-bound systems in which the electron is substituted by a hadron like a negatively charged K meson are perfect probes for the study of strong interaction at lowest energies using x-ray spectroscopy. New large area x-ray detectors (silicon drift detectors, SDDs) were developed to provide excellent energy resolution as well as timing capability. For the first time large area SDDs were employed to measure the L-lines of kaonic helium at high precision thus succeeding in clarifying a puzzle persisting for 30 years since the 70's. An array of about 200 even more sophisticated SDDs (1 cm2 SDDs with monolithically integrated FET) will be used to perform precision measurements (i.e., at the eV level) of kaonic hydrogen and kaonic deuterium at the DAFNE Phi factory of LNF/Italy. The new x-ray detectors and their performance for precision experiments in the accelerator environment are presented.

Scanning X-ray microprobes are unique tools for the nanoscale investigation of specimens from the life, environmental, materials and other fields of sciences. Typically they utilize absorption and fluorescence as contrast mechanisms. Phase contrast is a complementary technique that can provide strong contrast with reduced radiation dose for weakly absorbing structures in the multi-keV range. In this paper the development of a segmented charge-integrating silicon detector which provides simultaneous absorption and differential phase contrast is reported. The detector can be used together with a fluorescence detector for the simultaneous acquisition of transmission and fluorescence data. It can be used over a wide range of photon energies, photon rates and exposure times at third-generation synchrotron radiation sources, and is currently operating at two beamlines at the Advanced Photon Source. Images obtained at around 2 keV and 10 keV demonstrate the superiority of phase contrast over absorption for specimens composed of light elements.

The Depleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor (DEPFET) Macropixel detectors based on the combined detector/amplifier structure have been designed for X-ray spectroscopy applications at the Max-Planck Institute (MPI) Semiconductor Laboratory. Prototypes with several design variants have been fabricated. The outstanding performance of these devices has been previously demonstrated. In this paper, the development of an improved variant is presented, which applies the so-called X-type DEPFET originally designed for XEUS mission as the readout element of a silicon drift detector. The measured energy resolution for Mn-K α line at - 30 ∘ C is 122 eV with a pixel size of 1 × 1 mm 2 . The excellent peak/background ratio of the spectra is observed with a collimated 55Fe source at - 30 ∘ C . The integral nonlinearity is less than 0.2% up to 160 keV measured with laser charge injection. Homogeneity is also studied with the laser on a computer controlled X–Y stage.

The Controlled-Drift Detector is a fully-depleted silicon detector that allows 2-D position sensing and energy spectroscopy of X-rays in the range 0.5 30keV with excellent time resolution (few tens of µs) and limited readout channels. In this paper we review the Controlled-Drift Detector operating principle and we present some applications of Controlled-Drift Detectors in X-ray absorption imaging and in Compton electrons tracking.