InternalConceptual design reports on SQS und FXE
The conceptual design reports on the instruments FXE and SQS have been published and are ready for download from our website.
FXE and SQS are the acronyms for two of the six instruments with which future users will carry out their research at the European XFEL facility.
The FXE instrument will allow femtosecond X-ray experiments (FXE) on chemical and biological samples in liquids (1 fs = 10-15 s = 0.000 000 000 000 001 s). The FXE conceptual design report focuses on the exploitation of both the unique pulse pattern of the European XFEL (27 000 flashes per second) and its very short pulses (about 10 fs) to study extremely fast phenomena. The FXE instrument will enable scientists to make molecular movies by taking snapshots of the geometric structure changes with structural X-ray tools. In addition, it will further our understanding of the elementary steps of chemical reactivity through recordings of the underlying electronic structure dynamics.
SQS stands for Small Quantum System. The SQS instrument will be used to investigate processes in atoms, ions, small molecules, and clusters occurring in highly intense beams using a variety of experimental techniques, such as pump-probe experiments and multi-coincidence spectroscopy. These techniques take advantage of the high repetition rate and short pulse duration provided by the European XFEL and will enable scientists to establish the complete picture of ionization and dissociation dynamics in photoexcited system. Experiments foreseen for the SQS instrument promise profoundly new insights for atomic and molecular physics, chemical dynamics, nanoscience, and, in very general terms, the investigations of matter with intense short-wavelength radiation fields.
Both conceptual design reports are based on the results of several workshops with future users. In the coming months, the reports will be elaborated into technical design reports, which are scheduled for publication later in 2012.
Links to both reports can be found on our Technical Notes page.
