Shift summary 2024-02-23 07:00 - 2024-02-24 10:00

We got self-seeding at 8.5 keV very quickly after changeover from 10.5 keV operation finished at 2024-02-23 07:00.
Pulse energy ~ 600 uJ. 

Progress is in general good. Most of planned tasks for the day are done.
We called BKR whether we can get a bit more energy/pulse this morning, but it appears difficult. Otherwise, having a bit more energy would be helpful to have enough signal-to-noise ratio for X-ray imaging. 

Achievements: 

• Insert nanofocus lens, pump IC1 sample chamber into vacuum
• Establish X-ray axis, measure source point and divergence
• Set up the CRL scheme overfilling CRL4b nanofocus (the settings used in Feb at 8.2 keV were CRL1 arm 3,5 and CRL2 arm 1)
• Bring the imaging systems to the X-ray axis
• Focus and calibrate the x-ray spectrometers
• Laser-xray timing verified on YAG
• DAMNIT setup 
• Nanofocus imaging optimization (Z-scans) with Cu 25um wire and Siemens star
  • Best focus was identified
• Sample alignment 

X-ray delivery
9.10 keV; 190 pulses per train @1.1 MHz with roughly 140-200 uJ; observed some fluctuation in the photon flux

Optical laser delivery
ns laser for particles visualization

Achievements/Observations

• Beam optimization and characterization
• X-ray focus FWHM calculation found to have a bug in pixel size used
• Sample injection and data collection for >10 hours
• collected data on copper cubes with average hit rates of ~5%

Issues

• DAQ - multiple crashes and restarts needed throughout the shift; at certain point we encountered three crashes within less than an hour; and called DAQ to intervene
• Gotthard II at Hirex stopped acquiring and we had to change the number of the acquisition time to ~10 days to allow continuous running until the end of the beamtime.
• hit rates were low and sonication of samples needed to be done several time to prevent clogging issues
• Focus drift - we observed significant drift in the beam; a refocus then had to be check several times to focus back the beam to nm
• beam intensity fluctuated a lot during the shift

Shift summary for 2024-02-24 from 07:00 to 2024-02-25 at 14:00:

Self-seeding at 8.5 keV, with approximately 500 μJ per pulse. Following re-tuning around 10 am on the 25th, the energy per pulse increased to around 600 μJ.

The x-ray intensity and pointing stability have been excellent, resulting in a substantial amount of data being acquired by users just two days into the beamtime. Users have expressed satisfaction with the performance thus far.

There were a couple of brief beam downtimes, but they had minimal impact on beamline operations.

Achievements:

• Successful laser delay scan (0 - 1000 ps) of wire compression dynamics under ultra-intense laser interaction (>10^21 W.cm-2).
• Nanofocus Z scan imaging completed.
• Online analysis tools (DAMNIT) are functioning properly.
• Some minor issues with the automatic shot procedure using MDL were encountered but mostly resolved.
• Ongoing issues persist with the off-axis-parabola mirror X axis (motor movement not stopping), which will require follow-up after the beamtime.
• A minor issue was identified with laser timing jumps, possibly stemming from a trainID distribution issue with the ToD system. Increasing the sequence delay of the master timer from 10 to 30 appears to have mitigated this problem.

X-ray delivery

• 9.10 keV; 190 pulses per train @1.1 MHz with roughly 170-200 uJ; stable delivery

Optical laser delivery

• ns laser for particles visualization

Achievements/Observations

• Sample injection and data collection for ~11 hours
• collected data on copper cubes with better hit rates than previous shifts; ~15%

Issues

• We had laser interlock issues, the magnet in door went to error state and this was fixed by Klaus Witt call around 22:15.
• data migration issues; it was very slow and DOC did not figure out the cause for this.

Shift summary for 2024-02-25 from 11:00 to 2024-02-25 at 14:00:

Self-seeding at 8.5 keV, with approximately 500 μJ per pulse. 

Overall, the performance of x-ray self-seeding remains good, and users are happy. Pointing stability is also exceptional. However, enhancing photon energy slightly (600 uJ as we had yesterday) would further improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

Key Achievements and Current Challenges:

1. Ongoing data accumulation.
2. Issue with the sample motor (stepper motor). The encoder ceases to update values although the motor is actually moving. While a temporary workaround has been implemented, a thorough investigation is needed post-beamtime. More details: [Link]

Stable seeding with 1mJ + 400mJ SASE
HIREX triggered interlock when all attenuators are removed 
successful test of nano focusing setup
successful test and alignment of x-ray microscopes
Alignment of split and delay line
Laser x-ray timing at sample position

X-ray delivery

• 10 keV, up to 160 pulses at 1.1MHz, 1.8 mJ

Optical laser delivery

• NA

Achievements/Observations

• Instrument aligned up to IRDa at 10 keV.
• Focus optimised.
• JUNGFRAU timed.

Issues

• We could only start using the beam at 1 am.
• More mirror movement needed to get the beam down the instrument than expected.
• Several AGIPD power cycling needed due to issues with MFPGA2

X-ray delivery

• 10 keV, up to 128 pulses with custom bunch pattern, 1.6-2.0 mJ

Optical laser delivery

• NA

Achievements/Observations

• Collected first SFX data, but background on JUNGFRAU is rather high and needs further optimisation.

Issues

• AGIPD having frequent problems with both MFPGAs (once even both at the same time). Frequent restarts were needed.
• Horizontal drift of the beam pointing.

• 10 keV beam
• Detector: JUNGFRAU in the burst mode (16 memory cells)
• Achievements:
  • multiple sfx data sets (lysozyme) with 4 and 8 pulses (at 1.1MHz) per exposure taken

X-ray delivery

• 6 keV, 2.6 mJ/pulse, stable delivery

Optical laser delivery

• 800nm PP laser, stable delivery

Achievements/Observations

• NKB focus optimized and PSLITS optimized
• Beam going through IBS camera
• PP laser rough timing checked w.r.t. X-ray
• Catcher and injector motors (X, Z) are aligned well with about 1.5mm offset in X

Issues

• Manifold-MDL issue (reported in Issues tap)
• SPB_IRU_LIQUIDJET/CAM/1 (IRU nozzle insertion camera) is not working. Power cycle required.
• SPB_EHU_Valve closed 2-3 times due to vacuum interlock
• Space (KF50 pipes) in the super-structure was too long for the user injector (nozzle rod). After taking off small spacer, nozzle is very close to the injector valve during insertion. Please check it out whether we can find any better solution or not.

X-ray delivery

6 keV, 2.4 mJ/pulse, stable delivery

Optical laser delivery

800nm PP laser, stable delivery

Achievements/Observations

NKB focus cslits optimized
Some progress with AGIPD background although we still need to improve
Catcher and injector motors (X, Z) are aligned well; with defroster, had under 5mm offset in X
Managed to get a jet and overlap with X-rays.

Issues

Beckhoff flowmeters were disconnected and we were not sure which ports to connect, maybe spent 45min to connect to the right ports and restart device.
Helium flow meter was on but not updating, had to restart it too.
Marco noted actual measured flow at beckhoff VS HPLC set flow was perhaps too low, not sure
Vacuum with injector improved, issue was related to nozzle preparation, however even after this fix the chamber pressure was just over the AGIPD interlock. After tuning gas/liquid flow managed to go under it, but possibly this can also be improved.
Often number of pulses was being changed without us requesting it.
One AGIPD module stopped working after moving quadrant.
DAQ data aggregator crashed a few times, Steffan Hauf will look into this issue after we finished the shift.
Could not move one of the AGIPD quadrant (Q4) due to interlock
Background in Q1 and Q3 needs to be optimized, and/or quadrants needs to be moved.

**X-ray delivery**

- 6 keV, 3.2 mJ/pulse, stable delivery

**Optical laser delivery**

- 800nm PP laser for jet illumination, stable delivery

**Achievements/Observations**

- NKB focus checked and IUT_Slits optimized
- AGIPD quadrants position finalized
- Measured a lot of water BG runs and few runs with Au nanoparticles (sphere with ~50 nm in diameter)

**Issues**

- SideMic data not saved properly (empty array).
- Found relatively high BG when nozzle is IN since the distance in between nozzle tip & the interaction region is ~100um (even 80 um in some cases).
- DA issue (DAQ was stuck in changing) although all the DA looked healthy. DOC fixed the issue (temporarly) together with Egor, Florian, and Steffen.
- Runs callibration were not working

Preparation for user experiment transient grating, Cris Svetina

• Used 7.12 keV from ACC with very good performance, above 4 mJ
• Got spatiotemporal overlap with transient gratings using monochromatic beam
• One issue solved by DOC: Picomotors could not be scanned in karabacon, even though this worked well two/three weeks ago

X-ray delivery
- 9.3 keV, >3 mJ/pulse, stable delivery 

Optical laser delivery
- 800nm PP laser for jet illumination, stable delivery

Achievements/Observations
- Optimised hexapod position for SFX
- Collected granulovirus data for geometry calibration
- Started user sample delivery but clogged the nozzle a few times

User experiment transient grating, Cris Svetina. (LTP)

• Used 7.12 keV from ACC with very good performance, above 4 mJ.
• Collected pump-probe data on user sample
• Sudden timing jump of around 20 ps. Could not find out why this happened some time between 9h today and 18h.
• Needed to add camera to DAQ. Solved this on instrument side using the DAQ assistant. Great tool!

X-ray delivery
- 9.3 keV, >3 mJ/pulse, beam down around 30min

Optical laser delivery
- 800nm PP laser for jet illumination, stable delivery

Achievements/Observations
- Collected a lot of data (from midnight to 6am) with different sample concentrations and mixing delays with the users

User experiment transient grating, Cris Svetina. (LTP)

• Used 7.11 keV from ACC with very good performance, above 4 mJ.
• Collected pump-probe data on user sample most of the time today, only minor interruptions due to accelerator outages
• After the outage at 21h, SASE came back with 17 eV lower photon energy, so we had to re-calibrate the undulator spectrum
• FXE will operate in 24h mode for the rest of the delivery week