Timing and X-ray pulse characterization at the Small Quantum Systems instrument of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser.

This contribution presents the initial characterization of the pump-probe performance at the Small Quantum Systems (SQS) instrument of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser. It is demonstrated that time-resolved experiments can be performed by measuring the X-ray/optical cross-correlation exploiting the laser-assisted Auger decay in neon. Applying time-of-arrival corrections based on simultaneous spectral encoding measurements allow us to significantly improve the temporal resolution of this experiment. These results pave the way for ultrafast pump-probe investigations of gaseous media at the SQS instrument combining intense and tunable soft X-rays with versatile optical laser capabilities.

Measurement of nonreciprocal spontaneous Raman scattering in silicon photonic wires.

We report on measurements that show the strength of the spontaneous Raman scattering in strongly confining silicon waveguides to depend significantly on the propagation direction of the amplified signal wave with respect to the pump wave. Furthermore, the strength of this nonreciprocity depends on the orientation of the waveguide with respect to the crystallographic axes. We find that when changing the orientation from ˂011˃ to ˂001˃, the Raman-induced nonreciprocity increases by almost a factor of 3.

[The Berlin Charité Hospital is 275 years old]. / Die Berliner Charité wird 275 Jahre alt.

The Berlin Charité was founded as a military hospital in 1710 under the Prussian King Friedrich-Wilhelm I. It was extended to a municipal hospital and medical academy in 1726 and advanced to world prestige until after World War I through pioneering research work and the academic activities of eminent teachers. It declined to barbarism under the Nazi regime. After the hospital grounds were devastated in World War II, the Charité was reconstructed in the GDR.