The PERCIVAL detector: first user experiments.

The PERCIVAL detector is a CMOS imager designed for the soft X-ray regime at photon sources. Although still in its final development phase, it has recently seen its first user experiments: ptychography at a free-electron laser, holographic imaging at a storage ring and preliminary tests on X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. The detector performed remarkably well in terms of spatial resolution achievable in the sample plane, owing to its small pixel size, large active area and very large dynamic range; but also in terms of its frame rate, which is significantly faster than traditional CCDs. In particular, it is the combination of these features which makes PERCIVAL an attractive option for soft X-ray science.

The photon analysis, delivery, and reduction system at the FERMI@Elettra free electron laser user facility.

The FERMI@Elettra free electron laser (FEL) user facility is currently under construction at the Sincrotrone Trieste laboratory in Trieste (Italy). It will cover the wavelength range from 100 to about 5 nm in the fundamental and 3 or 1 nm using the third harmonic. We report the layout of the photon beam diagnostics section, the radiation transport system to the experimental area, and the photon beam distribution system. Due to the peculiar characteristics of the emitted FEL radiation (high peak power, short pulse length, and statistical variation of the emitted intensity and distribution), the realization of the diagnostics system is particularly challenging. The end users are interested in parameters such as the radiation pulse intensity and spectral distribution, as well as in the possibility to attenuate the intensity. In order to accomplish these tasks, a photon analysis, delivery, and reduction system is now under development and construction and is presented here. This system will work on-line producing pulse-resolved information and will let users keep track of the photon beam parameters during the experiments.