Single-shot X-ray absorption spectroscopy at X-ray free electron lasers

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Spectroscopy
• Physics

Background:

• X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) is crucial for analyzing material properties.
• Traditional XAS at X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) requires averaging many shots due to source characteristics.
• Existing methods are unsuitable for transient or difficult-to-reproduce samples.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate single-shot XAS data collection at XFELs.
• To enable high-quality XAS measurements on challenging samples.
• To extend XAS capabilities for Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) analysis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) source for XAS measurements.
• Developed a technique for collecting single-shot XAS spectra.
• Employed concatenation of single-shot spectra for wider energy range coverage.

Main Results:

• Achieved high-quality single-shot XAS spectra over 10s of eV with low error bars.
• Demonstrated feasibility of extending the technique for Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) measurements.
• Successfully collected data with only a few percent error bars.

Conclusions:

• Paved the way for advanced XAS studies at XFELs, especially in the femtosecond regime.
• Enables XAS analysis of transient processes, difficult excitation conditions, and rare samples.
• Opens new avenues for research in high-energy density physics.