Temperature control and sample damage mitigation in static and transient soft X-ray experiments using flexible sample...

Pump-probe X-ray spectroscopy is a powerful technique for probing how light excitation affects the electronic and lattice structure of molecules and materials. In solid samples, laser excitation inherently leads to lattice heating, which can damage samples and distort transient spectra, especially at the high repetition rates typical of large-scale facilities. To address these challenges, we present two in-vacuum sample cells to mitigate sample damage and to assess the contribution of lattice heating to transient X-ray signals. The first cell enables controlled sample heating for static temperature-dependent X-ray experiments. The second cell uses gas flow to enhance heat dissipation, resulting in a significant reduction of heat accumulation and laser- and X-ray-induced sample damage. We introduce a methodology to estimate sample heating across a wide range of laser parameters, intended as a practical tool to optimize XTA experiments.