General infrastructure

• Layout
• Basic provisions in user stations
• Ancillary equipment available to users
• General infrastucture available to users

Operational aspects

• Liability and safety
• Consumables
• Transportation, accommodation and subsistence

Layout of the user facility

Currently ten user stations (US) are available. Five user stations are located in the central hall. Three of these cover a floor space of 4x5 m² each, US4 covers 5x5 ² and US5 covers 7x5 m². US10 has recently been installed and houses the Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Mass Spectrometer (FTICR-MS). The basement of the user hall houses four more user stations. The layout of the central user hall (left) and the basement (right) is shown below. It also indicates the location of the control room and the office space available to users. The transport system delivering the FELIX radiation from the FELIX vault to the user stations is indicated in red in the centre of the figures.

• US 1: Laser-desorption molecular beam setup.
• US 2: regular user station.
• US 3: regular user station. It also houses an Oxford Instruments 16T DC super-conducting magnet.Photo US 3 Photo 16 T magnet
• US 4: the non-linear optics lab. There are two separate systems in this user station, a long wavelength pump probe and a four-wave mixing setup for pump-probe / photon echo / transient grating experiments for wavelengths up to 15 µm. The basic concept of these two setups is the same, however as they are used in different wavelength ranges they have distinct features.Pump-probe setup
• US 5: contains two Ti:Sapphire laser systems that are synchronized to the FEL. One of the systems is used to pump two OPG/OPA systems (specifications: see below). These lasers can be used for (two-color) experiments in user stations 1-7. facility manager.
• US 6a: regular user station.
• US 6b: ion trap setup. Property of the in-house research group Molecular Dynamics (In case you are interested to use this setup, please contact the
• US 7a: Laser-desorption molecular beam setup. Property of Prof. Meijer from the Fritz-Haber-Institut der MPG, Berlin. For this setup access rules apply. Please contact the facility manager if you intend to use it.
• US 7b: Cluster Setup. Property of Prof. Meijer from the Fritz-Haber-Institut der MPG, Berlin. For this setup access rules apply. Please contact the facility manager if you intend to use it.
• US 7c: Cluster Setup.(In case you are interested to use this setup, please contact the facility manager.
• US 8: regular user station.
• US 9: regular user station. Photo: user experiment
• US 10: Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer (FTICR) operated by the in-house research group Molecular Dynamics, the University of Florida (Gainsville, USA) and the National High Field Magnetic Laboratory (Tallahassee, USA). Photo FTICR in its old user station. In case you are interested to use this setup, please contact the facility manager.

Basic provisions in user stations

Standard utilities like one- and three-phase mains voltage, cooling water, pressurized air, and dry nitrogen gas are provided. A network of tubes has been installed for this. An additional tube is used to supply less common gases, for instance carbon dioxide. An exhaust line for removal of laser gases or vacuum pump outlets is available. Another line provides a 'roughing' vacuum.

The booths are furnished with an optical table of typically 1.2x2.4 m² size. Some basic mounting hardware (lenses, mirrors, mirror holders, etc.) are available, as well as a set of standard tools and other accessories. For experiments requiring rather extensive set-ups or specialised equipment, users may have to rely on their own resources. (see Ancillary Equipment)

Power and spectrum of the radiation is measured on-line in a diagnostic station operated by the FELIX team. This station is located in between the basic FEL equipment and the user stations. Characteristics of the FELIX output which are critical for a certain experiment may have to be measured independently at the user station in question.

A set of coaxial cables is used for transfer of signals from the FELIX control room to the booths, for instance trigger signals. A serial gate (RS232) and an ethernet cable with TCP/IP protocol are available for transfer of measured data to the users 'home-base' computer, via surfnet. The users have the possibility to adjust a number of FELIX parameters, the most important ones being the wavelength and spectrum.

Ancillary equipment available to users

• External lasers, all synchronized to FELIX (for more details, mail to Giel Berden)
  • (Doubled) Nd:YAG : 10 Hz, 50-80 mJ, 80 ps. (jitter <5 ps rms)
  • Ti:sapphire laser: 100 MHz mode-locked, 10 fs (oscillator); 1 kHz (or e.g. 10 Hz), 30 fs (amplifier); jitter 400 fs rms.
  • Ti:sapphire laser system (jitter 400 fs rms) including OPG/OPA stages running in two modes:
    a. l= 250-400 nm, 30 µJ @ 300 nm, 1 kHz, 3 ps, BW < 15 cm-1
    b. l= 3-18 µm, 10 µJ @ 3 µm,– 1 µJ @ 18 µm, 1 kHz, 300 fs
  • CO2 laser, <8 W, CW or pulsed (>60 ms, < 5 kHz)
• Detectors
  • MCT's: wavel. range 3 - 24 µm, BW 10 MHz, LN₂ -cooled
  • Ge:Ga: wavel. range 10 - 200 µm, BW 40 MHz, Liquid He cooled.
  • pyrodetectors: wavel. range 0.5 - 1000 µm, BW 3 MHz
  • Joule meters: threshold 10 µJ, integral over macropulse
  • CCD camera: LN₂ -cooled
  • pyro array: 256 element, 0.1 * 1 mm², integral over macropulse
• Spectrometers:
  • Grating spectrometers:
    • Bentham: F.L.= 0.3 m, wavel. range: vis + 3 - 80 µm
    • Jarrell-Ash: F.L.= 0.5 m, wavel. range: vis + near-IR
    • ISA Instruments S.A., Jobin Yvon Spex, TRIAX 320, F.L.= 0.32 m, range: vis + IR 1500 nm – 100 µm
  • Fourier-transform spectrometer:
    • Nicolet: range 50 - 7000 cm^-1, resolution 0.1 cm^-1
• Digital Storage Oscilloscopes:
  • 9 bits, 5 Gs/s (Tektronix TDS 3052 and 3054), BW 500 MHz
  • 8 bits, 2 Gs/s (Le Croy Wave-Surfer 424), BW 200 MHz
  • 8 bits, 100Ms/s (LeCroy 9310), 2.5Gs/s (LeCroy 9361) single shot, BW 300 MHz.
  • 10 bits, 100Ms/s, BW 150 MHz (LeCroy 9430).
• Cryostats:
  • Optistat (CF1204) dynamic-flow cryostat (Oxford Instr.), 4 - 300 K.
  • Microstat 'cold-finger' flow cryostat (Oxford Instr.), 5 - 300 K.
  • Bath cryostat (Oxford Instr.) with 14 T superconducting coil magnet.
• Pump-probe, transient grating and photon echo setup:
  • wavelength range: 4.5 - 20 µm
  • wavelength range: 20 - 150 µm
• Enclosures:
  • Purgeable, vacuum-tight box for control of experimental environment.
  • Dimensions: 60 x 70 x 34 cm³.

General infrastructure available to users

Small modifications or repair of user equipment will be done by the Rijnhuizen Technical Division. This involves access to the mechanical workshop, the electrical/electronical engineering department, and the chemistry department. A small workshop in the user area can be used for repairs by users or FELIX personnel.

Liability and safety

Users are liable for the infrastructure of the experimental station and the equipment that is made available to them by the facility. The facility reserves the right to charge the user for loss or damages, other than resulting from normal use. For its part, the facility accepts liability for damages to user equipment resulting from culpable actions or negligence by facility personnel and/or malfunctioning of facility equipment. Users are amenable to the safety regulations in force at the facility and subject to directions by the facility manager.

Consumables

The facility reserves the right to charge the user for consumables, e.g. cryogenic liquids, provided by the facility.

Transportation, accommodation and subsistence

Only in exceptional cases, and after a motivated, written request has been received, the facility management may decide to bear (part of) the expenses for transportation, accommodation and subsistence.

Researchers from EC and associated countries other than the Netherlands are eligible for support for travel and subsistence under the FP7 of the European Community, in the new Integrated Infrastructure Initiative (I3) European Light Source Activities "(ELISA)".

The facility runs a small guest house with in total four rooms and shared facilities at 10 minutes walking distance from the lab. Reservations can be made via the facility manager. At request, the facility is most willing to help in making the necessary arrangments for travel and accommodation.