BioCARS is completing infrastructure changes that aim to expand our time resolution from 5ns to ~100 ps and to enable data collection within a single 100-ps X-ray pulse. These enhancements are a collaboration with Philip Anfinrud (NIH/NIDDK) and are partly supported by funding from NIH/NIDDK.
UPGRADES
There were three major activities in this project.
- Upgrades to X-ray source and optics
- Two collinear undulators
- KB mirror pair and new optics enclosure: beam size 90 µm2 (h) x 35 µm2 (v)
- Upgrade of the BioCARS fast X-ray chopper
- isolates a single 100-ps X-ray pulse in the 24-bunch mode
- enhances the beamtime availability for time-resolved research
- Installation of a picosecond laser system.
The laser system is a Ti:Sapphire Spitfire Pro 5 from Spectra Physics (780nm, 2ps, 5mJ/pulse, 1kHz). It is equipped with a TOPAS optical parametric amplifier from Light Conversion. The output of TOPAS is tunable in a wide wavelength range:
75µJ @ 290-400nm
>300µJ @ 475-600nm
>250µJ @ 600-800nm
TIMELINE
May 2006 — Vertically-focusing mirror installed
May 2006 — Monochromator installed
September 2006 — Undulator installed (U27)
October 2006 — Horizontally-focusing mirror installed
December 2006 — X-ray chopper upgraded
January 2007 — Undulator installed (U23)
January 2007 — New ps laser system installed