The Small Quantum Systems instrument is one of the six operating instruments of the European XFEL, dedicated to the atomic, molecular and cluster physics communities. The instrument started its user operation at the end of 2018 after a commissioning phase. The design and characterization of the beam transport system are described here. The X-ray optical components of the beamline are detailed, and the beamline performances, transmission and focusing capabilities are reported. It is shown that the X-ray beam can be effectively focused as predicted by ray-tracing simulations. The impact of non-ideal X-ray source conditions on the focusing performances is discussed.

The durability of grazing- and normal-incidence optical coatings has been experimentally assessed under free-electron laser irradiation at various numbers of pulses up to 16 million shots and various fluence levels below 10% of the single-shot damage threshold. The experiment was performed at FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, using 13.5 nm extreme UV (EUV) radiation with 100 fs pulse duration. Polycrystalline ruthenium and amorphous carbon 50 nm thin films on silicon substrates were tested at total external reflection angles of 20° and 10° grazing incidence, respectively. Mo/Si periodical multilayer structures were tested in the Bragg reflection condition at 16° off-normal angle of incidence. The exposed areas were analysed post-mortem using differential contrast visible light microscopy, EUV reflectivity mapping and scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that Ru and Mo/Si coatings exposed to the highest dose and fluence level show a few per cent drop in their EUV reflectivity, which is explained by EUV-induced oxidation of the surface.

Wavefront analysis is a fast and reliable technique for the alignment and characterization of optics in the visible, but also in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray regions. However, the technique poses a number of challenges when used for optical systems with numerical apertures (NA) > 0.1. A high-numerical-aperture Hartmann wavefront sensor was employed at the free electron laser FLASH for the characterization of a Schwarzschild objective. These are widely used in EUV to achieve very small foci, particularly for photolithography. For this purpose, Schwarzschild objectives require highly precise alignment. The phase measurements acquired with the wavefront sensor were analyzed employing two different methods, namely, the classical calculation of centroid positions and Fourier demodulation. Results from both approaches agree in terms of wavefront maps with negligible degree of discrepancy.

The creation of high energy density plasma states produced during laser–solid interaction on a sub-picosecond timescale opens a way to create astrophysical plasmas in the lab to investigate their properties, such as the frequency-dependent refractive index. Available probes to measure absorption and phase-changes given by the complex refractive index of the plasma state are extreme-UV (EUV) and soft X-ray (XUV) ultra-short pulses from high harmonic generation (HHG). For demanding imaging applications such as single-shot measurements of solid density plasmas, the HHG probe has to be optimized in photon number and characterized in intensity and wavefront stability from shot-to-shot. In an experiment, a coherent EUV source based on HHG driven by a compact diode-pumped laser is optimized in photons per pulse for argon and xenon, and the shot-to-shot intensity stability and wavefront changes are characterized. The experimental results are compared to an analytical model estimating the HHG yield, showing good agreement. The obtained values are compared to available data for solid density plasmas to confirm the feasibility of HHG as a probe.