The new HXS beamline at European XFEL
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- uploaded January 22, 2026
The HXS (High-Energy X-ray Scattering) instrument will be the third experiment at the SASE2 undulator beamline, complementing the existing MID and HED instruments.
The main construction work was completed during the long facility maintenance period in the second half of 2025. In the XTD6 photon tunnel, a 500 m beam-transport section was installed to deliver the European XFEL beam to HXS. A major challenge was the limited clearance to the tunnel wall over several hundred meters, which required custom-designed support structures for the beam-transport pipes.
In the experiment hall, a dedicated hutch—including a control room and two rack rooms—was constructed. The key challenge here was integrating the new infrastructure into the existing MID and HED hutch layout while maintaining functional transport routes and compliant escape paths.
With the basic infrastructure now in place, several smaller components—such as an X-ray mirror and a photon shutter—will be installed during 2026.
First beam in the HXS hutch is expected in early 2027.
From 2027 onward, the HXS beam transport and hutch will be used to develop beam-sharing techniques and to advance X-ray optics, diagnostics, and detectors for high photon energies. Scientific experiments will then be prepared and carried out with a focus on photon energies from 15 keV to 60 keV, making use of the new superconducting undulators that will be commissioned in parallel.
