MRI: Track 2 Development of an Ultrafast Table-top X-ray Spectrometer

About This Grant

This award is jointly supported by the Major Research Instrumentation and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation programs. The University of California, Berkeley, is developing a next-generation tabletop ultrafast soft x-ray spectroscopy instrument to support the research of Professor Michael Zuerch and colleagues Stephen Leone and Daniel Neumark, as well as a broad community of campus and external users. By establishing a campus-based hub for ultrafast soft x-ray science, the project increases access to advanced x-ray capabilities for chemists, physicists, materials scientists, and engineers. The instrument produces high-flux, tunable soft x-ray pulses with durations reaching the few-femtosecond and attosecond regime and measures element-specific absorption changes as chemical and material systems evolve in real time. The design enables systematic, comparative studies across phases of matter and significantly expands the capabilities of existing laboratory x-ray tools. The system will be operated as a shared-use resource with structured access for internal and external collaborators. The project also incorporates a coordinated education and workforce development program that provides undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on training in high-power lasers, vacuum technology, x-ray optics, and ultrafast spectroscopy. The award addresses the development of an instrument which integrates an optical parametric chirped pulse amplification laser platform with modular sample environments spanning gases, liquids (including ultrathin liquid jets), and solids within a single shared-use environment. By extending laboratory soft x-ray spectroscopy to photon energies up to approximately 650 eV, the system enables direct observation of electron motion, charge redistribution, and bond rearrangements with sensitivity to carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and first-row transition metals. The instrument provides element-, site-, and oxidation-state-specific sensitivity through core-to-valence transitions and supports soft x-ray transient absorption and attosecond pump–probe measurements. Enabled research includes molecular charge migration, excited-state dynamics in solution-phase organic systems, water radiolysis at the oxygen K-edge, and ultrafast spin and charge dynamics in magnetic and photoactive materials. By enabling element- and site-specific tracking of charge, spin, and orbital dynamics on their natural time scales, the instrument provides direct access to decoherence pathways and nonequilibrium control mechanisms in quantum materials relevant to quantum information science. These capabilities support studies of ultrafast spin and valley dynamics, correlated electron phases, and light-induced symmetry control in solid-state platforms, informing the design of materials and control strategies for future quantum devices. Through research participation, workshops, and mentored projects, students gain technical expertise directly aligned with national needs in x-ray science, future quantum information science platforms, advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, and energy technologies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.