A snapshot of the NSF NeXUS Facility at Ohio State
What are the major goals of the project?
This NSF project will develop and commission the National eXtreme Ultrafast Science (NeXUS) Facility. This is a user facility with a peer-evaluated process for obtaining use time, guest offices, a user control room, staff support, and—at its core—the NeXUS System.
What is the NeXUS System?
The NeXUS System is under development now. It is planned to be a first-of-its-kind combination of a laser driving the generation of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft x-ray pulses with durations from femtoseconds to attoseconds. The System has a “beamline” arrangement so that three distinct XUV beams, each with its own time and spectral characteristics, can be generated from a single laser. The laser and XUV pulses are then coupled into an “end station” that directly support user measurements.
What’s special about the NeXUS System?
NeXUS will make measurements that have taken heroic effort and make them routine. NeXUS will make measurements that have been impossible and make them possible. NeXUS will give scientists and engineers access to cutting-edge laser experiments that have only been available to laser researchers.
This leap forward is driven by the high repetition rate and high average power of the NeXUS laser. The NeXUS laser has a 100 kHz repetition rate and an average power close to 1 kW. This will bring about a 100-fold improvement in the rate of data collection and, thereby, vastly expand the scope of feasible experiments. This advanced laser will be maintained and operated by NeXUS staff who will work with users to complete their experiments.
What types of measurements does the NeXUS System support?
The NeXUS System is being built with multiple end stations to support user measurements of angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), element-specific scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), x-ray reflection spectroscopy (XRS), attosecond science, and laser induced electron diffraction (LIED). All of these measurements can be time resolved using combinations of the laser and XUV pulses.
What are the NeXUS System specifications?
The NeXUS system is under development. This document details the design specifications we are building toward. The NeXUS design team are in the process of verifying the laser, beamlines, and end stations before integrating them into the system.
How can I use NeXUS for my own experiment?
The goal of NeXUS development is to open the facility to users in 2024. Time at the facility will be awarded in a competitive, peer-reviewed process. The process to apply for time at the Facility will be announced at least three months in advance of this opening. We will continue providing information through this website, through our newsletter, and at our user workshops.
How can I stay informed about NeXUS?
Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter to learn the latest, including opportunities to join in on NeXUS presentations and workshops: