A pipeline for Megahertz X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy on soft matter samples at the MID instrument of European XFEL

Aliaksandr Leonau; Felix Brausse; James Wrigley; Mads B. Jakobsen; Amir Tosson; Michelle Dargasz; Nimmi Das Anthuparambil; Felix Lehmkühler; Anita Girelli; Maddalena Bin; Fivos Perakis; Sebastian Retzbach; Fajun Zhang; Frank Schreiber; Matheus Teodoro; Cammille Carinan; Robert Rosca; Fabio Dall Antonia; Wonhyuk Jo; Ulrike Boesenberg; Angel Rodriguez-Fernandez; Roman Shayduk; Jörg Hallmann; Alexey Zozulya; Jan-Etienne Pudell; Carsten Deiter; Luca Gelisio; Johannes Möller; Anders Madsen; Christian Gutt

arXiv · 2506.08668

A pipeline for Megahertz X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy on soft matter samples at the MID instrument of European XFEL

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Abstract

In this paper we present the experimental protocol and data processing framework for Megahertz X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (MHz-XPCS) experiments on soft matter samples, implemented at the Materials Imaging and Dynamics (MID) instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL). Due to the introduction of a standard configuration and the implementation of a highly automated data processing pipeline, MHz-XPCS measurements can now be conducted and analyzed with minimal user intervention. A key challenge lies in managing the extremely large data volumes generated by the Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector (AGIPD) - often reaching several petabytes within a single experiment. We describe the technical implementation, discuss the hardware requirements related to effective parallel data processing, and propose strategies to enhance data quality, in particular related to data reduction strategies and an improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, we address strategies for making the processed data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), in alignment with the goals of the DAPHNE4NFDI project.

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Aliaksandr Leonau, Felix Brausse, James Wrigley, Mads B. Jakobsen, Amir Tosson, Michelle Dargasz, Nimmi Das Anthuparambil, Felix Lehmkühler, Anita Girelli, Maddalena Bin, Fivos Perakis, Sebastian Retzbach, Fajun Zhang, Frank Schreiber, Matheus Teodoro, Cammille Carinan, Robert Rosca, Fabio Dall Antonia, Wonhyuk Jo, Ulrike Boesenberg, Angel Rodriguez-Fernandez, Roman Shayduk, Jörg Hallmann, Alexey Zozulya, Jan-Etienne Pudell, Carsten Deiter, Luca Gelisio, Johannes Möller, Anders Madsen, Christian Gutt. 2025-06-10. A pipeline for Megahertz X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy on soft matter samples at the MID instrument of European XFEL. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08668

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