First beam was observed at the FlexPES frontend on 20.05.2019, and a variety of important commissioning milestones were achieved in June 2019 (before the summer shutdown):
- frontend and optics outgasing reduced to the level acceptable for operation with smallest undulator gaps and highest ring currents
- radiological survey completed
- beamline aligned to the central undulator cone
- measured undulator spectra are in good agreement with those calculated
- demonstrated energy resolution is close to the calculated values
- energy preliminary calibrated on both branches
- spot profiles characterized and optimized for three focal (sample) points out of four; values are in agreement with calculations
- very first photoemission spectra measured
In a nutshell, the commissioning is moving forward quickly and in general everything looks promising. Much more systematic characterization and more work with end stations has to be done after the summer shutdown, but a general user call for FlexPES will be announced already in August 2019, with first user experiments to be scheduled from March to July 2020.
