Non-linear soft x-ray methods on solids with MUSIX-the multi-dimensional spectroscopy and inelastic x-ray scattering endstation

With the intense and coherent x-ray pulses available from free-electron lasers, the possibility to transfer non-linear spectroscopic methods from the laser lab to the x-ray world arises. Advantages especially regarding selectivity and thus information content as well as an improvement of signal levels are expected. The use of coherences is especially fruitful and the example of coherent x-ray/optical sum-frequency generation is discussed. However, many non-linear x-ray methods still await discovery, partially due to the necessity for extremely adaptable and versatile instrumentation that can be brought to free-electron lasers for the analysis of the spectral content emitted from the sample into a continuous range of emission angles. Such an instrument (called MUSIX) is being developed and employed at FLASH, the free-electron laser in hamburg and is described in this contribution together with first results.