Multiple Detector Stage at the MID instrument of European XFEL

The Multiple Detector Stage is an ancillary detector setup for the Materials Imaging and Dynamics instrument at the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility. It is developed to improve the current capabilities concerning X-ray detection and make entirely new experiments possible. A unique feature of the MID instrument is the large flexibility in positioning of the AGIPD detector relative to the sample. This enables a large variety of instrument configurations ranging from small-angle to wide-angle X-ray scattering setups. A recurrent request from the users, which is currently not enabled, is the option of simultaneously recording both wide- and the small angle scattering by using two area detectors. The aim of developing MDS is to provide this missing capability at MID so that SAXS and WAXS experiments can be performed in parallel. The MDS will not be installed permanently at the instrument but only on request to provide as much flexibility as possible. In this article, the background and status of the MDS project is described in detail.