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Microfluidic devices are increasingly employed in synchrotron experiments to enhance the study of liquid samples. However, few are designed for simultaneous photoexcitation and X-ray scattering, which is crucial for understanding rapid structural transitions of photoactive systems (molecules which undergo reversible structural changes among two or more isomeric forms, using light for at least one direction of switching [1]). This work presents a novel microfluidic device that is transparent to X-rays in a direction and to UV and visible light in the perpendicular one, enabling photo switching experiments where UV/visible laser light is the pump, and X-rays are the probe. The device is fabricated by a simple sequence of lamination and optical lithography steps on a dry film resist, and does not necessarily require a clean room facility. The effective study of photoactive systems and the device capability for time-resolved structural studies are demonstrated through successful experiments with hemoglobin and azobenzene derivatives [2]. These measurements further open the possibility for future investigations of laser induced T-jumps and pump probe experiments using synchrotron SAXS.
[1] A. W. A. Velema, J. P. Van Der Berg, M. J. Hansen, W. Szymanski, A. J. M. Driessen and B. L. Feringa, Nat Chem, 2013, 5, 924-928.
[2] B. Marmiroli, S. Klokic, B. Sartori, M. Reißenbüchel, A. Turchet, and H. Amenitsch, Lab on Chip (2026), DOI: 10.1039/D5LC01116G