Optics
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Open Access
Abstract: The plane grating monochromator (PGM) is an optical instrument used in the majority of soft X-ray beamlines. Despite its ubiquity, the PGM efficiency can easily be overestimated, because the geometry of many modern PGMs can lead to unexpected blocking of the beam. We have developed a new workflow in Python for simulating PGMs, thus extending the capabilities of SHADOW3, a well established ray tracing software tool. We have used our method to simulate the flux on branch C of the Versatile Soft X-ray (VerSoX) beamline B07 at Diamond Light Source. The simulation results demonstrate qualitative agreement with the experimental measurements, confirming the robustness of the proposed methodology.
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Jul 2025
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Accelerator Physics
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Younes
Chahid
,
Carolyn
Atkins
,
Stephen
Hodbod
,
John
Robinson
,
Xia
Liu
,
Stephen
Watson
,
Maia
Jones
,
Mark
Cliffe
,
Dayo
Ogunkanmi
,
Richard
Kotlewski
,
Lee
Chapman
,
Scott
Beamish
,
Jorge
Linde Cerezo
,
Thomas
Wearing
,
Ahmad
Baroutaji
,
Arun
Arjunan
,
Chantal
Fowler
,
Paul
Vivian
Open Access
Abstract: Many of the 70 synchrotron facilities worldwide are undergoing upgrades to their infrastructure to meet a growing demand for increased beam brightness with nanometre-level stability. These upgrades increase the mechanical and thermal challenges faced by beamline components, creating opportunities to apply novel methodologies and manufacturing processes to optimize hardware performance and beam accuracy. Absorbers are important beamline components that rely on water-cooled channels to absorb thermal energy from excess light caused by synchrotron radiation or photon beams created by insertion devices, all within a limited volume, to protect downstream equipment and ensure safe, reliable operation. Additive manufacturing (AM) has been shown to meet criteria relevant to synchrotron environments like leak tightness and vacuum compatibility. However, there is a research gap on the heat transfer and pressure drop impact of different AM conformal cooling channel geometries, as well as the print quality of AM copper parts using low-power infrared lasers and their compliance with absorber requirements. In this study, an intermediate model of a Diamond Light Source photon absorber was optimized to incorporate AM conformal cooling channels, leading to two concept designs named `Horizontal' and `Coil'. When compared with the baseline design, the lightweight Horizontal concept performed the best in this study, with simulations showing a maximum temperature drop of 11%, a calculated pressure drop reduction of 82%, a mass reduction of 86%, and the consolidation of 21 individually brazed pipes into a single manifold. The AM print quality and compliance with the synchrotron environment was examined by producing custom benchmark artefacts and measuring their surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and porosity levels, which are characteristics that can affect heat absorption, structural integrity, thermal conductivity and vacuum performance. The study demonstrates the benefits and addresses outstanding challenges in reducing thermal fatigue, as well as the size, vibrations and energy consumption of AM absorbers.
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Jul 2025
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Optics
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Open Access
Abstract: A study on the thermal load of cryogenically cooled silicon in synchrotron double-crystal monochromators is presented, based on experimental data from four different beamlines at Diamond Light Source. Different amounts of power are deposited on the first monochromator crystal by varying the storage ring current. The resulting crystal deformation causes a decline in the diffraction efficiency when power and power density are above threshold values. The results are compatible with an analytical model of thermo-mechanical deformation. Acceptable monochromator heat load values are determined with this model, to ensure optimal function of the monochromator. This model, previously tested against finite element analyses, is now validated against measured data and it will be used as a tool for initial analysis of monochromator performance on upgraded photon sources.
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Jul 2025
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Ramesh
Rijal
,
Jack
Stephens
,
Daniel
Sier
,
Nicholas T. T.
Tran
,
Truong V. B.
Nguyen
,
Jonathan W.
Dean
,
Pierce
Bowman
,
Minh
Dao
,
Paul
Di Pasquale
,
Tony
Kirk
,
Chanh Q.
Tran
,
Shusaku
Hayama
,
Matteo
Aramini
,
Nitya
Ramanan
,
Sofia
Diaz-Moreno
,
Christopher T.
Chantler
Open Access
Abstract: This study of manganese (Mn, Z = 25) introduces a novel combination of extended-range high energy resolution fluorescence detection (XR-HERFD), multiple-crystal spectrometers and advanced binary data splicing techniques to address challenges in X-ray emission spectroscopy. XR-HERFD enhances spectral precision by utilizing high-resolution crystal analysers and optimized detector configurations. The systematic application of these methods using multiple Bragg crystal analysers at Diamond Light Source has led to substantial improvements in data quality. Simultaneously, advanced binary data splicing integrates multiple datasets to correct distortions and improve resolution, resulting in sharper spectral features. Our results show a significant increase in peak counts and a notable reduction in full width at half-maximum (FWHM), with peak amplitudes increasing by 83% and resolution improving by 46%. These developments provide greater detail for X-ray absorption or emission spectra, offering valuable insights into complex materials, and permitting advances and breakthroughs in atomic relativistic quantum mechanics, chemical sensitivity of atomic transitions and modelling of solid-state effects.
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Jul 2025
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Optics
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Open Access
Abstract: We present here a newly developed software tool (called PGMweb) for computing and simulating the X-ray beam path through a plane grating monochromator (PGM), a key component in soft X-ray beamlines at modern synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities. A historical overview of the development of PGMs is presented, with special attention dedicated to the collimated PGM optical scheme found at several X-ray facilities worldwide. The analytical expressions that fully describe the geometry of a PGM are derived and have been implemented as functions in a Python library (pyplanemono). PGMweb is distributed as a web-based application that can be run in any modern browser without installation, making its use very straightforward for X-ray beamline designers and beamline scientists alike.
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Dec 2024
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Optics
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Open Access
Abstract: We provide a technical description and experimental results of the practical development and offline testing of an innovative, closed-loop, adaptive mirror system capable of making rapid, precise and ultra-stable changes in the size and shape of reflected X-ray beams generated at synchrotron light and free-electron laser facilities. The optical surface of a piezoelectric bimorph deformable mirror is continuously monitored at 20 kHz by an array of interferometric sensors. This matrix of height data is autonomously converted into voltage commands that are sent at 1 Hz to the piezo actuators to modify the shape of the mirror optical surface. Hence, users can rapidly switch in closed-loop between pre-calibrated X-ray wavefronts by selecting the corresponding freeform optical profile. This closed-loop monitoring is shown to repeatably bend and stabilize the low- and mid-spatial frequency components of the mirror surface to any given profile with an error <200 pm peak-to-valley, regardless of the recent history of bending and hysteresis. Without closed-loop stabilization after bending, the mirror height profile is shown to drift by hundreds of nanometres, which will slowly distort the X-ray wavefront. The metrology frame that holds the interferometric sensors is designed to be largely insensitive to temperature changes, providing an ultra-stable reference datum to enhance repeatability. We demonstrate an unprecedented level of fast and precise optical control in the X-ray domain: the profile of a macroscopic X-ray mirror of over 0.5 m in length was freely adjusted and stabilized to atomic level height resolution. Aside from demonstrating the extreme sensitivity of the interferometer sensors, this study also highlights the voltage repeatability and stability of the programmable high-voltage power supply, the accuracy of the correction-calculation algorithms and the almost instantaneous response of the bimorph mirror to command voltage pulses. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness of the system by showing that the bimorph mirror's optical surface was not damaged by more than 1 million voltage cycles, including no occurrence of the `junction effect' or weakening of piezoelectric actuator strength. Hence, this hardware combination provides a real time, hyper-precise, temperature-insensitive, closed-loop system which could benefit many optical communities, including EUV lithography, who require sub-nanometre bending control of the mirror form.
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Dec 2024
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Valerio
Bellucci
,
Sarlota
Birnsteinova
,
Tokushi
Sato
,
Romain
Letrun
,
Jayanath C. P.
Koliyadu
,
Chan
Kim
,
Gabriele
Giovanetti
,
Carsten
Deiter
,
Liubov
Samoylova
,
Ilia
Petrov
,
Luis
Lopez Morillo
,
Rita
Graceffa
,
Luigi
Adriano
,
Helge
Huelsen
,
Heiko
Kollmann
,
Thu Nhi
Tran Calliste
,
Dusan
Korytar
,
Zdenko
Zaprazny
,
Andrea
Mazzolari
,
Marco
Romagnoni
,
Eleni Myrto
Asimakopoulou
,
Zisheng
Yao
,
Yuhe
Zhang
,
Jozef
Ulicny
,
Alke
Meents
,
Henry N.
Chapman
,
Richard
Bean
,
Adrian
Mancuso
,
Pablo
Villanueva-Perez
,
Patrik
Vagovic
Open Access
Abstract: X-ray multi-projection imaging (XMPI) is an emerging experimental technique for the acquisition of rotation-free, time-resolved, volumetric information on stochastic processes. The technique is developed for high-brilliance light-source facilities, aiming to address known limitations of state-of-the-art imaging methods in the acquisition of 4D sample information, linked to their need for sample rotation. XMPI relies on a beam-splitting scheme, that illuminates a sample from multiple, angularly spaced viewpoints, and employs fast, indirect, X-ray imaging detectors for the collection of the data. This approach enables studies of previously inaccessible phenomena of industrial and societal relevance such as fractures in solids, propagation of shock waves, laser-based 3D printing, or even fast processes in the biological domain. In this work, we discuss in detail the beam-splitting scheme of XMPI. More specifically, we explore the relevant properties of X-ray splitter optics for their use in XMPI schemes, both at synchrotron insertion devices and XFEL facilities. Furthermore, we describe two distinct XMPI schemes, designed to faciliate large samples and complex sample environments. Finally, we present experimental proof of the feasibility of MHz-rate XMPI at the European XFEL. This detailed overview aims to state the challenges and the potential of XMPI and act as a stepping stone for future development of the technique.
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Nov 2024
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VMXm-Versatile Macromolecular Crystallography microfocus
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Anna J.
Warren
,
Jose
Trincao
,
Adam D.
Crawshaw
,
Emma V.
Beale
,
Graham
Duller
,
Andrew
Stallwood
,
Mark
Lunnon
,
Richard
Littlewood
,
Adam
Prescott
,
Andrew
Foster
,
Neil
Smith
,
Guenther
Rehm
,
Sandira
Gayadeen
,
Christopher
Bloomer
,
Lucia
Alianelli
,
David
Laundy
,
John
Sutter
,
Leo
Cahill
,
Gwyndaf
Evans
Open Access
Abstract: VMXm joins the suite of operational macromolecular crystallography beamlines at Diamond Light Source. It has been designed to optimize rotation data collections from protein crystals less than 10 µm and down to below 1 µm in size. The beamline has a fully focused beam of 0.3 × 2.3 µm (vertical × horizontal) with a tuneable energy range (6–28 keV) and high flux (1.6 × 1012 photons s−1 at 12.5 keV). The crystals are housed within a vacuum chamber to minimize background scatter from air. Crystals are plunge-cooled on cryo-electron microscopy grids, allowing much of the liquid surrounding the crystals to be removed. These factors improve the signal-to-noise during data collection and the lifetime of the microcrystals can be prolonged by exploiting photoelectron escape. A novel in vacuo sample environment has been designed which also houses a scanning electron microscope to aid with sample visualization. This combination of features at VMXm allows measurements at the physical limits of X-ray crystallography on biomacromolecules to be explored and exploited.
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Nov 2024
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B16-Test Beamline
Optics
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Xujie
Tong
,
Vishal
Dhamgaye
,
Qiucheng
Chen
,
Qingxin
Wu
,
Biao
Deng
,
Ling
Zhang
,
Oliver
Fox
,
Hongchang
Wang
,
Jun
Zhao
,
Yifang
Chen
,
Zijian
Xu
,
Peng
Li
,
Kawal
Sawhney
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[32834]
Open Access
Abstract: Hard X-ray microscopes with 20–30 nm spatial resolution ranges are an advanced tool for the inspection of materials at the nanoscale. However, the limited efficiency of the focusing optics, for example, a Fresnel zone plate (ZP) lens, can significantly reduce the power of a nanoprobe. Despite several reports on ZP lenses that focus hard X-rays with 20 nm resolution – mainly constructed by zone-doubling techniques – a systematic investigation into the limiting factors has not been reported. We report the structural effects on the focusing and imaging efficiency of 20–30 nm-resolution ZPs, employing a modified beam-propagation method. The zone width and the duty cycle (zone width/ring pitch) were optimized to achieve maximum efficiency, and a comparative analysis of the zone materials was conducted. The optimized zone structures were used in the fabrication of Pt-hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) ZPs. The highest focusing efficiency of the Pt-HSQ-ZP with a resolution of 30 nm was 10% at 7 keV and >5% in the range 6–10 keV, whereas the highest efficiency of the Pt-HSQ-ZP with a resolution of 20 nm was realized at 7 keV with an efficiency of 7.6%. Optical characterization conducted at X-ray beamlines demonstrated significant enhancement of the focusing and imaging efficiency in a broader range of hard X-rays from 5 keV to 10 keV, demonstrating the potential application in hard X-ray focusing and imaging.
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Nov 2024
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Jayanath C. P.
Koliyadu
,
Daniel
Moško
,
Eleni Myrto
Asimakopoulou
,
Valerio
Bellucci
,
Šarlota
Birnšteinová
,
Richard
Bean
,
Romain
Letrun
,
Chan
Kim
,
Henry
Kirkwood
,
Gabriele
Giovanetti
,
Nerea
Jardon
,
Janusz
Szuba
,
Trey
Guest
,
Andreas
Koch
,
Jan
Grünert
,
Peter
Szeles
,
Pablo
Villanueva-Perez
,
Fabian
Reuter
,
Claus-Dieter
Ohl
,
Mike Andreas
Noack
,
Francisco
Garcia-Moreno
,
Zuzana
Kuglerová-Valdová
,
Libor
Juha
,
Martin
Nikl
,
Wataru
Yashiro
,
Hitoshi
Soyama
,
Daniel
Eakins
,
Alexander M.
Korsunsky
,
Jozef
Ulicny
,
Alke
Meents
,
Henry N.
Chapman
,
Adrian P.
Mancuso
,
Tokushi
Sato
,
Patrik
Vagovic
Abstract: We report on recent developments that enable megahertz hard X-ray phase contrast imaging (MHz XPCI) experiments at the Single Particles, Clusters, and Biomolecules and Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SPB/SFX) instrument of the European XFEL facility (EuXFEL). We describe the technical implementation of the key components, including an MHz fast camera and a modular indirect X-ray microscope system based on fast scintillators coupled through a high-resolution optical microscope, which enable full-field X-ray microscopy with phase contrast of fast and irreversible phenomena. The image quality for MHz XPCI data showed significant improvement compared with a pilot demonstration of the technique using parallel beam illumination, which also allows access to up to 24 keV photon energies at the SPB/SFX instrument of the EuXFEL. With these developments, MHz XPCI was implemented as a new method offered for a broad user community (academic and industrial) and is accessible via standard user proposals. Furthermore, intra-train pulse diagnostics with a high few-micrometre spatial resolution and recording up to 128 images of consecutive pulses in a train at up to 1.1 MHz repetition rate is available upstream of the instrument. Together with the diagnostic camera upstream of the instrument and the MHz XPCI setup at the SPB/SFX instrument, simultaneous two-plane measurements for future beam studies and feedback for machine parameter tuning are now possible.
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Nov 2024
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