Magneto-x-ray effects in transition-metal alloys

We present a theory that combines the relativistic spin-polarized version of the Koringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent-potential approximation theory and the macroscopic theory of magneto-optical effects enabling us to calculate magneto-x-ray effects from first principles. The theory is illustrated by calculation of Faraday and Kerr rotations and ellipticities for transition-metal alloys

A Guinier Camera for Sr Powder Diffraction: High Resolution and High Throughput.

The paper describe a new powder diffraction instrument for synchrotron radiation sources which combines the high throughput of a position-sensitive detector system with the high resolution normally only provided by a crystal analyzer. It uses the Guinier geometry which is traditionally used with an x-ray tube source. This geometry adapts well to the synchrotron source, provided proper beam conditioning is applied. The high brightness of the SR source allows a high resolution to be achieved. When combined with a photon-counting silicon microstrip detector array, the system becomes a powerful instrument for radiation-sensitive samples or time-dependent phase transition studies

Spatiotemporal Response of Crystals in X-ray Bragg Diffraction

The spatiotemporal response of crystals in x-ray Bragg diffraction resulting from excitation by an ultra-short, laterally confined x-ray pulse is studied theoretically. The theory presents an extension of the analysis in symmetric reflection geometry [1] to the generic case, which includes Bragg diffraction both in reflection (Bragg) and transmission (Laue) asymmetric scattering geometries. The spatiotemporal response is presented as a product of a crystal-intrinsic plane wave spatiotemporal response function and an envelope function defined by the crystal-independent transverse profile of the incident beam and the scattering geometry. The diffracted wavefields exhibit amplitude modulation perpendicular to the propagation direction due to both angular dispersion and the dispersion due to Bragg's law. The characteristic measure of the spatiotemporal response is expressed in terms of a few parameters: the extinction length, crystal thickness, Bragg angle, asymmetry angle, and the speed of light. Applications to self-seeding of hard x-ray free electron lasers are discussed, with particular emphasis on the relative advantages of using either the Bragg or Laue scattering geometries. Intensity front inclination in asymmetric diffraction can be used to make snapshots of ultra-fast processes with femtosecond resolution

Wavelength Tunability of Ion-bombardment Induced Ripples on Sapphire

A study of ripple formation on sapphire surfaces by 300-2000 eV Ar+ ion bombardment is presented. Surface characterization by in-situ synchrotron grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering and ex-situ atomic force microscopy is performed in order to study the wavelength of ripples formed on sapphire (0001) surfaces. We find that the wavelength can be varied over a remarkably wide range-nearly two orders of magnitude-by changing the ion incidence angle. Within the linear theory regime, the ion induced viscous flow smoothing mechanism explains the general trends of the ripple wavelength at low temperature and incidence angles larger than 30. In this model, relaxation is confined to a few-nm thick damaged surface layer. The behavior at high temperature suggests relaxation by surface diffusion. However, strong smoothing is inferred from the observed ripple wavelength near normal incidence, which is not consistent with either surface diffusion or viscous flow relaxation.Comment: Revtex4, 19 pages, 10 figures with JPEG forma

Hard Real Time Quick Exafs Data Acquisition With All Open Source Software on a Commodity Personal Computer.

We describe here the data acquisition subsystem of the Quick EXAFS (QEXAFS) experiment at the National Synchrotron Light Source of Brookhaven National Laboratory. For ease of future growth and flexibility, almost all software components are open source with very active maintainers. Among them, Linux running on x86 desktop computer, RTAI for real-time response, COMEDI driver for the data acquisition hardware, Qt and PyQt for graphical user interface, PyQwt for plotting, and Python for scripting. The signal (A/D) and energy-reading (IK220 encoder) devices in the PCI computer are also EPICS enabled. The control system scans the monochromator energy through a networked EPICS motor. With the real-time kernel, the system is capable of deterministic data-sampling period of tens of micro-seconds with typical timing-jitter of several micro-seconds. At the same time, Linux is running in other non-real-time processes handling the user-interface. A modern Qt-based controls-front end enhances productivity. The fast plotting and zooming of data in time or energy coordinates let the experimenters verify the quality of the data before detailed analysis. Python scripting is built-in for automation. The typical data-rate for continuous runs are around ten mega-bytes per minute

A Simple X-Ray Focusing Mirror Using Float Glass

In our recent x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (speckle) experiments at NSLS, one of the challenges is to increase the coherent photon flux through a pinhole, whose size is chosen to match the beam`s horizontal transverse coherence length {ital l{sub h}}. We adopted an approach to vertically focus the x-ray beam so as to match its vertical transverse coherence length {ital l{sub v}}, (at NSLS X13, {ital l{sub v}}{approximately} 50{ital l{sub h}}, {ital l{sub h}}{approximately} 12 {mu}m at 3 KeV) with {ital l{sub h}}. By demagnifying the vertical size by a factor of {ital l{sub v}/l{sub h}}, we expect to increase the intensity of the x-rays through the pin hole by the same factor while keeping the beam coherent. A piece of commercial 3/8 inch thick float glass, by virtue of its low surface roughness ({approximately}3{Angstrom} rms), good reflectivity in the low photon energy range of interest and low cost, was chosen as the mirror material. A computer controlled motorized bender with a four point bending mechanism was designed and built to bend the float glass to a continuously variable radius of curvature from {approximately}700 m (intrinsic curvature of the glass surface) to < 300 m, measured with the Long Trace Profiler at the BNL Metrology Lab. This mirror bender assembly allows us to continuously change the focal length of the x-ray mirror down to 0.5 m under our experimental conditions. At the NSLS X13 Prototype Small Gap Undulator (PSGU) beamline, we were able to focus the x-ray beam from a vertical size of 0.5 mm to {approximately} 25{mu}m at the focal point 54 cm from the mirror center, thus increasing the photon flux density by a factor of 20. Results also show that, as expected, at an incident angle of 9 mrad, the mirror cuts off the harmonics of the undulator spectrum, leaving a clean 3 KeV fundamental for our experiments

A High-Speed Detector System for X-ray Fluorescence Microprobes.

We have developed a high-speed system for collecting x-ray fluorescence microprobe data, based on ASICs developed at BNL and high-speed processors developed by CSIRO. The system can collect fluorescence data in a continuous raster scan mode, and present elemental images in real time using Ryan's Dynamic Analysis algorithm. We will present results from a 32-element prototype array illustrating the concept. The final instrument will have 384 elements arranged in a square array around a central hole

Strong tuning of Rashba spin orbit interaction in single InAs nanowires

A key concept in the emerging field of spintronics is the gate voltage or electric field control of spin precession via the effective magnetic field generated by the Rashba spin orbit interaction. Here, we demonstrate the generation and tuning of electric field induced Rashba spin orbit interaction in InAs nanowires where a strong electric field is created either by a double gate or a solid electrolyte surrounding gate. In particular, the electrolyte gating enables six-fold tuning of Rashba coefficient and nearly three orders of magnitude tuning of spin relaxation time within only 1 V of gate bias. Such a dramatic tuning of spin orbit interaction in nanowires may have implications in nanowire based spintronic devices.Comment: Nano Letters, in pres