Soft X-ray reflectivity: from quasi-perfect mirrors to accelerator walls

Reflection of light from surfaces is a very common, but complex phenomenon not only in science and technology, but in every day life. The underlying basic optical principles have been developed within the last five centuries using visible light available from the sun or other laboratory light sources. X-rays were detected in 1895, and the full potential of soft- and hard-x ray radiation as a probe for the electronic and geometric properties of matter, for material analysis and its characterisation is available only since the advent of synchrotron radiation sources some 50 years ago. On the other hand high-brilliance and high power synchrotron radiation of present-days 3rd and 4th generation light sources is not always beneficial. Highenergy machines and accelerator-based light sources can suffer from a serious performance drop or limitations due to interaction of the synchrotron radiation with the accelerator walls, thus producing clouds of photoelectrons (e-cloud) which in turn interact with the accelerated beam. Thus the suitable choice of accelerator materials and their surface coating, which determines the x-ray optical behaviour is of utmost importance to achieve ultimate emittance. Basic optical principles and examples on reflectivity for selected materials are given here.Comment: 11 pages, contribution to the Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects: ECLOUD'12; 5-9 Jun 2012, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Italy; CERN Yellow Report CERN-2013-002, pp.105-11

Determination of partial photoionisation cross sections of methyl bromide in the first autoionisation range by use of spin polarisation photoelectron spectroscopy

Schäfers F, Baig MA, Heinzmann U. Determination of partial photoionisation cross sections of methyl bromide in the first autoionisation range by use of spin polarisation photoelectron spectroscopy. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. 1983;16(1):L1-L6.Using recent experimental data on photoelectron spin polarisation combined with the high-resolution spectrum of methyl bromide, which has also been recently reported, the partial photoionisation cross sections for the ionisation of CH3Br from the 4 pi ground-state orbital into the energy degenerate continua epsilon sigma , epsilon pi and epsilon delta have been determined separately. Quantitative results, obtained for the autoionising resonances between 116 and 118 nm, are reported and discussed

Low frequency noise due to magnetic inhomogeneities in submicron FeCoB/MgO/FeCoB magnetic tunnel junctions

We report on room temperature low frequency noise due to magnetic inhomogeneities/domain walls (MI/DWs) in elliptic submicron FeCoB/MgO/FeCoB magnetic tunnel junctions with an area between 0.0245 and 0.0675{\mu}m2. In the smaller area junctions we found an unexpected random telegraph noise (RTN1), deeply in the parallel state, possibly due to stray field induced MI/DWs in the hard layer. The second noise source (RTN2) is observed in the antiparallel state for the largest junctions. Strong asymmetry of RTN2 and of related resistance steps with current indicate spin torque acting on the MI/DWs in the soft layer at current densities below 5x10^5 A/cm2.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Motion Correction of Whole-Body PET Data with a Joint PET-MRI Registration Functional

Respiratory motion is known to degrade image quality in PET imaging. The necessary acquisition time of several minutes per bed position will inevitably lead to a blurring effect due to organ motion. A lot of research has been done with regards to motion correction of PET data. As full-body PET-MRI became available recently, the anatomical data provided by MRI is a promising source of motion information. Current PET-MRI-based motion correction approaches, however, do not take into account the available information provided by PET data. PET data, though, may add valuable additional information to increase motion estimation robustness and precision.In this work we propose a registration functional that is capable of performing motion detection in gated data of two modalities simultaneously. Evaluation is performed using phantom data. We demonstrate that performing a joint registration of both modalities does improve registration accuracy and PET image quality.<br

Metabolic and haemodynamic effects of oral glucose loading in young healthy men carrying the 825T-allele of the G protein β3 subunit

BACKGROUND: A C825T polymorphism was recently identified in the gene encoding the β3 subunit of heterotrimeric G-proteins (GNB3). The T-allele is significantly associated with essential hypertension and obesity. In order to further explore a possible pathogenetic link between the T-allele and impaired glucose tolerance we studied metabolic and haemodynamic responses to oral glucose loading in young, healthy subjects with and without the 825T-allele. METHODS: Twelve subjects with and 10 without the 825T-allele were investigated at rest and following glucose ingestion (75 g). Blood glucose, serum insulin and haemodynamics were determined prior to and over 2 hours following glucose ingestion. We non-invasively measured stroke volume (SV, by impedance-cardiography), blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and systolic-time-intervals. Cardiac output (CO) was calculated from HR and SV. Total peripheral resistance was calculated from CO and BP. Metabolic and haemodynamic changes were quantified by maximal responses and by calculation of areas under the concentration time profile (AUC). Significances of differences between subjects with and without the T-allele were determined by unpaired two-tailed t-tests. A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Metabolic and haemodynamic parameters at baseline were very similar between both groups. The presence of the T-allele did not alter the response of any metabolic or haemodynamic parameter to glucose loading. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this study does not support the hypothesis that the C825T polymorphism may serve as a genetic marker of early impaired glucose tolerance

Potential remedies against the high Synchrotron Radiation induced heat load for future highest energy proton circular colliders

We propose a new method for handling the high synchrotron radiation SR induced heat load of future circular hadron colliders like FCC hh . FCC hh are dominated by the production of SR, which causes a significant heat load on the accelerator walls. Removal of such a heat load in the cold part of the machine, as done in the Large Hadron Collider, will require more than 100 MWof electrical power and a major cooling system. We studied a totally different approach, identifying an accelerator beam screen whose illuminated surface is able to forward reflect most of the photons impinging onto it. Such a reflecting beam screen will transport a significant part of this heat load outside the cold dipoles. Then, in room temperature sections, it could be more efficiently dissipated. Here we will analyze the proposed solution and address its full compatibility with all other aspects an accelerator beam screen must fulfill to keep under control beam instabilities as caused by electron cloud formation, impedance, dynamic vacuumissues, etc. If experimentally fully validated, a highly reflecting beam screen surface will provide a viable and solid solution to be eligible as a baseline design in FCC hh projects to come, rendering them more cost effective and sustainabl

The Energy Materials in-Situ Laboratory Berlin (EMIL) at BESSY II

The Helmholtz Center Berlin (HZB) and the Max-Planck Society (MPG) strengthen their research in renewable energies with the implementation of the joint Energy Material in-Situ Lab Berlin (EMIL) at the third generation light source BESSY II. The new facility is dedicated to the in-situ and in-system x-ray analysis of materials and devices for photovoltaic applications, (photo-) catalytic processes, energie conversion and storage. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the involved materials, spectroscopic methods with x-rays from the soft- up to the hard x-ray regime reveal an almost complete picture of their chemical and electronic properties. The contribution presents the layout of the x-ray beamlines and their performance in terms of photon flux, energy resolution and spot sizes

Transparent conductive oxide TCO buffer layer effect on the resistive switching process in metal TCO TiO2 metal assemblies

The effect of transparent conductive oxide TCO buffer layer on the insulator matrix and on the resistive switching process in the metal TiO2 TCO metal assembly was studied depending on the material of TCO ITO In2O3 0.9 SnO2 0.1 or SnO2 or ZnO . First time electro physical studies and near edge x ray absorption fine structure NEXAFS studies were carried out jointly and in the same point of the sample providing the direct experimental evidence that switching process influences strongly the lowest unoccupied bands and local atomic structure of the TiO2 layers. It was established that TCO layer in metal TiO2 TCO metal assembly is an additional source of oxygen vacancies for TiO2 film. The RL RH states are achieved presumably with formation rupture of electrically conductive path of oxygen vacancies. The inserting the Al2O3 thin layer between TiO2 and TCO layers restricts to some extent processes of migration of oxygen ions and vacancies and does not permit to realize the anti clockwise bipolar resistive switching in Au TiO2 Al2O3 ITO Au assembly. The greatest value of the ratio RH RL is observed for assembly with SnO2 buffer layer that will provide to implement the maximum set of intermediate states recording analog data and increases the density of information recording in this cas

Efficient high order suppression system for a metrology beamline

High quality metrology with synchrotron radiation requires in particular a very high spectral purity of the incident beam. This is usually achieved by a set of transmission filters with suitable absorption edges to suppress high order radiation of the monochromator. The at wavelength metrology station at a BESSY II bending magnet collimated plane grating monochromator c PGM beamline has recently commissioned a high order suppression system HiOS based on four reflections from mirrors which can be inserted into the beam path. Two pairs of mirrors are aligned parallel so as not to disturb the original beam path and are rotated clockwise and counter clockwise. Three sets of coatings are available for the different energy ranges and the incidence angle is freely tunable to find the optimum figure of merit for maximum suppression at maximum transmission for each photon energy required. Measured perfor mance results of the HiOS for the EUV and XUV range are compared with simulations, and applications are discusse