Robust optic alignment in a tilt-free implementation of the Rowland circle spectrometer

Abstract

High-resolution x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) has recently been demonstrated in the laboratory setting, achieving nearly synchrotron-level count rates despite the use of only conventional x-ray tube sources. This development holds high potential for expanding the reach of x-ray spectroscopies beyond the specialist community of synchrotron users, but comes with its own unique technical challenges for instrument performance and also, just as importantly, for ease of use by non-experts in x-ray science. Here, we address spectrometer design and operations in the context of the imperfect parallelness between the desired crystal plane and the wafer surface in spherically bent crystal analyser (SBCAs), an effect usually called “wafer miscut”. This introduces an ambiguous re-focusing error that typically requires a motorized two-axis tilt stage for fine alignment of the SBCA optic onto the ideal Rowland circle configuration. We instead demonstrate an asymmetric Rowland geometry that eliminates all need for motorized fine-tilt adjustment. We find rapid, extremely reproducible re-insertion of any aligned SBCA, i.e., without the need for any subsequent reoptimization. These improvements strongly benefit the ease of use of laboratory based spectrometers, taking them an important step closer to the level of turnkey operations needed for wide adoption outside of the existing specialist community.