Vibration isolation and damping for long focal length synchrotron radiation instruments

Abstract

Vibrations of the optical elements in long focal length, high resolution monochromators and other long focal length optical systems used at synchrotron radiation facilities can lead to serious degradation of the performance of these systems. As higher resolution instruments with state-of-the-art spherical and plane elements come on line, vibration will become an increasingly serious problem. The vibrations excited in beamline elements can be at least as serious as position variations of the synchrotron radiation source. Vibrations of beamline and monochromator components may be driven by acoustic waves, ground motion, scanning system vibrations, or vibrations coupled in from experimental equipment such as pumps, fans, motors, etc. This paper will include a discussion of isolation and damping of vibrations in monochromators and beamlines. Various diagnostic methods are described, and a case study of vibration-caused loss of resolution in a 4 m normal incidence monochromator will be presented.