Vacuum Ultraviolet Light Source Research Articles

Cryogenic setup for the characterization of wavelength-shifting materials for noble element radiation detectors

In the present work, we describe a new cryogenic setup for studies of wavelength-shifting materials for optimised light collection in noble element radiation detectors, and discuss the commissioning results. This SiPM-based setup usesαinduced scintillation in gaseous argon as the vacuum ultraviolet light source with the goal of characterising materials, such as polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), in terms of their wavelength-shifting efficiency. Preliminary results obtained with the system are consistent with the ones reported in literature: 0.5±0.05 in terms of WLS efficiency (PEN/TPB). A value of 1.24 μs was obtained for the triplet lifetime in Ar, which is a factor of 2.6 smaller than the one described in literature due to the presence of impurities. Further extensions of the system are currently being studied. The foreseen upgrades are expected to allow the study of GEM-like structures potentially interesting for rare-event searches. The design of the setup will be addressed along with the first results.

Compact tunable 80 MHz repetition rate vacuum ultraviolet light source up to 10 eV: intracavity high harmonic generation by nonlinear reflection on a AlN nanofilm in a mode locked Ti:sapphire oscillator

We report the realization of an intra-oscillator high harmonic source based on a Kerr lens mode locked Ti:sapphire laser running at 80 MHz repetition rate. A nonlinear medium consisting of an AlN nanofilm on a thin sapphire substrate is placed inside the oscillator cavity. The harmonics are generated, in reflection geometry, on the AlN nanofilm, directing the harmonic beam out of the cavity. Exploiting the benefits of this approach, a compact size, tunable, high repetition rate and coherent vacuum ultraviolet light source with a spectrum up to the 7th harmonic has been achieved. In particular, the powerful 5th harmonic covering the 145-163 nm range aims to be an attractive tunable light source for spectroscopical applications.

Plasma confinement by an optoelectronic system

Plasma confinement was succeeded by an optoelectronic system with the aid of a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light source, called the photoemission-assisted plasma system. The photoemission-assisted plasma was generated by utilizing photoelectrons from the substrate cathode. The photoelectrons were emitted from the substrate by external VUV irradiation via the photoelectric effect and then worked as initial electrons triggering the plasma generation. The photoemission-assisted plasma was confined with bright luminescence in an argon atmosphere by controlling the flow rate and pressure. The plasma confinement survived at up to 6400 Pa, which was much higher than the pressure estimated from the current–voltage characteristics. These results suggested that the area exhibiting luminescence dominated by the γ regime becomes small as the argon flow rate increases; however, the area does not vanish because the VUV-excited photoelectrons are sufficiently supplied. The residual area is dominated by the α regime without luminescence. Thus, the photoemission-assisted plasma seems to be confined on the balance between α and γ regimes. Because the current in the α-regime area is one hundredth in magnitude compared with that in the γ-regime area, the actual current density results in over 40 times with strong luminescence. This confined plasma with certain voltage and current condition may be expected for developing a new plasma reaction system and for application in semiconductor engineering.

The HLS-II alarm system optimization for removing nuisance alarms

Hefei Light Source II (HLS-II) is a vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron light source. The HLS-II alarm system is responsible for monitoring the alarms of the process variables and distributing the alarm events in time. Nuisance alarms reduce the functionality, credibility and trustworthiness of the alarm system. This paper proposes a method for design alarm deadband and delay timers to remove the nuisance alarm events to the expected ratio. An optimal deadband width is calculated to reduce the alarm events while balancing the effects of reducing the occurrence number of alarm events and increasing the duration of alarm events. If the expected ratio is not met after using the optimal deadband width, the delay timers are set additionally. The Bayesian estimation approach is used to estimate the probability that the delay timers eliminate the alarm events. This method is based on statistical properties of the process variables and can effectively remove nuisance alarm events. Two examples of the HLS-II alarm system are provided to illustrate the proposed method. In the two examples, the optimal deadband removed 99.27% and 88.92% of nuisance alarms respectively.

Interaction Study of Energetic Protons and Electrons with the Vacuum Ultra Violet Source used in the Complex Irradiation Facility

Context: One important factor to be considered for space missions is the radiation environment. It is composed of energetic particles, such as protons, electrons and ions, and electromagnetic radiation, photons ranging from Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV) to Far Infrared (FIR). Each of these radiation sources have an unique energy spectrum that further depends on the location inside the solar system, e. g. Earth orbits or interplanetary space.For material qualification and material engineering, individual irradiation is considered and their effects are superimposed. However, effects occurring when two and more radiation types simultaneously are present have barely been investigated yet. Further complexity is added, when additional interactions take place due to laboratory hardware. Aims: This publication reports on the efforts made to analyse and measure the interaction of a VUV and corpuscular radiation sources. The aim is to quantify the deviations due to interactions and conclude consequences for the simultaneous operation of these radiation sources. Methods: In order to quantify the effects, the Complex Irradiation Facility (CIF), located at the DLR Bremen has been used. It connects proton and electron accelerators together with VUV and UV light sources to an ultra high vacuum chamber. The corpuscular and VUV radiation sources have been operated simultaneously. The reaction of the operation parameters, such as current measured with Faraday Cups (FC) has been tracked and post-processed. Results: It has been discovered, that protons considerably interact with the gas mixture used to operate the VUV source. This interaction decreases for higher beam intensities of the corpuscular irradiation. It was found, that this is likely due to protons ionizing gas atoms which are then measured by the FC as current. For electrons, this phenomena was not observed due to their smaller stopping power. The discovery restricts the acceleration factor of the CIF for proton together with VUV irradiation, but does not necessarily limit the range of application of the CIF depending on the requirements of the material and/or qualification test. Energy range of electrons stays unrestricted.

A Simple High-Flux Switchable VUV Lamp Based on an Electrodeless Fluorescent Lamp for SPI/PAI Mass Spectrometry.

Single-photon ionization (SPI) is a unique soft ionization technique for organic analysis. A convenient high-flux vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light source is a key precondition for wide application of SPI techniques. In this study, we present a novel VUV lamp by simply modifying an ordinary electrodeless fluorescent lamp. By replacing the glass bulb with a stainless steel bulb and introducing 5% Kr/He (v/v) as the excitation gas, an excellent VUV photon flux over 4.0 × 1014 photons s-1 was obtained. Due to its rapid glow characteristics, the VUV lamp can be switched on and off instantly as required by detection, ensuring the stability and service life of the lamp. To demonstrate the performance of the new lamp, the switchable VUV lamp was coupled with an SPI-mass spectrometer, which could be changed to photoinduced associative ionization (PAI) mode by doping gaseous CH2Cl2 to initiate an associative ionization reaction. Two types of volatile organic compounds sensitive to SPI and PAI, typically benzene series and oxygenated organics, respectively, were selected as samples. The instrument exhibited a high detection sensitivity for the tested compounds. With a measurement time of 11 s, the 3σ limits of detection ranged from 0.33 to 0.75 pptv in SPI mode and from 0.03 to 0.12 pptv in PAI mode. This study provides an extremely simple method to assemble a VUV lamp with many merits, e.g., portability, robustness, durability, low cost, and high flux. The VUV lamp may contribute to the development of SPI-related highly sensitive detection technologies.

Ionization potentials of metal clusters studied with a broad range, tunable vacuum ultraviolet light source.

In this work, we present an alternative to complex laser setups or synchrotron light sources to accurately measure the ionization potentials of metal clusters. The setup is based on a commercial Xe flash lamp, combined with a vacuum monochromator, and has been applied to determine the ionization potentials of Snn clusters with n = 8-12 atoms. The uncertainty in the determination of the ionization potentials is mainly caused by the bandwidth of the monochromator. The adiabatic ionization potentials (AIPs) are extracted from experimental photoionization efficiency curves. Franck-Condon simulations are additionally used to interpret the shape and onset of the photo-ion yield. The obtained AIPs are (all energies are in eV) Sn8 (6.53 ± 0.05), Sn9 (6.69 ± 0.04), Sn10 (6.93 ± 0.03), Sn11 (6.34 ± 0.05), and Sn12 (IsoI 6.64 ± 0.04 and IsoIII 6.36 ± 0.05). Furthermore, the impact of multiple isomers present in the experiment on the photo-ion yield is addressed and compared with other experimental data in the literature.

Towards the development of a self-powered vacuum ultraviolet photodetector based on calcium fluoride/gold interface

A calcium fluoride (CaF2) single crystal with asymmetric gold (Au) and aluminum (Al) electrodes is investigated as a photovoltaic sensor of high-energy vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. A photocurrent of at least 0.13nA is obtained at zero bias voltage, indicating that the sensor may be self-powered and can be operated without an external voltage source. The sensor is responsive only to wavelengths shorter than 130 nm, corresponding to photon energies greater than 9.5 eV. The 130-nm cutoff wavelength aligns with the transmission edge of the crystal, allowing it to screen out unwanted background UV and visible light without having to use filters. The 5.36 μs (fall time) time response of the sensor is similar to that of a commercial diamond UV sensor (5.05 μs). When operated in reverse- and forward-bias with an applied bias voltage ranging from –9 V to 9 V, the sensor exhibits rectification. In reverse-bias operation, increasing then decreasing the bias voltage leads to hysteresis which is attributed to surface defects at the CaF2/Au interface. As a self-powered filterless VUV sensor with a sufficiently fast response speed, the CaF2 sensor would be attractive for applications requiring high-power VUV light sources to be monitored.

Study on support for HALF beam position monitor displacement measurement system

Hefei Advanced Light Facility (HALF), is a fourth-generation vacuum ultraviolet and X-ray diffraction limit synchrotron radiation (DLSR) light source under preliminary research and construction. Beam position monitor (BPM) displacement measurement system with nanometer resolution is used to correct the BPM data and achieve sub-micron beam orbit stability. In order to make full use of the performance and meet the requirement of HALF’s beam orbit stability, the supports of the system are particularly crucial. The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of support for the BPM displacement system that meet the stability requirements of HALF. A hybrid support with Invar 36 and carbon fiber/epoxy is creatively proposed to achieve stability requirements. Through the calculation of thermal expansion, the analysis of mechanical vibration and finite element analysis (FEA), the hybrid support is adjusted to higher stability. Experiments are conducted and show that the hybrid support has higher stability than traditional support. On the existing experimental platform, the vibration RMS of the hybrid support was measured at 42.6 nm in horizontal and 29.9 nm in vertical and the hybrid support could meet the requirement of HALF’s beam orbit stability.

The development of the alarm system for HLS-II

Hefei Light Source II (HLS-II) is a vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron light source. The control system of HLS-II is a distributed system based on the experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS). The alarm system of HLS-II is responsible for monitoring the alarm state of the facility and distributing the alarm message in time. It facilitates the operator to troubleshoot problem efficiently, so as to improve the availability of HLS-II. Phoebus/Alarms (Alarms) is the latest alarm software released in EPICS community. Based on Alarms, the alarm system of HLS-II is designed, developed and deployed. The alarm distribution strategy is designed from the perspective of the HLS-II operation mode, alarm severity and alarm representative to overcome alarm floods. The 3 ways to distribute the alarm message are added to the HLS-II alarm system, which include WeChat, SMS and web-based GUI. In order to configure alarm options efficiently and conveniently, an alarm configuration management tool is developed based on the MySQL database and Browser/Server architecture. The alarm system of HLS-II has been deployed since November 2021. The result indicates that the alarm system is effective and convenient to operate.

Rotational state specific dissociation dynamics of D2O via the C̃(010) state: The effect of bending vibrational excitation.

The rotational state resolved photodissociation dynamics of D2O via the C̃(010) state has been investigated by using the D-atom Rydberg tagging time-of-flight technique combined with a tunable vacuum ultraviolet light source. The D-atom action spectrum of the C̃(010) ← X̃(000) band and the corresponding time-of-flight (TOF) spectra of D-atom photoproducts formed following the excitation of D2O to individual rotational transition have been measured. By comparison with the action spectrum of the C̃(000) ← X̃(000) band, the bending vibrational constant of the C̃ state for D2O can be determined to be v2 = 1041.37 ± 0.71cm-1. From the TOF spectra, the product kinetic energy spectra, the vibrational state distributions of OD products, and the state resolved anisotropy parameters have been determined. The experimental results indicate a dramatic variation in the OD product state distributions for different rotational excitations. This illuminates that there are two distinctive coupling channels from the C̃(010) state to the low-lying electronic states: the homogeneous electronic coupling to the Ã1B1 state, resulting in vibrationally hot OD(X) products, and the Coriolis-type coupling to the B̃1A1 state, producing vibrationally cold but rotationally hot OD(X) and OD(A) products. Furthermore, the three-body dissociation channel is confirmed, which is attributed to the C̃ → 1A2 or C̃ → Ã pathway. In comparison with the previous results of D2O photolysis via the C̃(000) state, it is found that the v2 vibration of the parent molecule enhances both the vibrational and rotational excitations of OD products.

Development of a pulsed vacuum ultraviolet light source with adjustable intensity.

This paper describes the development of a pulsed light source using the discharge from an electrode in a medium of various noble gases. This source can be used to aid in the characterization and testing of new vacuum-ultraviolet sensitive light detection devices. The source includes a novel spark driver circuit, a spark chamber into which different noble gases can be introduced, and an optical attenuation cell capable of being filled with different gases to allow for the attenuation of the pulsed light down to single photon levels. We describe the construction, calibration, and characterization of this device deployed at a dedicated light detection test stand at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Evolution of the frequency-comb structure and coherence from a Keldysh multiphoton into a tunneling regime.

We present a theoretical study of the characteristics of the frequency-comb structure and coherence via high-order harmonic generation (HHG) driven by the laser pulse trains when the ionization process is pushed from Keldysh multiphoton into tunneling regime. HHG is obtained by solving accurately the time-dependent Schrödinger equation by means of the time-dependent generalized pseudospectral method. We find that the nested comb structures are formed from each harmonic order in the Keldysh multiphoton ionization regime. But it is severely suppressed or even disappeared in the Keldysh tunneling ionization regime. It implies that the temporal coherence of the emitted frequency comb modes is very sensitive to the Keldysh ionization regime. To understand the evolution of frequency-comb structure and coherence, we perform the calculation of the time-dependent ionization probability and the spectral phase of frequency-comb HHG. We find that the frequency-comb HHG driven by the laser pulse trains in the Keldysh multiphoton regime has a good coherence because the ionization probability of the atom driven by each laser pulse is stable, leading to a phase-coherent frequency-comb structure rather than those cases in the Keldysh tunneling regime with high laser intensity. Our results shed light on current interest and significance to the experimental realization of controllable and frequency-comb vacuum-ultraviolet light sources.

Micro telecom computing architecture.4-based beam position monitor electronics design for storage ring of Hefei advanced light facility.

The Hefei Advanced Light Facility (HALF) is a fourth-generation vacuum ultraviolet and x-ray diffraction limit synchrotron radiation (DLSR) light source now under preliminary research. To achieve ultralow beam emittance and small beam size, the orbit of the beam in the DLSR storage ring should meet the stability requirement at submicrometer scale. The beam position monitor (BPM) electronics measures the orbit and is hence an essential part of the beam orbit control system. In this article, we designa BPM electronics based on the MicroTCA.4 (Micro Telecom Computing Architecture) standards platform, which consists of a MicroTCA.4 module (including a chassis, a power supply, and a digital board), a customized RF front end module, and a frequency synthesizer. In-phase and quadrature sampling and digital signal processing algorithms are implemented to obtain turn-by-turn data, fast acquisition data at a 10 kHz rate, and slow acquisition data at a 10Hz rate. To evaluate the performance and function of BPM electronics, we conducted offline tests in the laboratory and beam tests based on the storage ring of Hefei Light Source II (HLS II), a light source similar to the HALF as an alternative. Test results indicate that the performance of MicroTCA.4-based BPM electronics can meet the requirements of the HALF storage ring.

Multichannel-resolved dynamics in resonance-enhanced below-threshold harmonic generation of H2+ molecular ions

Recently the study of the resonance-enhanced below-threshold harmonic generation (BTHG) of atoms and molecules has received considerable attention. BTHG, with spatially coherent and high conversion efficiency, can provide a potential way to produce powerful vacuum-ultraviolet light sources. However, the resonance effects associated with molecular BTHG have become more complex to study due to the presence of the extra internuclear degree of freedom. Here we perform an ab initio study and demonstrate the multichannel-resolved dynamics in resonance-enhanced BTHG of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ molecular ions by combining a synchrosqueezing time-frequency transform with an extended semiclassical simulation. We find that BTHG of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$ on resonance is enabled only near the zero-laser field region and the multichannel interference is responsible for enhanced BTHG. The time-frequency spectra in the vicinity of the resonance exhibit a periodic split structure with oscillating laser pulses and can be explained by the individual dynamical behavior of multiple channels in BTHG.

Characterization of a vacuum ultraviolet light source at 118 nm

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light at 118 nm has been shown to be a powerful tool to ionize molecules for various gas-phase chemical studies. A convenient table top source of 118 nm light can be produced by frequency tripling 355 nm light from a Nd:YAG laser in xenon gas. This process has a low efficiency, typically producing only nJ/pulse of VUV light. Simple models of the tripling process predict that the power of 118 nm light produced should increase quadratically with increasing xenon pressure. However, experimental 118 nm production has been observed to reach a maximum and then decrease to zero with increasing xenon pressure. Here, we describe the basic theory and experimental setup for producing 118 nm light and a new proposed model for the mechanism limiting the production based on pressure broadened absorption.

A novel kind of nonlinear kicker for the Hefei Advanced Light Facility

The Hefei Advanced Light Facility (HALF) is a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and X-ray diffraction-limited storage ring light source. Because of its extremely small dynamic aperture, an injection scheme with a nonlinear kicker (NLK) was considered for the HALF. This magnet was designed with ferrite cores to achieve a higher excitation efficiency and a small gap shield in the central area for a flat magnetic field. In this paper, the design parameters, calculations and measurements of the kicker are described, and further optimization of the magnet structure is discussed.

High-Flux MHz Vacuum Ultraviolet Light Source

An ideal vacuum ultraviolet light source for applications in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and photoionization mass spectrometry would have a high flux, a MHz repetition rate, a photon energy range from the UV to at least 15 eV, and variable energy and time resolution. This year, we reported a highly cascaded harmonic generation technique that addresses this challenge.

Femtosecond PLD-grown YF3 nanoparticle thin films as improved filterless VUV photoconductive detectors

A photoconductive detector (PCD) responding only to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiations below 180 nm without any filter was fabricated using an yttrium fluoride (YF3) thin film grown by femtosecond (fs) laser pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The structural morphology (particle size and surface roughness) of the thin film was improved using a low laser fluence and a high substrate temperature during the fabrication. The smallest average particle size achieved was 159 nm with a roughness of 37 nm at a laser fluence of 13.5 J cm−2 and a substrate temperature of 400 °C. The resistances for the dark current of the PCD increased from 10 TΩ to 680 TΩ using YF3 thin films with a smaller average nanoparticle diameter of 159 nm rather than 330 nm. The time response of the PCD to a VUV flash lamp emitting at 170 nm showed that a small average nanoparticle diameter results to a fast response time. By covering the Al electrode pairs with another fs PLD-grown YF3 film, the influence of external photoelectric effect was suppressed and the response wavelength edge decreased from 280 nm to 180 nm without any filter. The filterless PCD is expected to enhance the use of fluoride thin films in conjunction with VUV light sources for various scientific and industrial applications.

Detection of the keto-enol tautomerization in acetaldehyde, acetone, cyclohexanone, and methyl vinyl ketone with a novel VUV light source

The discovery of enols in combustion environments and our atmosphere has garnered increasing attention to the many unanswered questions surrounding enol chemistry. The scarcity of experimental data concerning these enols renders combustion and atmospheric models with a lack of constraining parameters, leading to varying computational predictions. Experimental detection is difficult because mass spectrometry, a powerful tool for probing a wide variety of species, cannot distinguish between enols and their thermodynamically favorable ketone isomers. A solution to this ambiguity is to use tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light from a synchrotron to identify the presence of the enol by its lower ionization energy compared to the isomer. We present a tabletop-scale VUV light source that implements highly cascaded harmonic generation, a new regime of cascaded nonlinear optics, to provide a set of spectral lines spaced by 1.2 eV. We demonstrate that the variety of photon energies available allows us to detect the keto-enol tautomerization of four aldehydes and ketones. By combining this novel VUV light source with an established microreactor, we first revisit the formation of vinyl alcohol from acetaldehyde and confirm that the observed isomerization is indeed unimolecular. Secondly, we observe the thermal tautomerization of acetone to propen-2-ol for the first time. Finally, we observe the thermal tautomerization of cyclohexanone to 1-cyclohexenol and methyl vinyl ketone to 2-hydroxybutadiene, where the results are in good agreement with those reported at a synchrotron. Our measurements can be used to constrain models, inform future experimental studies of enol reactivity, and potentially enhance current understanding of combustion and environmental chemistry.