First observation of photons carrying orbital angular momentum in undulator radiation.

Photon beams of 99 eV energy carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) have been observed in the 2nd harmonic off-axis radiation of a helical undulator at the 3rd generation synchrotron radiation light source BESSY II. For detection, the OAM carrying photon beam was superimposed with a reference beam without OAM. The interference pattern, a spiral intensity distribution, was recorded in a plane perpendicular to the propagation direction. The orientation of the observed spiral structure is related to the helicity of the undulator radiation. Excellent agreement between measurements and simulations has been found.

Magnetic moments at the surface of antiferromagnetic NiO(100).

The orientation of magnetic moments at the (100) surface of antiferromagnetic NiO single crystals is studied by x-ray linear magnetic dichroism in photoemission microscopy. T domains are observed terminating at the surface, with domain boundaries running mostly along in-plane [10] directions. From the detailed polarization dependence we find that the magnetic surface structure of a cleaved crystal is bulk terminated. This is in contrast to sputtered surfaces, where magnetic moments lie within the surface plane, forming a magnetically relaxed structure. These findings are of importance for understanding the exchange bias phenomenon.

Insertion devices for BESSY II.

The high-brilliance synchrotron radiation source BESSY II will provide space for the installation of 14 insertion devices. At the time of writing (July 1997), eight insertion devices are funded. The first light for use by scientists will be available in January 1999. The undulators are designed for a scanning operation in parallel with the monochromator. This modus requires tight tolerances concerning the drive system. The first insertion device to be installed, a U-49 undulator, has been assembled and magnetically measured. The r.m.s. phase error is 2 degrees. An endpole configuration using coils with less than 64 amp-turns makes the angular kick smaller than +/-3 micro rad over a gap range 15-50 mm.

The PTB electromagnetic undulator for BESSY II.

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) will operate an electromagnetic undulator designed for radiometry at the BESSY II storage ring. The undulator has a period length of 180 mm, 21 full periods and a maximum magnetic induction of 0.46 T, resulting in a tuning range of the first harmonic from 5 to 150 eV at 1.7 GeV electron energy. Moreover, the electromagnetic design allows the undulator to be operated in a special mode with the period length doubled to 360 mm, thus accordingly shifting the tuning range to lower energies. The main design parameters of the undulator for radiometric applications, as well as measured magnetic field data, are presented.

A plane-grating monochromator for circularly polarized undulator radiation at BESSY II.

At BESSY II, a third-generation 1.7 GeV storage ring is under construction. A planar elliptical undulator will be installed as a source of X-rays that have a high degree of circular polarization. Radiation in the first, third and fifth harmonics will cover the energy range 87-1330 eV. The beamline will essentially consist of a plane-grating monochromator working with collimated light in the dispersion plane. A single set of optical elements can be used to handle the two angularly separated beams of opposite helicity from the double undulator. The degree of circular polarization ranges from 73 to 100%, and a flux of up to 5 x 10(13) photons s(-1) (100 mA)(-1) can be achieved. A maximum spectral resolution of about 13 000 will be possible at 100 eV using a 20 micro m slit.

Wave-front propagation: design code for synchrotron radiation beam lines.

Third-generation synchrotron radiation light sources provide partially coherent radiation. Certain topics in the optical design of beam lines and monochromators can be studied with electric-field distributions only rather than with intensity distributions of the light source. The radiation characteristics of a dipole or an undulator can be represented by a two-dimensional complex-electric-field distribution at a distance of several meters from the insertion device center. A method is described that transforms this field distribution through a complete beam line (consisting of mirrors and gratings) to the sample plane. Diffraction at apertures can be modeled and Stokes parameters can be evaluated. The derivation of the equations was performed with the algebraic code REDUCE. A comparison with the brightness formalism is provided.

Fourth-order optical aberrations and phase-space transformation for reflection and diffraction optics.

One can derive fourth-order optical ray deviations for a mirror or grating from the optical path function by using the analytical code REDUCE. Some of the aberrations are discussed for normal-incidence and grazing-incidence monochromators. The nonlinear transformation of light from the source to the image plane of a mirror or grating is represented by a transformation matrix. The optical properties of a combination of several optical elements are given by the product of the matrices of the individual optical elements. The matrix elements can be interpreted as optical aberrations. A program has been written that optimizes a complete beam line with respect to various optical aberrations by minimizing an appropriate cost function that is built from a weighted sum of the matrix elements.