Optical Studies For Synchrotron Radiation Beamlines

Abstract: Popular Abstract in English Among the large variety of experiments performed in science, a common one is to pass a light beam through a sample, the object to be studied, and to study the outcomes of the light-sample interaction. Many light sources have been used for this purpose, like light bulbs and lasers. A modern light source used nowadays is the so-called storage ring. In the storage rings electrons are accelerated and then stored, so that they circulate at a speed close to the speed of light. At these speeds the electrons emit a special kind of light when they travel in a bent path: the synchrotron light. The main property of the synchrotron light is that it is very concentrated (a high flux in a small area) and that it covers very high energies, from the ultraviolet light (UV) to the X-rays (UV and X-rays are in their nature just like visible light, but with higher energy). Before reaching the sample under study, the properties of the UV light and of the X-rays must be modified to meet the requirements of the experiments. This is done with optical elements like mirrors, lenses, gratings and crystals. The concept is similar to what is done in experiments with visible light, but UV light and X-rays have some particularities which require operating the optical devices in different manners. For instance, mirrors for X-ray need to operate at very small angles between the light beam and the mirror surface. This work discusses special solutions using UV and X-ray optics developed for synchrotron light. One of them focuses in an optical design that exploits the high quality of the light sources in MAX II and in MAX IV in order to improve the flexibility of the experiments. The second part of the work describes a device for measuring the polarization of light (one of its properties) that passes through the sample. The last part studies how the wave properties of light affects the performance of the optics.