Energy Range
Photons with a fixed energy of 1.0 keV with a residual divergence below 1 × 1 arcsec2 rms
ALBA Synchrotron
en
Soft X-ray beamline to support the development of the NewATHENA mission (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics). Funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.
The beamline design is entirely based on the monochromatic pencil beam XPBF 2.0 (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, PTB BESSY II) and provides metrology capabilities to integrate stacks produced by cosine company into a mirror module (MM) and characterize them. Interoperability between MINERVA and XPBF 2.0 will be preserved to reinforce and boost the production and characterization of the mirror modules.
MINERVA takes port 25 at the ALBA experimental hall, which provides optimal distribution of the components in the experimental hall, and allows for future upgrades (like adjustment for possible reduction/extension of the MMs focal length). This port is fed by a bending magnet source, and is relatively near the vacuum laboratory clean room.
The beamline operates under Ultra High Vacuum conditions (UHV) from the source to the exit of the photon shutter, where a vacuum window will separate them from the rest of the beamline. Downstream the vacuum window, the beamline will operate under High Vacuum conditions (HV) (10-5 mbar). The beamline provides stable temperature and clean environment around the sample station, and is equipped with angle-measuring devices (autocollimators) and an in-vacuum hexapod to control the MMs orientation during measurements. To ensure the accuracy of the geometrical configuration required by the data analysis, the beamline assesses the absolute distance between the fluorescence screen and the MM origin. This measurement relies mainly on the performances of laser tracking technology and the high positioning repeatability of the mechanics. For instance, optical targets (cube reflectors) are firmly fixed to the detector for a continuous read out of its position. The main hexapod inside the vacuum chamber also benefits from laser tracker technology for accurate positioning calibration. In the situation where a single laser tracker is not enough to achieve the required knowledge between the MM and the detector, a second laser tracker might be used close to the sample chamber. All hardware components are integrated to the standard ALBA control system, which provides also continuous monitoring of the Equipment Protection System (EPS) and Personnel Safety System (PSS). The control system includes macro execution and flexible scripting to allow for scan automation. Data acquisition allows recording the detector images together with the necessary configuration parameters of the beamline.