X-ray spectroscopy with variable line spacing based on reflection zone plate optics

Abstract

X-ray spectroscopy is a method, ideally suited for investigating the electronic structure of matter, which has been enabled by the rapid developments in light sources and instruments. The x-ray fluorescence lines of life-relevant elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are located in the soft x-ray regime and call for suitable spectrometer devices. In this Letter, we present a high-resolution spectrum of liquid water, recorded with a soft x-ray spectrometer based on a reflection zone plate (RZP) design. The RZP-based spectrometer with meridional variation of line space density from 2953 to 3757 l/mm offers extremely high detection efficiency and, at the same time, medium energy resolution. We can reproduce the well-known splitting of liquid water in the lone pair regime with 10 s acquisition time.

Strain analysis from M-edge resonant inelastic X-ray scattering of nickel oxide films

“…Also it should be noted that the energy range of the M 2,3 -edges of 3d-transition metal materials can be achieved with lab-high-harmonic-generation (HHG) sources. Although current HHG sources do not provide sufficient flux to perform the here presented RIXS experiments, we expect future developments increasing photon flux in combination with increased efficiency of RIXS optics, 33,34 such that one could foresee that this type of strain engineering analyses with M-edge RIXS may be performed in the lab in the future.…”

Development of Ultrafast X-ray Free Electron Laser Tools in (Bio)Chemical Research

“…The current examples emphasize, however, that the real world, functional materials, pharmaceuticals, catalysts or energy converting materials are not always crystalline and far from being periodically ideally arranged as it could look like when performing model type of investigations. If the intrinsic spatial resolution of the system does not allow for such detailed investigations, a combination of ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy and ultrafast X-ray diffraction or scattering as the "local to global approach" deliver configuration and charge information of the molecules studied [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76]. This approach will be described in the following chapter.…”

“…As ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction can "shake their hands" in Xray Free-electron laser science, they open up new ways to study complex chemical reactions. X-ray diffraction [17-59] and X-ray spectroscopy [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] are complementary techniques. X-ray spectroscopy allows probing the electronic properties in an element-, orbital-and site-specific way, for example bonding or oxidation state changes [63].…”

“…The first example is a time-resolved X-ray diffraction measurement on silverbehenate [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] with an outlook towards combination of the liquid jet with X-ray spectroscopy, the second example is a femtosecond time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy experiment on iron-pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO) 5 ) [78][79][80][81]. Figure 17.10a shows the apparatus which has been developed for such experiments at FELs.…”

“…Starting from this introduction as a comprehensive summary of the basic principles, in the following, various FEL methods developed so far will be summarised, including the concept of filming chemical reactions in real time utilizing ultrafast high-flux X-ray sources [11][12][13][14][15][16], X-ray Diffraction and Crystallography for Condensed State Chemistry Studies-Crystallography with Ultrahigh Temporal and Ultrahigh Spatial Resolution [14, and Applications in organic electronics and energy research [14,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59]; from From Local to Global: Ultrafast Multidimensional Soft X-ray Spectroscopy and Ultrafast X-ray Diffraction Shake Their Hands [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] and Applications in Bimolecular Reaction Studies and Photocatalysis [77][78][79][80] to Applications in Unimolecular Liquid Phase Reaction Dynamics [81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88]…”