Beamline commissioning for microscopic measurements with ultraviolet and soft X-ray beam at the upgraded beamline BL-13B of the Photon Factory

Beamline 13 of the Photon Factory has been in operation since 2010 as a vacuum ultraviolet and soft X-ray undulator beamline for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments. The beamline and the end-station at branch B have been recently upgraded, enabling microscopic XPS, XAS, and ARPES measurements to be performed. In 2015, a planar undulator insertion device was replaced with an APPLE-II (advanced planar polarized light emitter II) undulator. This replacement allows use of linear, circular, and elliptical polarized light between 48 and 2000 eV with photon intensities of 10(9)-10(13) photons s(-1). For microscopic measurements, a toroidal post-mirror was renewed to have more focused beam with profile sizes of 78 mu m (horizontal) x 15 mu m (vertical) and 84 mu m x 11 mu m at photon energies of 100 and 400 eV, respectively. A high-precision sample manipulator composed of an XYZ translator, a rotary feed-through, and a newly developed goniometer, which is essential for microscopic measurements, has been used to control a sample specimen in six degrees of freedom, i.e. translation in the X, Y, and Z directions and rotation in the polar, azimuthal, and tilt directions. To demonstrate the performance of the focused beams, one- and two-dimensional XPS and XAS scan measurements of a copper grid have been performed. It was indicated from analysis of XPS and XAS intensity maps that the actual spatial resolution can be determined by the beam size.

Automated summary

Beamline 13 of the Photon Factory, which has been operating since 2010, is used for vacuum ultraviolet and soft X-ray experiments. The recent upgrades allow for microscopic measurements, with improved beam performance and focusing. The use of an advanced planar polarized light emitter II undulator and a renewed toroidal post-mirror enhance the capabilities of the beamline.