Design and performance of an eight-pole resistive magnet for soft x-ray magnetic dichroism measurements

To take full advantage of the strengths of soft x-ray magnetic dichroism (XMD) measurements for the detailed and quantitative characterization of multielement magnetic materials, we developed an eight-pole electromagnet that provides magnetic fields up to 0.9 T in any direction relative to the incoming x-ray beam. The setup allows us to measure magnetic circular and linear dichroism spectra as well as to thoroughly study magnetization reversal processes with very high precision. Design constraints and system optimization for maximum peak field are discussed. The predicted current-field relation is in excellent agreement with experimental findings. A brief discussion of the key technical difficulties in developing a similar superconducting device with peak fields of 5 T and ramping rates suitable for point-by-point full-field reversal in an XMD experiment is presented. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.