Five-element Johann-type x-ray emission spectrometer with a single-photon-counting pixel detector.

Area of Science:

• Synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy
• Hard X-ray instrumentation
• Materials characterization

Background:

• Advanced spectroscopic techniques are crucial for materials analysis.
• Existing spectrometers may have limitations in energy resolution or mobility.
• Hard X-ray photon-in photon-out (PIXIE) techniques require specialized instrumentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a novel Johann-type spectrometer for hard X-ray applications.
• To achieve high energy resolution and precise energy calibration across a wide Bragg-angle range.
• To demonstrate the spectrometer's capability for sensitive elemental analysis.

Main Methods:

• Construction of a Johann-type spectrometer utilizing five spherically bent crystals and a pixel detector.
• Operation across a Bragg-angle range of 60°-88° for hard X-ray photon-in photon-out measurements.
• Evaluation of energy resolution, energy calibration accuracy, and concentration detection limits.

Main Results:

• The spectrometer achieved sub-eV to a few eV energy resolution, with calibration better than 1.5 eV.
• A concentration detection limit below 0.4 wt% was demonstrated at the Cu Kα(1) line.
• The pixel detector facilitated rapid signal-to-background optimization.

Conclusions:

• The developed spectrometer is a versatile and mobile instrument for hard X-ray synchrotron techniques.
• It offers significant improvements in energy resolution, calibration, and detection sensitivity.
• The modular design allows for easy integration into existing beamlines, such as SuperXAS.