The high-resolution absorption spectroscopy branch on the VUV beamline DESIRS at SOLEIL

A VUV absorption spectroscopy facility designed for ultra-high spectral resolution is in operation as a dedicated branch on the DESIRS beamline at Synchrotron SOLEIL. This branch includes a unique VUV Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) and a dedicated versatile gas sample chamber. The FTS instrument can cover a large UV-VUV spectral range from 4 to 30 eV, with an ultimate line width of 0.08 cm(-1) on a large spectral window, ΔE/E = 7%, over which all spectral features can be acquired in a multiplex way. The performance can be considered to be a middle ground between broadband moderate-resolution spectrometers based on gratings and ultra-high-spectral-resolution VUV tunable-laser-based techniques over very narrow spectral windows. The various available gaseous-sample-handling setups, which function over a wide range of pressures and temperatures, and the acquisition methodology are described. A selection of experimental results illustrates the performance and limitations of the FTS-based facility.