Mirror alignment by particle swarm optimization for synchrotron radiation beamlines

This article proposes a particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based automated mirror-alignment methodology that enables the utilization of high-flux beams for measurements in synchrotron radiation beamlines. The method is designed to improve beam flux by adjusting two mirrors within a target alignment time of 5 min, thereby satisfying critical operational demands. The proposed PSO-based method incorporates three adaptations: (i) particle initialization and dynamics (which are modified to locate a narrow flux peak efficiently), (ii) mirror-movement optimization (which reduces the total mirror-travel time), and (iii) a termination condition (which balances the practical trade-off between alignment time and beam flux). Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of achieving the alignment target and show that under the evaluated conditions the proposed method identified high-flux solutions more consistently than a general-purpose Gaussian-process-based Bayesian optimization method. Further, validation over a 15 month deployment period on an operational beamline, during which the proposed method improved beam flux in 107 of 124 runs (86.3%), demonstrates its robustness and reliability.