Thermal expansion of diamond at low temperatures

X-ray optics for the cavity-based X-ray free-electron laser

A cavity-based X-ray free-electron laser (CBXFEL) is a possible future direction in the development of fully coherent X-ray sources. CBXFELs consist of a low-emittance electron source, a magnet system with several undulators and chicanes, and an X-ray cavity. The X-ray cavity stores and circulates X-ray pulses for repeated FEL interactions with electron pulses until the FEL reaches saturation. CBXFEL cavities require low-loss wavefront-preserving optical components: near-100%-reflectivity X-ray diamond Bragg-reflecting crystals, outcoupling devices such as thin diamond membranes or X-ray gratings, and aberration-free focusing elements. In the framework of the collaborative CBXFEL research and development project of Argonne National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and SPring-8, we report here the design, manufacturing and characterization of X-ray optical components for the CBXFEL cavity, which include high-reflectivity diamond crystal mirrors, a diamond drumhead crystal with thin membranes, beryllium refractive lenses and channel-cut Si monochromators. All the designed optical components have been fully characterized at the Advanced Photon Source to demonstrate their suitability for the CBXFEL cavity application.

Diamond channel-cut crystals for high-heat-load beam-multiplexing narrow-band X-ray monochromators

Next-generation high-brilliance X-ray photon sources call for new X-ray optics. Here we demonstrate the possibility of using monolithic diamond channel-cut crystals as high-heat-load beam-multiplexing narrow-band mechanically stable X-ray monochromators with high-power X-ray beams at cutting-edge high-repetition-rate X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facilities. The diamond channel-cut crystals fabricated and characterized in these studies are designed as two-bounce Bragg reflection monochromators directing 14.4 or 12.4 keV X-rays within a 15 meV bandwidth to ⁵⁷Fe or ⁴⁵Sc nuclear resonant scattering experiments, respectively. The crystal design allows out-of-band X-rays transmitted with minimal losses to alternative simultaneous experiments. Only ≲2% of the incident ∼100 W X-ray beam is absorbed in the 50 µm-thick first diamond crystal reflector, ensuring that the monochromator crystal is highly stable. Other X-ray optics applications of diamond channel-cut crystals are anticipated.

Experimental verification of the field theory of specific heat with the scaling in crystalline matter

The field (geometrical) theory of specific heat is based on the universal thermal sum, a new mathematical tool derived from the evolution equation in the Euclidean four-dimensional spacetime, with the closed time coordinate. This theory made it possible to explain the phenomena of scaling in the heat capacity of condensed matter. The scaling of specific heat of the carbon group elements with a diamond lattice is revisited. The predictions of the scaling characteristics for natural diamond and grey tin are verified with published experimental data. The fourth power in temperature in the quasi-low temperature behaviour of the specific heat of both materials is confirmed. The phenomenon of scaling in the specific heat, previously known only in glassy matter, is demonstrated for some zincblend lattice compounds and diamond lattice elements, with their characteristic temperatures. The nearly identical elastic properties of grey tin and indium antimonide is the cause for similarity of their thermal properties, which makes it possible to make conjectures about thermal properties of grey tin.

Refractive Guide Switching a Regenerative Amplifier Free-Electron Laser for High Peak and Average Power Hard X Rays

We present an x-ray regenerative amplifier free-electron laser design capable of producing fully coherent hard x-ray pulses across a broad tuning range at a high steady state repetition rate. The scheme leverages a strong undulator taper and an apertured diamond output-coupling cavity crystal to produce both high peak and average spectral brightness radiation that is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater than conventional single-pass self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser amplifiers. Refractive guiding in the postsaturation regime is found to play a key role in passively controlling the stored cavity power. The scheme is explored both analytically and numerically in the context of the Linac Coherent Light Source II High Energy upgrade.

High Bragg reflectivity of diamond crystals exposed to multi-kW mm-2 X-ray beams

X-ray free-electron lasers in the oscillator configuration (XFELO) are future fully coherent hard X-rays sources with ultrahigh spectral purity. X-ray beams circulate in an XFELO optical cavity comprising diamond single crystals. They function as high-reflectance (close to 100%), narrowband (∼10 meV) Bragg backscattering mirrors. The average power density of the X-ray beams in the XFELO cavity is predicted to be as high as ∼10 kW mm^-2. Therefore, XFELO feasibility relies on the ability of diamond crystals to withstand such a high radiation load and preserve their high reflectivity. Here the endurance of diamond crystals to irradiation with multi-kW mm^-2 power density X-ray beams is studied. It is shown that the high Bragg reflectivity of the diamond crystals is preserved after the irradiation, provided it is performed at ∼1 × 10^-8 Torr high-vacuum conditions. Irradiation under 4 × 10^-6 Torr results in a ∼1 meV shift of the Bragg peak, which corresponds to a relative lattice distortion of 4 × 10^-8, while the high Bragg reflectivity stays intact.

Curved diamond-crystal spectrographs for x-ray free-electron laser noninvasive diagnostics

We report on the manufacturing and X-ray tests of bent diamond-crystal X-ray spectrographs, designed for noninvasive diagnostics of the X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) spectra in the spectral range from 5 to 15 keV. The key component is a curved, 20-μm thin, single crystalline diamond triangular plate in the (110) orientation. The radius of curvature can be varied between R = 0.6 m and R = 0.1 m in a controlled fashion, ensuring imaging in a spectral window of up to 60 eV for ≃8 keV X-rays. All of the components of the bending mechanism (about 10 parts) are manufactured from diamond, thus ensuring safe operations in intense XFEL beams. The spectrograph is transparent to 88% for 5-keV photons and to 98% for 15-keV photons. Therefore, it can be used for noninvasive diagnostics of the X-ray spectra during XFEL operations.

Diamond drumhead crystals for X-ray optics applications

Thin (<50 µm) and flawless diamond single crystals are essential for the realization of numerous advanced X-ray optical devices at synchrotron radiation and free-electron laser facilities. The fabrication and handling of such ultra-thin components without introducing crystal damage and strain is a challenge. Drumhead crystals, monolithic crystal structures composed of a thin membrane furnished with a surrounding solid collar, are a solution ensuring mechanically stable strain-free mounting of the membranes with efficient thermal transport. Diamond, being one of the hardest and most chemically inert materials, poses significant difficulties in fabrication. Reported here is the successful manufacture of diamond drumhead crystals in the [100] orientation using picosecond laser milling. Subsequent high-temperature treatment appears to be crucial for the membranes to become defect free and unstrained, as revealed by X-ray topography on examples of drumhead crystals with a 26 µm thick (1 mm in diameter) and a 47 µm thick (1.5 × 2.5 mm) membrane.

Exotic X-ray back-diffraction: a path toward a soft inelastic X-ray scattering spectrometer

In this work, soft X-ray back-diffraction (XBD; X-ray diffraction at angles near and exactly equal to 90°) is explored. The experiment was conducted at the SXS beamline at Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron, Brazil, at ∼3.2 keV. A high-resolution Si(220) multi-bounce back-diffraction monochromator was designed and constructed for this experiment. An ultra-thin Si(220) crystal (5 µm thick) was used as the sample. This ultra-thin crystal was characterized by profilometry, rocking-curve measurements and X-ray topography prior to the XBD measurements. It is shown that the measured forward-diffracted beam (o-beam) profiles, taken at different temperatures, are in close agreement with profiles predicted by the extended dynamical theory of X-ray diffraction, with the absence of multiple-beam diffraction (MBD). This is an important result for future studies on the basic properties of back-diffracted X-ray beams at energies slightly above the exact XBD condition (extreme condition where XBD is almost extinguished). Also, the results presented here indicate that stressed crystals behave like ideal strain-free crystals when used for low-energy XBD. This is mainly due to the large widths of XBD profiles, which lead to a low strain sensitivity in the detection of defects. This result opens up new possibilities for mounting spherical analyzers without degrading the energy resolution, at least for low energies. This is a path that may be used to construct a soft inelastic X-ray scattering spectrometer where different applications such as element-specific magnetic imaging tools could be explored.

Hybrid diamond-silicon angular-dispersive x-ray monochromator with 0.25-meV energy bandwidth and high spectral efficiency

We report on the design, implementation, and performance of an x-ray monochromator with ultra-high energy resolution (ΔE/E ≃ 2.7 × 10(-8)) and high spectral efficiency using x rays with photon energies E ≃ 9.13 keV. The operating principle of the monochromator is based on the phenomenon of angular dispersion in Bragg back-diffraction. The optical scheme of the monochromator is a modification of a scheme reported earlier [Shvyd'ko et al., Phys. Rev. A 84, 053823 (2011)], where a collimator/wavelength selector Si crystal was replaced with a 100-μm-thick type IIa diamond crystal. This modification provides a very-small-energy bandwidth ΔE ≃ 0.25 meV, a 3-fold increase in the aperture of the accepted beam, a reduction in the cumulative angular dispersion rate of x rays emanating from the monochromator for better focusing on a sample, a sufficient angular acceptance matching the angular divergence of an undulator source (≈ 10 μrad), and an improved throughput due to low x-ray absorption in the thin diamond crystal. The measured spectral efficiency of the monochromator was ≈ 65% with an aperture of 0.3 × 1 mm(2). The performance parameters of the monochromator are suitable for inelastic x-ray spectroscopy with an absolute energy resolution ΔE < 1 meV.

Hard x-ray monochromator with milli-electron volt bandwidth for high-resolution diffraction studies of diamond crystals

We report on design and performance of a high-resolution x-ray monochromator with a spectral bandwidth of ΔE(X) ≃ 1.5 meV, which operates at x-ray energies in the vicinity of the backscattering (Bragg) energy E(H) = 13.903 keV of the (008) reflection in diamond. The monochromator is utilized for high-energy-resolution diffraction characterization of diamond crystals as elements of advanced x-ray crystal optics for synchrotrons and x-ray free-electron lasers. The monochromator and the related controls are made portable such that they can be installed and operated at any appropriate synchrotron beamline equipped with a pre-monochromator.

Dominance of broken bonds and nonbonding electrons at the nanoscale

Although they exist ubiquitously in human bodies and our surroundings, the impact of nonbonding lone electrons and lone electron pairs has long been underestimated. Recent progress demonstrates that: (i) in addition to the shorter and stronger bonds between under-coordinated atoms that initiate the size trends of the otherwise constant bulk properties when a substance turns into the nanoscale, the presence of lone electrons near to broken bonds generates fascinating phenomena that bulk materials do not demonstrate; (ii) the lone electron pairs and the lone pair-induced dipoles associated with C, N, O, and F tetrahedral coordination bonding form functional groups in biological, organic, and inorganic specimens. By taking examples of surface vacancy, atomic chain end and terrace edge states, catalytic enhancement, conducting-insulating transitions of metal clusters, defect magnetism, Coulomb repulsion at nanoscale contacts, Cu(3)C(2)H(2) and Cu(3)O(2) surface dipole formation, lone pair neutralized interface stress, etc, this article will focus on the development and applications of theory regarding the energetics and dynamics of nonbonding electrons, aiming to raise the awareness of their revolutionary impact to the society. Discussion will also extend to the prospective impacts of nonbonding electrons on mysteries such as catalytic enhancement and catalysts design, the density anomalies of ice and negative thermal expansion, high critical temperature superconductivity induced by B, C, N, O, and F, the molecular structures and functionalities of CF(4) in anti-coagulation of synthetic blood, NO signaling, and enzyme telomeres, etc. Meanwhile, an emphasis is placed on the necessity and effectiveness of understanding the properties of substances from the perspective of bond and nonbond formation, dissociation, relaxation and vibration, and the associated energetics and dynamics of charge repopulation, polarization, densification, and localization. Finding and grasping the factors controlling the nonbonding states and making them of use in functional materials design and identifying their limitations will form, in the near future, a subject area of "nonbonding electronics and energetics", which could be even more challenging, fascinating, promising, and rewarding than dealing with core or valence electrons alone.