Beamline simulations using monochromators with high d-spacing crystals

Monochromators for synchrotron radiation beamlines typically use perfect crystals for the hard X-ray regime and gratings for soft X-rays. There is an intermediate range, typically 1-3 keV (tender X-rays), which common perfect crystals have difficulties covering and gratings have low efficiency, although some less common crystals with high d-spacing could be suitable. To evaluate the suitability of these crystals for a particular beamline, it is useful to evaluate the crystals' performance using tools such as ray-tracing. However, simulations for double-crystal monochromators are only available for the most used crystals such as Si, Ge or diamond. Here, an upgrade of the SHADOW ray-tracing code and complementary tools in the OASYS suite are presented to simulate high d-spacing crystals with arbitrary, and sometimes complex, structures such as beryl, YB₆₆, muscovite, etc. Isotropic and anisotropic temperature factors are also considered. The YB₆₆ crystal with 1936 atomic sites in the unit cell is simulated, and its applicability for tender X-ray monochromators is discussed in the context of new low-emittance storage rings.

ShadowOui: a new visual environment for X-ray optics and synchrotron beamline simulations

A new computer environment to perform simulations on synchrotron experiments has been designed. It performs ray-tracing simulations using the popular ray-tracing code SHADOW. With this new application one can define, in a very easy and elegant way, one or several optical systems (beamlines) and perform calculations of the propagation of the X-ray beam through it. Many complementary tools and supplementary calculations improve and extend the functionality of SHADOW to deal with complex optical system optimization, including compound optical elements, iterative calculations, some sample simulations, and implementing corrections for wave optics via a hybrid model.