LIGA technology for the synthesis of diffractive refractive intraocular lenses

The manufacturing of test diffractive refractive intraocular lenses is illustrated by means of LIGA (deep X-ray LIthography and GAlvanoplastics and polymer forming). Dynamic X-ray lithography used while rotating the substrate versus an X-ray mask fixed in a beam of synchrotron radiation (SR) yields smooth optical 3D surfaces with roughnesses of 10–30 nm rms in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) layers. The axisymmetric diffractive refractive profile of a lens is predetermined by the radial angular function of the X-ray mask topology. The quality of the optical surface is reproduced for the nickel master form, which is electroplated onto a gold layer atop the PMMA relief. The optical quality also remains high for replicated lenses synthesized in this manner during silicon polymerization.     

Synchrotron radiation interference in front of the silicon absorption edge for silicon-on-insulator structures

The synchrotron radiation (SR) interference phenomenon has been for the first time observed in a strained silicon nanolayer deposited on a dielectric SiO₂ layer (∼150 nm) on Si (100) single crystalline substrates (silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures). Strong oscillations of spectra intensity depending on photon energy have been detected in the energy range preceding the elementary silicon Si L _2,3 absorption edge (≤100 eV) at grazing angles of SR smaller than 21° in the X-ray photoeffect quantum yield structure. The phase of the spectra oscillation structure is reversed for small variations of grazing angle in the 4°–21° range. The silicon nanolayer thickness (∼180 nm) has been estimated in the three-layer, Si nanolayer-SiO₂-Si substrate structure with the use of neighbor maxima positions of ultrasoft X-ray radiation interference in XANES (X-ray absorption near edge structure) spectra. A decrease in the crystal lattice parameter of a strained silicon layer along the normal to substrate has been determined by X-ray diffraction. An increase in the Si-Si interatomic distances in the strained silicon nanolayer lattice of SOI structure has been found using ultrasoft X-ray emission spectroscopy data.     

In situ investigation of synchrotron radiation damage effect of ancient paintings by time-resolved ED-XAS and IR combined techniques

Advanced synchrotron radiation light is a powerful tool for archaeometry research. However, its applications to precious cultural relics, especially for color painting, have been hindered to some degree due to potential X-ray radiation damage. Compared to inorganic mineral pigments, organic binders in the painting are easier to be damaged by synchrotron radiation X-ray beam. The radiation damage effect of two typical painting samples, pure rabbit skin glue and the mixed sample of rabbit skin glue and zinc white, has been investigated by in situ time-resolved ED-XAS and IR combined techniques. The results show that the radiation damage effect of pure rabbit skin glue is more serious at low X-ray energy (7775 eV). The radiation damage effect of the mixed sample increases significantly due to more X-ray absorption by inorganic pigments. Furthermore, the radiation damage is more serious at the energy near Zn K-edge and is somewhat slight at higher energy (13,054 eV). These damages are more obvious from the point of view of protein secondary structures. The irradiation damage effects increase more rapidly at the beginning and are not linear with the irradiating time. The results indicate that synchrotron radiation damage can be reduced effectively by using X-ray energy far away from the X-ray absorption edge of the major element in the pigments during XRF, XRD and CT experiments, or by using time-resolved techniques such as QXAFS and ED-XAS during XAFS experiments.     

Secondary radiation emission at Mössbauer total external reflection

The effects of energy dependence of secondary radiation emission (SRE) followed by nuclear resonant and nonresonant photo-absorption at Mössbauer total external reflection (MTER) have been considered theoretically and checked experimentally. Numerical interpretation of a set of MTER and CEM spectra at different grazing angles has given the depth profiles of electronic density, photoabsorption coefficient and hyperfine interaction variations in 50 nm slightly oxidized⁵⁷Fe film. Empirical functions of photo- and conversion electron yield are also determined. They appeared to be nonsimilar and nonmonotone. The energy dependencies of SRE are recalculated for time domain Mössbauer spectroscopy of synchrotron radiation (SR). The coherent nature of the TER effect reveals itself in the existence of delayed intensity of nonresonant SRE. The relation of nonresonant and resonant SRE, their energy, time and angular spectra strongly depend upon the depth of their creation, which opens a way for depth selective measurements as in the X-ray standing waves method.     

The nuclear-resonance-scattering station at the PETRA II undulator beamline

PETRA II, a 12 GeV accelerator at DESY, Hamburg, is used to produce synchrotron radiation (SR) for experiments in the hard X-ray regime when it is not running as injector for HERA. The beam from an undulator is split by a diamond crystal in Laue geometry to feed two experimental stations, one of which is now dedicated for nuclear resonance experiments. The X-ray energy may be chosen in the range from 5 to 55 keV covering all isotopes already observed with SR and many interesting candidates for new resonances. Tuning may be performed by optimising the magnetic gap and the storage ring energy. In particular, the opportunities for timing experiments are unique due to a very flexible filling mode of the storage ring. The flux at the sample position is comparable to undulator beams at ESRF. The second beamline covers higher energies up to some 300 keV and may also be used for nuclear resonance experiments. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of hydrogen etching process on the structural and optical properties of nano-crystalline diamond films

In this work, hydrogen etching method is applied to improve the quality of nano-crystalline diamond (NCD) films grown from hot-filament assisted chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) system. From the characteristics of the structure and optical property, the grain size and surface roughness decrease while the optical transmission increase obviously under certain deposition parameters (gas pressure and substrate temperature) and longer etching time. Soft X-ray transmission measurements by synchrotron radiation are also carried out on the NCD films. The result shows that the X-ray transmission has an obvious improvement when the NCD film is fabricated from the hydrogen etching method. And the transmittance reaches 53.3% at X-ray photon energy of 258 eV, which has met the requirement for X-ray mask materials.     

Photostimulated detection of radiation defects produced by VUV light in BaF2

Production of radiation defects in a widely used scintillation material BaF₂ has been studied by means of a combination spectroscopy of synchrotron radiation (SR) and laser, in which defects produced by SR irradiation are sensitively detected by observing the luminescence stimulated by laser light. The photostimulated luminescence arises from the recombination of self-trapped holes (V_K centers) with electrons released from trapped centers by laser light. The obtained result reveals that the production efficiency of radiation defects is drastically dependent on the excitation photon energy of valence or core excitons.     

Energy limit of runaway electrons in the HT-7 tokamak

The energy limit of runaway electrons in the HT-7 tokamak is investigated by measuring the synchrotron radiation originated from the runaway electrons and the hard X-ray radiation (HXR) when they hit the first wall. An upper boundary on the runaway energy can appear due to the resonance between the electron gyromotion and the magnetic field ripple in the low field side. The experimental derived maximum energy in the core is about 26 MeV, and maximum energy in the edge region is blocked to no more than 5 MeV. This resonance interaction of runaways with the nth harmonic of the magnetic field ripple can account for the observed energy gap of the runaways.     

同步辐射X射线荧光光谱国内外研究进展

同步辐射光源是带电粒子在加速器储存环中以接近光速的速度运动时,沿轨道切线方向发射出的辐射,同步辐射X射线荧光分析(SR-XRF)是以同步辐射X射线作为激发光源的X荧光光谱分析技术.同步辐射X射线荧光分析包括了用于微区及微量元素分析的同步辐射XRF、用于表面及薄膜分析的同步辐射全反射X射线荧光(SR-TXRF)以及用于三...     

Coupling of focused laser pulse to surfaces of transparent materials studied by time-resolved imaging technique

Short and intense laser pulse can process the surface and the inside of transparent materials by focusing the pulse at the desired position. Here we report the interaction of fundamental radiation (1064 nm) of the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser to the surface of PMMA as observed by an imaging system with nanosecond time resolution. The system used fundamental radiation of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser as a processing laser and second harmonic radiation (532 nm) of another Nd:YAG laser as illuminating light. We observed shock waves which propagate into the material and into the atmosphere by shadowgraph and photoelastic method. Surface roughness of a sample is expected to affect the coupling of light and transparent materials for both normal and focused laser light. Our results have revealed the effects visually. For roughness larger than 0.6 m, all energy is absorbed at the surface, while the larger part of the energy is absorbed inside the material as the surface becomes smoother. PACS 52.38.MF; 79.20.DS; 87.63.Lk     

上海光源硬X射线相干衍射成像实验方法初探

相干X射线衍射成像方法是一种先进的成像技术,分辨率可达纳米量级.国际上大多数的同步辐射装置和自由电子激光装置都建立了该成像方法,并有将其作为主要成像技术的趋势.上海光源作为目前国内唯一的一台第三代同步辐射光源,尚未建立基于硬X射线的相干衍射成像实验平台.随着一批以波荡器为光源的光束线站投入使用,使得该方法的建立成为了可能.本文基于上海光源BL19U2生物小角散射线站,通过有效的光路设计,搭建了相干衍射实验平台,在12 keV和13.5 keV能量点均获得了硬X射线相干光束,并基于小孔衍射测量了入射光束的空间相干长度.该平台支持常规和扫描相干衍射实验模式,对小孔衍射图样及波带片扫描衍射图样实现了正确的相位重建,证明了该平台初步具备开展硬X射线相干衍射成像实验的能力.硬X射线相干衍射成像实验平台为国内首次建立,将为国内该实验方法的发展和应用提供有效的软硬件支持.     

4.48 nm正入射软X射线激光用Cr/C多层膜高反射镜的研制

针对4.48nm类镍钽软X射线激光及其应用实验,设计制备了工作于这一波长的近正入射多层膜高反射镜。选择Cr/C为制备4.48nm高反射多层膜的材料对,通过优化设计,确定了多层膜的周期、周期数以及两种材料的厚度比。模拟了多层膜非理想界面对高反射多层膜性能的影响。采用直流磁控溅射方法在超光滑硅基片上实现了200周期Cr/C多层膜高反射镜的制备。利用X射线衍射仪测量了多层膜结构,在德国BessyⅡ同步辐射上测量了在工作波长处多层膜反射率,测量的峰值反射率达7.5%。对衍射仪测量的掠入射反射曲线和同步辐射测量的反射率曲线分别进行拟合,得到的粗糙度和厚度比的结果相近。测试结果表明,所制备的Cr/C多层膜样品结构良好,在指定工作波长处有较高的反射峰,达到了设计要求。     

Medical Applications of Synchrotron Radiation

Medical applications of synchrotron radiation range from infra-red spectroscopy to X-ray imaging and radiation therapy. In this issue we have chosen to highlight programs in the hard X-ray energy range where the imaging and therapy can potentially be carried out in vivo and in a clinical environment.     

高能同步辐射光源

基于多弯铁消色散结构的超低发射度储存环光源是新一代同步辐射光源发展的一个重要方向。作为国内第一台第四代同步辐射光源,高能同步辐射光源已经完成物理及工程设计,并于2019年启动建设。高能同步辐射光源电子能量6 GeV,流强200 mA,水平自然发射度低于60 pm?rad,可提供能量达300 keV的X射线,在典型硬X射线波段的同步辐射亮度达1×1022 phs·s?1·mm?2·mrad?2·（0.1%bw）?1,可为材料科学、化学工程、能源环境、生物医学、航空航天、能源环境等众多基础和工程科学研究领域提供先进的实验平台。本文将介绍高能同步辐射光源项目的整体方案及物理设计。     

Superconducting Wigglers

In low- and medium-energy storage rings for synchrotron radiation (SR) production, it is necessary to use high-performance insertion devices (IDs) in order to meet the increasing demand for high X-ray flux to perform life science and material science, since the maximum beam energy and beam current cannot be changed in storage rings without major rebuilds of the accelerator systems.     

Application of high-energy synchrotron-radiation XPS to determine the thickness of SiO2 thin films on Si(100)

The escape depth of photoelectrons depends on their kinetic energy. We apply this relationship to measure film thicknesses from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements with tunable-energy synchrotron radiation (SR). For this purpose, a “high-energy SR-XPS” instrument has been constructed and used to characterize thermally oxidized thin films on Si(100) single crystals. In order to observe photoelectrons emitted from deeper regions than with conventional XPS, Si 1s photoelectrons with an energy up to 4000 eV were measured with X-ray energies up to 5800 eV. The oxide thickness was estimated from measurements of the relative Si intensities from the oxide and the substrate at various photon energies. Our results suggest that the SR-XPS system is useful for measuring the thickness of thin films.     

Vacuum ultraviolet smoothing of nanometer-scale asperities of Poly(methyl methacrylate) surface

Smoothing of the nanometer-scale asperities of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) with the wavelength λ = 123.6 nm was studied. The exposure time and the residual air pressure in an working chamber were varied during the process of VUV treatment. A nanostructured surface of PMMA film is used as a sample to be exposed. The nanostructured surface of the PMMA film was obtained by treating the initially smooth spin-coated film in oxygen radio-frequency plasma. The degree of VUV exposure is estimated using changes in the morphology and roughness of the nanostructured surface, which were determined by atomic-force microscopy (AFM). Recognition of morphological surface features on the AFM-images and determination of main geometrical characteristics of these features are performed by using virtual feature-oriented scanning method. It is discovered by morphology and Fourier spectra that the nanostructured surface of the PMMA film is partially ordered. The developed VUV smoothing procedure can be used to treat the electron-beam, UV, and X-ray sensitive PMMA resists, PMMA elements of microelectromechanical systems, biomedical PMMA implants, as well as to certify nanotechnological equipment incorporating UV radiation sources.     

Transfiguration of extracting mirror in synchrotron radiation system at SSRF

The first extracting mirror is very important for synchrotron radiation monitor (SRM). The SRM system of SSRF (Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility) should extract the visible light with low optical distortion. The analysis of SR power spectrum and heat transfiguration based on Matlab is introduced in this paper, which will be used in calibration. One beryllium mirror with water-cooling is used to transmit X-ray and reflect visible light to satisfy the measurement request. The existing system suffers from a dynamic problem in some beam physics study. The system includes optics, image acquisition and interferometers. One of the instruments is a digital camera providing the image of the beam transverse profile. The hardware configuration will be summarized. The synchrotron radiation measurement system has been in operation in SSRF for more than one year.     

Equipment for soft X-Ray lithography on the VEPP-4M

An X-ray scanner for X-ray mask lithography is described. It is mounted onto the synchrotron radiation (SR) beamline of the VEPP-4M storage ring. The main advantage of this scanner is the possibility of varying the SR spectral range within wide limits and its fine tuning for solving specific technical tasks by changing the working energy of the VEPP-4M and using corresponding filters, which is illustrated by tables and plots of the calculated spectra. Calculated estimates of the lithographic resolution of lithographic complex, exposure times for various types of X-ray masks, and thicknesses of their masking layers providing the required level of X-ray mask contrast are given.