3.1.5 Synchrotron light
Synchrotron radiation (usually called synchrotron light) is produced by storage rings and other specialized particle accelerators, typically accelerating electrons. Once the high-energy electron beam has been generated, it is directed into auxiliary components such as bending magnets and insertion devices (undulators or wigglers) in storage rings and free electron lasers. These devices supply the strong magnetic fields perpendicular to the beam which are needed to convert high energy electrons into photons.
Synchrotron radiation is advantageous for many XRS applications because of several properties.
High brilliance, many orders of magnitude more than that of X-ray beams produced in conventional x-ray tubes, which increases the excitation throughput.
High level of polarization (linear, elliptical or circular), which reduces the scatter of excitation radiation in the sample and reduces the spectral background.
High collimation (small angular divergence of the beam) allows performing analysis of spatial distribution in the sample.
Wide tunability in energy/wavelength by using mono-chromatization brings the capabilities for selective excitation or absorption scans.