New developments in microfocus sources for X-ray diffractometry

Andreas Stricker, Jörg Wiesmann, Jürgen Graf, Frank Hertlein, Jenss Schmidt-May, Carsten Michaelsen

Incoatec GmbH, Max-Planck-Str. 2, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany

Many applications in the field of X-ray analytics require an X-ray beam with high flux density at the sample position. Examples for these applications are single crystal diffraction, small angle scattering or microdiffraction to name but a few. The ideal source for diffractometry combines a device, that produces a microfocus X-ray beam of a size of below 50 µm, with a perfectly shaped high-reflectivity X-ray optics like multilayer mirrors, that are able to focus or collimate the beam to the sample or detector position.
In this contribution we will be presenting  the latest developments of this kind of solution. Our family of air-cooled Incoatec Microfocus Sources deliver collimated beams with a divergence of below 0.5 mrad or focused beams with sizes down to about 100 µm with a flux of up to 5x10^8 ph/s. Most of these sources are integrated in standard instruments. More and more they are also successfully integrated in customized set ups for in-situ measurements of crystal and thin film growth.

We will be showing some examples in the field of X-ray diffractometry and SAXS, that were not long ago only possible with synchrotron or rotating anode sources.