Recent Progress at the "BOREAS" Beamline 29 at the ALBA Synchrotron Light Source

Speaker:  Eric Pellegrin, CELLS-ALBA

Program Description:
ALBA  BL29,  “BOREAS”,  is  a  soft  X-ray  beamline  dedicated  to  polarization-dependent  spectroscopic  investigations  of  advanced  materials,  enabling  techniques  such  as XAS, XMCD, XMLD, and resonant scattering & reflectivity. It delivers high flux with high resolution, so that spectra of elements with minute concentrations (i.e., 10-4 atomic layers) of ferromagnetic  elements  are  routinely  performed  within  2-3  minutes.  Typical  experiments include studies of isolated TM and RE magnetic atoms at surfaces or incorporated in organo-metallic  molecules  or  2D  materials.  Samples  can  be  prepared  using  in  situ  surface  science capabilities,  and  eventually  characterized  using  an  in  situ  STM.  Absorption  spectra  from around 80 eV up to 4 keV can be taken using circular/elliptical polarization, yielding rather exclusive  opportunities  at the  L-  and  M-edges  of  4d  and  5d  transition  metals,  respectively. BOREAS  is  equipped  with  two  state-of-the-art  end-stations:  The  first  one  is  a  high-field vector magnet for soft X-ray techniques such as  XAS, XMCD, or XMLD. The second end station is a UHV reflectometer for complementary approaches including resonant soft X-ray reflectivity, resonant magnetic scattering, and GISAXS, under applied magnetic fields up to 2 Tesla  and  between  20  to  400  K.  The  beamline  instrumentation  and  capabilities  will  be reviewed in this talk, including a few salient scientific results.