• Vadilonga, S.; Zizak, I.; Roshchupkin, D.; Emelin, E.; Leitenberger, W.; Rössle, M.; Erko, A.: Piezo-modulated active grating for selecting X-ray pulses separated by one nanosecond. Optics Express 29 (2021), p. 34962-34976

10.1364/OE.438570
Open Access Version

Abstract:
We present a novel method of temporal modulation of X-ray radiation for time resolved experiments. To control the intensity of the X-ray beam, the Bragg reflection of a piezoelectric crystal is modified using comb-shaped electrodes deposited on the crystal surface. Voltage applied to the electrodes induces a periodic deformation of the crystal that acts as a diffraction grating, splitting the original Bragg reflection into several satellites. A pulse of X-rays can be created by rapidly switching the voltage on and off. In our prototype device the duty cycle was limited to ∼1 ns by the driving electronics. The prototype can be used to generate X-ray pulses from a continuous source. It can also be electrically correlated to a synchrotron light source and be activated to transmit only selected synchrotron pulses. Since the device operates in a non-resonant mode, different activation patterns and pulse durations can be achieved.