New SRC APPLE II variable polarization beamline

SRC has recently commissioned a new Varied Line-Spacing Plane Grating Monochromator (VLS-PGM) utilizing as its source a 1 m long APPLE II insertion device in short-straight-section 9 of the Aladdin storage ring. The insertion device reliably delivers horizontal, vertical, and right and left circularly polarized light to the beamline. Measurements from an in situ polarimeter can be used for undulator corrections to compensate for depolarizing effects of the beamline. The beamline has only three optical elements and covers the energy range from 11.1 to 270 eV using two varied line-spacing gratings. A plane mirror rotates to illuminate the gratings at the correct angle to cancel the defocus term at all photon energies. An exit slit and elliptical-toroid refocusing mirror complete the beamline. Using a 50 μm exit slit, the beamline provides moderate to high resolution, with measured flux in the mid 1012 (photons/s/200 mA) range, and a spot size of 400 μm horizontal by 30 μm vertical.