Concept and design procedure for cylindrical element monochromators for synchrotron radiation

Abstract The design of a new type of soft X-ray grating monochromator which utilizes cylindrical optical elements is proposed. This design is the outcome of a return to simplicity. If not only offers high resolving power and transmission, but also has other advantages over the conventional designs. A simple analytical design procedure (which has been raytracing justified) for designing such a monochromator is described. The raytracing results also confirm that replacement of the cylindrical figure by a spherical one will not degrade the overall monochromator performance.