Characterization of the Percival detector with soft X-rays.

In this paper the back-side-illuminated Percival 2-Megapixel (P2M) detector is presented, along with its characterization by means of optical and X-ray photons. For the first time, the response of the system to soft X-rays (250 eV to 1 keV) is presented. The main performance parameters of the first detector are measured, assessing the capabilities in terms of noise, dynamic range and single-photon discrimination capability.

Enabling time-resolved 2D spatial-coherence measurements using the Fourier-analysis method with an integrated curved-grating beam monitor.

Direct 2D spatial-coherence measurements are increasingly gaining importance at synchrotron beamlines, especially due to present and future upgrades of synchrotron facilities to diffraction-limited storage rings. We present a method to determine the 2D spatial coherence of synchrotron radiation in a direct and particularly simple way by using the Fourier-analysis method in conjunction with curved gratings. Direct photon-beam monitoring provided by a curved grating circumvents the otherwise necessary separate determination of the illuminating intensity distribution required for the Fourier-analysis method.

Direct 2D spatial-coherence determination using the Fourier-analysis method: multi-parameter characterization of the P04 beamline at PETRA III.

We present a systematic 2D spatial-coherence analysis of the soft-X-ray beamline P04 at PETRA III for various beamline configurations. The influence of two different beam-defining apertures on the spatial coherence properties of the beam is discussed and optimal conditions for coherence-based experiments are found. A significant degradation of the spatial coherence in the vertical direction has been measured and sources of this degradation are identified and discussed.

Fast current-driven domain walls and small skyrmions in a compensated ferrimagnet.

Spintronics is a research field that aims to understand and control spins on the nanoscale and should enable next-generation data storage and manipulation. One technological and scientific key challenge is to stabilize small spin textures and to move them efficiently with high velocities. For a long time, research focused on ferromagnetic materials, but ferromagnets show fundamental limits for speed and size.

Spatial coherence determination from the Fourier analysis of a resonant soft X-ray magnetic speckle pattern.

We present a method to determine the two-dimensional spatial coherence of synchrotron radiation in the soft X-ray regime by analyzing the Fourier transform of the magnetic speckle pattern from a ferromagnetic film in a multidomain state. To corroborate the results, a Young's double-pinhole experiment has been performed. The transverse coherence lengths in vertical and horizontal direction of both approaches are in a good agreement.