Note: Soft X-ray transmission polarizer based on ferromagnetic thin films.

A transmission polarizer for producing elliptically polarized soft X-ray radiation from linearly polarized light is presented. The setup is intended for use at synchrotron and free-electron laser beamlines that do not directly offer circularly polarized light for, e.g.

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.

Characterization of spatial coherence of synchrotron radiation with non-redundant arrays of apertures.

A method to characterize the spatial coherence of soft X-ray radiation from a single diffraction pattern is presented. The technique is based on scattering from non-redundant arrays (NRAs) of slits and records the degree of spatial coherence at several relative separations from 1 to 15 µm, simultaneously. Using NRAs the spatial coherence of the X-ray beam at the XUV X-ray beamline P04 of the PETRA III synchrotron storage ring was measured as a function of different beam parameters.

Invited article: Coherent imaging using seeded free-electron laser pulses with variable polarization: first results and research opportunities.

FERMI@Elettra, the first vacuum ultraviolet and soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) using by default a "seeded" scheme, became operational in 2011 and has been opened to users since December 2012. The parameters of the seeded FERMI FEL pulses and, in particular, the superior control of emitted radiation in terms of spectral purity and stability meet the stringent requirements for single-shot and resonant coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) experiments. The advantages of the intense seeded FERMI pulses with variable polarization have been demonstrated with the first experiments performed using the multipurpose experimental station operated at the diffraction and projection imaging (DiProI) beamline.