Performance of a dispersion-compensating scanning X-ray spectrometer for Compton profile measurements

A new X-ray spectrometer has been constructed for Compton profile measurements at beamline ID15B of the ESRF. The spectrometer is based on a novel idea, dispersion compensation, which was proposed earlier. A cylindrically bent Laue monochromator focuses similar to 90 keV synchrotron radiation at about 0.7 m before the sample, and produces a well defined energy or wavelength gradient on the sample. A cylindrically bent Laue analyser almost perfectly compensates this wavelength gradient. Using an Al sample, it has been confirmed that the new spectrometer improves the counting rate by a factor of two compared with the previously constructed 30 keV and 60 keV spectrometers, with a comparable momentum resolution. Because of reduced absorption owing to use of high-energy X-rays, the enhancement of the counting rate is spectacular for heavy-element materials.