Soft X-ray spectromicroscopy development for materials science at the Advanced Light Source

Several third generation synchrotron radiation facilities are now operational, and the high brightness of these photon sources offers new opportunities for X-ray microscopy. Well developed synchrotron radiation spectroscopy techniques are being applied in new instruments capable of imaging the surface of a material with a spatial resolution smaller than 1 μm.There are two aspects to this. One is to further the field of surface science by exploring the effects of spatial variations across a surface on a scale not previously accessible to X-ray measurements. The other is to open up new analytical techniques in materials science using X-rays on a spatial scale comparable with that of the processes or devices to be studied.The development of the spectromicroscopy program at the Advanced Light Source will employ a variety of instruments, some of which are already operational. Their development and use will be discussed, and recent results will be presented to illustrate their capabilities.