New opportunities and challenges of a micro-XRF/XAS beamline in Elettra 2.0

Abstract

After over thirty years of serving the international research community, the Elettra synchrotron light source is undergoing a major upgrade. Its successor, Elettra 2.0, will feature a cutting-edge, diffraction-limited storage ring, designed to significantly enhance spatial, energy, and temporal resolution across imaging, scattering, and spectroscopic applications. As part of the upgrade, a new hard X-ray micro-X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) beamline—equipped with an in-vacuum undulator—will replace the existing XRF beamline. This presentation outlines the current development status of the new µ-XRF beamline and its end-station design, highlighting expected capabilities and anticipated challenges. Positioned downstream of the undulator, the beamline will employ Kirkpatrick–Baez mirrors in a secondary source configuration to achieve a tunable micrometric probe, ranging from 50 µm × 50 µm to 1 µm × 1 µm (V × H). This capability will enable high-resolution studies of material heterogeneity. The µ-XRF beamline is conceived as a versatile micro-analytical platform, combining 2D/3D XRF mapping with micro-X-ray absorption spectroscopy (µ-XAS). Its flexible geometry—departing from the standard 45°/45° configuration—will support additional XRF-based techniques. Leveraging the high photon flux from the in-vacuum undulator, the beamline will enable fast, continuous (“on-the-fly”) acquisition for both XRF mapping and XAS energy scans, with synchronized undulator gap adjustments. To manage the resulting data volume, new analysis pipelines will be essential to accommodate the significantly increased acquisition rates.