UMAN, Manchester, United Kingdom
The development of accelerator-based light sources has allowed access to photons of very high brightness and wide tunability. These properties of synchrotron radiation (SR) mean that it can be used to resolve questions that can be answered in no other way, enabling unique contributions to the development of functional materials. Increasingly, these benefits have become essential to material evaluation in manufacturing – ranging from intelligent catalysts for automotive emissions control* to next generation photovoltaics**. Bright, tunable X-rays have been a boon to nanotechnology*** in particular, with its requirement for atom-by-atom understanding – and this benefit is enhanced by the microfabrication capabilities of X-ray lithography in LIGA-based techniques. The result is unique potential for nanoscale device manufacture. The application of bright tunable X-rays to the development of nanostructures for a range of industrial applications is illustrated, and the prospects for exploitation of the ultra-high brightness and femtosecond time structure of FEL radiation are discussed.
* H Tanaka et al., Ang. Chemie Int. Ed. 45, 5998 (2006)
** S J O Hardman et al., Phys Chem Chem Phys 13, 20275 (2011)
*** S Biswas et al., Small (2012) DOI: 10.1002/smll201102100
