Toward a Novel Gas Cell for X-Ray Spectroscopy : Finite Element Flow Simulation and Raman Characterization

Abstract: The new millennium has seen revolutionary advances in photonsource technology. As the newly constructed synchrotron facilityMAX IV in Lund, Sweden, pushes brilliance toward what isphysically possible, low-yield spectroscopic techniques, such asresonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS), open new doors inmolecular and condensed matter research. The VERITAS beamline atMAX IV is designed for high-resolution vibrational RIXS on gases.X-rays interact with flowing molecules inside a window-cappedcell, but the radiation intensity is expected to be large enoughto damage the windows, and cause build-up of photochemicalproducts, which lowers transmission. To address these issues, anovel gas cell design is presented, wherein the distance betweensample gas and window is increased by using a flowing heliumbuffer. The main challenge is maintaining a steep sample gasconcentration gradient within the cell, and to that end, gas flowswere simulated on various geometries by using the finite elementmethod to solve the Navier-Stokes equations. Results were used toconstruct a prototype, and confocal Raman microscopy was used forconcentration characterization. Preliminary measurements revealeda uniform sample gas distribution, and the technique proved to beinefficient for wide scanning of parameter values. This suggeststhat a supplementary experiment is required to find roughestimates of good parameter values, which can then be followed upwith new Raman measurements for fine-tuning of the properparameter space. Real-time visualization of the sample gas flow,using a visible gas under an optical microscope, is one candidatefor this supplementary experiment.