Mechanical Design

The particle beam of the SXR (soft x-ray) beam line in the LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source) has a high intensity in order to penetrate through samples at the atomic level. However, the intensity is so high that many experiments fail because of severe damage. To correct this issue, attenuators are put into the beam line to reduce this intensity to a level suitable for experimentation. Attenuation is defined as 'the gradual loss in intensity of any flux through a medium' by (1). It is found that Beryllium and Boron Carbide can survive the intensity of the beam. At very thin films, both of these materials work very well as filters for reducing the beam intensity. Using a total of 12 filters, the first 9 being made of Beryllium and the rest made of Boron Carbide, the beam's energy range of photons can be attenuated between 800 eV and 9000 eV. The design of the filters allows attenuation for different beam intensities so that experiments can obtain different intensities from the beam if desired. The step of attenuation varies, but is relative to the thickness of the filter as a power function of 2. A relationship for this is f(n) = x02n where n is the step of attenuation desired and x0 is the initial thickness of the material. To allow for this desired variation, a mechanism must be designed within the test chamber. This is visualized using a 3D computer aided design modeling tool known as Solid Edge.