Wide-band, high-resolution soft x-ray spectrometer for the Electron Beam Ion Trap

We have constructed two wide-band, high-resolution vacuum flat crystal spectrometers and implemented them on the Electron Beam Ion Trap located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Working in unison, these spectrometers can measure an x-ray bandwidth ⩽9 Å in the soft x-ray region below 21 Å. In order to achieve this large bandwidth each spectrometer houses either two 125 mm × 13 mm × 2 mm RAP (rubidium acid phthalate, 2d=26.121 Å), two 114 mm × 13 mm × 2 mm TlAP (thallium acid phthalate, 2d=25.75 Å) crystals, or some combination thereof, for dispersion and two position sensitive proportional counters for detection of x rays. The spectrometers are used to measure wavelengths and relative intensities of the L-shell line emission from Fe XVII–XXIV for comparison with spectra obtained from astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. The wide wavelength coverage attainable by these spectrometers makes it possible to measure all the L-shell emission from a given iron ion species simultaneously.