X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the dispersive mode with synchrotron radiation: optical considerations

Aspects of the optics of the energy-dispersive scheme for X-ray absorption spectroscopy are discussed. The idea of a set of monochromatic focus points related to a set of local Rowland circles is introduced to account for the source-size effect on the energy resolution. It is shown that there exists an optimized location of the position-sensitive detector where the energy resolution is no longer source-size dependent. In addition, the stability of the dispersive optical system has been estimated and a 10 meV energy-scale reliability is currently achieved.