Diamond X-ray beam-position monitoring using signal readout at the synchrotron radiofrequency.

Single-crystal diamond is a material with great potential for the fabrication of X-ray photon beam-position monitors with submicrometre spatial resolution. Low X-ray absorption combined with radiation hardness and excellent thermal-mechanical properties make possible beam-transmissive diamond devices for monitoring synchrotron and free-electron laser X-ray beams. Tests were made using a white bending-magnet synchrotron X-ray beam at DESY to investigate the performance of a position-sensitive diamond device using radiofrequency readout electronics. The device uniformity and position response were measured in a 25 microm collimated X-ray beam with an I-Tech Libera ;Brilliance' system. This readout system was designed for position measurement and feedback control of the electron beam in the synchrotron storage ring, but, as shown here, it can also be used for accurate position readout of a quadrant-electrode single-crystal diamond sensor. The centre-of-gravity position of the F4 X-ray beam at the DORIS III synchrotron was measured with the diamond signal output digitally sampled at a rate of 130 Msample s(-1) by the Brilliance system. Narrow-band filtering and digital averaging of the position signals resulted in a measured position noise below 50 nm (r.m.s.) for a 10 Hz bandwidth.