TRIXS: a multilayer grating solution towards highly efficient resonant inelastic tender X-ray scattering

Ke-Jin Zhou; Qiushi Huang; Mirian Garcia-Fernandez; Yeqi Zhuang; Stefano Agrestini; Shengyou Wen; Thomas Rice; Sahil Tippireddy; Jaewon Choi; Andrew Walters; Igor V. Kozhevnikov; Zhe Zhang; Runze Qi; Zhong Zhang; Hongchang Wang; Zhanshan Wang

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02172-7

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

TRIXS: a multilayer grating solution towards highly efficient resonant inelastic tender X-ray scattering

Original Articles

- TRIXS: a multilayer grating solution towards highly efficient resonant inelastic tender X-ray scattering
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 3, Pages: 824-834(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Diamond Light Source, Harwell Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
  2.Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-Structured Materials, Ministry of Education, Institute of Precision Optical Engineering (IPOE), School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  3.Shanghai Professional Technical Service Platform for Full-Spectrum and High-Performance Optical Thin Film Devices and Applications, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  4.Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Digital Optics, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  5.Zhejiang Tongyue Optical Technology Co. Ltd, Huzhou 313100, China
  6.Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
  7.Present address: National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Author bio：
  
  Ke-Jin Zhou (kjzhou@ustc.edu.cn)
  Qiushi Huang (huangqs@tongji.edu.cn)
  Hongchang Wang (hongchang.wang@diamond.ac.uk)
  Zhanshan Wang (wangzs@tongji.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02172-7
  CLC：
- Received：12 May 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-11-22，
  
  Accepted：15 December 2025，
  
  Online First：21 January 2026，
  
  Published：31 March 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Zhou, K. J. et al. TRIXS: a multilayer grating solution towards highly efficient resonant inelastic tender X-ray scattering. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 824-834 (2026).
DOI：

Zhou, K. J. et al. TRIXS: a multilayer grating solution towards highly efficient resonant inelastic tender X-ray scattering. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 824-834 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02172-7.

摘要

Abstract

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is a photon-in/photon-out spectroscopic technique which has become increasingly important for the condensed matter physics community. The development of the RIXS instrumentation in soft X-ray and hard X-ray range facilitated the research in 3

and 5

transition metal (TM)-based materials

respectively. However

the tender X-ray (2000–3000 eV) RIXS covering most of 4

TM-based materials severely falls behind due to the lack of high-performance energy dispersive optics. Here

we demonstrate the design and fabrication of a laterally graded multilayer grating (MLG) optics for the establishment of the tender RIXS at the I21 RIXS beamline in Diamond Light Source. The successful implementation of the MLG boosts the photon flux by more than an order of magn

itude at the Sulfur

-edge (2475 eV) and the Ru

-edge (2838 eV) in comparison to the solution of a single-layer coated grating (SLG). More importantly

MLG retains the high energy resolution of the SLG design (~10

000) and works continuously across the full range of 2000–3000 eV. It renders the I21 beamline as the very first RIXS facility in the world that covers both soft and tender X-rays (280–3000 eV) using a grating-based spectrometer for a wide range of science applications.

关键词

Keywords

references

Ament, L. J. P. et al. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering studies of elementary excitations. Rev. Mod. Phys. 83 , 705–767 (2011)..

De Groot, F. M. F. et al. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. Nat. Rev. Methods Prim. 4 , 45 (2024)..

Zhou, K. J. et al. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering applications in quantum materials. Acta Phys. Sin. 73 , 197301 (2024)..

Mitrano, M. et al. Exploring quantum materials with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. Phys. Rev. X 14 , 040501 (2024)..

Ueda, H. et al. Chiral phonons in quartz probed by X-rays. Nature 618 , 946–950 (2023)..

House, R. A. et al. Superstructure control of first-cycle voltage hysteresis in oxygen-redox cathodes. Nature 577 , 502–508 (2020)..

House, R. A. et al. First-cycle voltage hysteresis in Li-rich 3 d cathodes associated with molecular O 2 trapped in the bulk. Nat. Energy 5 , 777–785 (2020)..

Menon, A. S. et al. Oxygen-redox activity in non-lithium-excess tungsten-doped LiNiO 2 cathode. PRX Energy 2 , 013005 (2023)..

Lim, G. et al. Decoupling capacity fade and voltage decay of Li-rich Mn-rich cathodes by tailoring surface reconstruction pathways. Energy Environ. Sci. 17 , 9623–9634 (2024)..

Keimer, B. et al. From quantum matter to high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides. Nature 518 , 179–186 (2015)..

Chen, X. H. et al. Iron-based high transition temperature superconductors. Natl. Sci. Rev. 1 , 371–395 (2014)..

Li, D. F. et al. Superconductivity in an infinite-layer nickelate. Nature 572 , 624–627 (2019)..

Sun, H. L. et al. Signatures of superconductivity near 80 K in a nickelate under high pressure. Nature 621 , 493–498 (2023)..

Liu, D. F. et al. Magnetic Weyl semimetal phase in a Kagomé crystal. Science 365 , 1282–1285 (2019)..

Liu, P. et al. Recent advances in 2D van der Waals magnets: detection, modulation, and applications. iScience 26 , 107584 (2023)..

Ghiringhelli, G. et al. SAXES, a high resolution spectrometer for resonant X-ray emission in the 400–1600 eV energy range. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77 , 113108 (2006)..

Brookes, N. B. et al. The beamline ID32 at the ESRF for soft X-ray high energy resolution resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and polarisation dependent X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A 903 , 175–192 (2018)..

Zhou, K. J. et al. I21: an advanced high-resolution resonant inelastic X-ray scattering beamline at Diamond Light Source. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 29 , 563–580 (2022)..

Dvorak, J. et al. Towards 10 meV resolution: the design of an ultrahigh resolution soft X-ray RIXS spectrometer. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87 , 115109 (2016)..

Singh, A. et al. Development of the soft X-ray AGM–AGS RIXS beamline at the Taiwan Photon Source. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 28 , 977–986 (2021)..

Moretti Sala, M. et al. A high-energy-resolution resonant inelastic X-ray scattering spectrometer at ID20 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 25 , 580–591 (2018)..

Kim, J. et al. Magnetic excitation spectra of Sr 2 IrO 4 probed by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering: establishing links to cuprate superconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 , 177003 (2012)..

Banerjee, A. et al. Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl 3 . npj Quantum Mater. 3 , 8 (2018)..

Mackenzie, A. P. & Maeno, Y. The superconductivity of Sr 2 RuO 4 and the physics of spin-triplet pairing. Rev. Mod. Phys. 75 , 657–712 (2003)..

Bai, W. et al. Monolayer behavior of NbS 2 in natural van der Waals heterostructures. J. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 9 , 6421–6425 (2018)..

Shayeganfar, F. Strain engineering of electronic properties and anomalous valley hall conductivity of transition metal dichalcogenide nanoribbons. Sci. Rep. 12 , 11285 (2022)..

Li, J. et al. Highly efficient and aberration-free off-plane grating spectrometer and monochromator for EUV—soft X-ray applications. Light Sci. Appl. 13 , 12 (2024)..

Gretarsson, H. et al. IRIXS: a resonant inelastic X-ray scattering instrument dedicated to X-rays in the intermediate energy range. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 27 , 538–544 (2020)..

Ismail, I. et al. MOSARIX: multi-crystal spectrometer in the tender X-ray range at SOLEIL synchrotron. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 95 , 053103 (2024)..

Sokolov, A. et al. Optimized highly efficient multilayer-coated blazed gratings for the tender X-ray region. Opt. Express 27 , 16833–16846 (2019)..

Voronov, D. L. et al. Refraction effects in soft X-ray multilayer blazed gratings. Opt. Express 24 , 11334–11344 (2016)..

Voronov, D. L. et al. 6000 lines/mm blazed grating for a high-resolution X-ray spectrometer. Opt. Express 30 , 28783–28794 (2022)..

Werner, S. et al. Spectromicroscopy of nanoscale materials in the tender X-ray regime enabled by a high efficient multilayer-based grating monochromator. Small Methods 7 , 2201382 (2023)..

Ohresser, P. et al. DEIMO S: a beamline dedicated to dichroism measurements in the 350–2500 eV energy range. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85 , 013106 (2014)..

Vantelon, D. et al. The LUCIA beamline at SOLEIL. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 23 , 635–640 (2016)..

Yang, X. W. et al. Design of a multilayer-based collimated plane-grating monochromator for tender X-ray range. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 24 , 168–174 (2017)..

Huang, Q. S. et al. Theoretical analysis and optimization of highly efficient multilayer-coated blazed gratings with high fix-focus constant for the tender X-ray region. Opt. Express 28 , 821–845 (2020)..

Zhuang, Y. Q. et al. High-order multilayer coated blazed grating for high transmission and high-resolution tender X-ray monochromator/spectrometer. Photonics Res. 13 , 340–350 (2025)..

Zhuang, Y. Q. et al. Cr/C multilayer growth on a heavy metal layer for upgrading of high efficiency tender x-ray gratings. Appl. Opt. 61 , 5769–5775 (2022)..

Strocov, V. N. et al. Numerical optimization of spherical variable-line-spacing grating X-ray spectrometer s. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 18 , 134–142 (2011)..

Gretarsson, H. et al. Observation of spin-orbit excitations and Hund's multiplets in Ca 2 RuO 4 . Phys. Rev. B 100 , 045123 (2019)..

Hugonin, J. P. & Lalanne, P. Light-in-complex-nanostructures/RETICOLO: V8. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3610175 (2020).

Liu, Z. X. & Slandarer. 200 colormap. MATLAB Central File Exchange. https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/120088-200-colormap https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/120088-200-colormap (2025).

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰