An unparalleled resolution is reported with an inelastic X-ray scattering instrument at the CuK-edge. Based on a segmented concave analyzer, featuring single-crystal quartz (SiO₂) pixels, the spectrometer delivers a resolution near 25 meV (FWHM) at 8981 eV. Besides the quartz analyzer, the performance of the spectrometer relies on a four-bounce Si(553) high-resolution monochromator and focusing Kirkpatrick–Baez optics. The measured resolution agrees with the ray-tracing simulation of an ideal spectrometer. The performance of the spectrometer is demonstrated by reproducing the phonon dispersion curve of a beryllium single-crystal.

The Turkish Accelerator and Radiation Laboratory in Ankara, abbreviated as the TARLA facility, is proposed as the first facility of Turkish Accelerator Center (TAC) project. TARLA is under construction in Golbasi campus of Ankara University by coordination of the Institute of Accelerator Technologies (IAT). TARLA is designed to generate free-electron laser (FEL) pulses in mid- and far-infrared regions as well as Bremsstrahlung radiation up to 30 MeV. TARLA is based on superconducting electron accelerators to be operated between 10 and 40 MeV. The main goal of the TARLA facility is to build up a user facility to open up new opportunities for interdisciplinary scientific research and applications, such as materials science, medicine, nanotechnology, life sciences, etc. In this study, main characteristics and subsystems of the TARLA facility are explained and the current status of installation and test studies are given as well. Finally, user and scientific research potential of the facility are also discussed.

Alignment of each optical element at a synchrotron beamline takes days, even weeks, for each experiment costing valuable beam time. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs), efficient heuristic search methods based on Darwinian evolution, can be utilized for multi-objective optimization problems in different application areas. In this study, the flux and spot size of a synchrotron beam are optimized for two different experimental setups including optical elements such as lenses and mirrors. Calculations were carried out with the X-ray Tracer beamline simulator using swarm intelligence (SI) algorithms and for comparison the same setups were optimized with EAs. The EAs and SI algorithms used in this study for two different experimental setups are the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). While one of the algorithms optimizes the lens position, the other focuses on optimizing the focal distances of Kirkpatrick–Baez mirrors. First, mono-objective evolutionary algorithms were used and the spot size or flux values checked separately. After comparison of mono-objective algorithms, the multi-objective evolutionary algorithm NSGA-II was run for both objectives – minimum spot size and maximum flux. Every algorithm configuration was run several times for Monte Carlo simulations since these processes generate random solutions and the simulator also produces solutions that are stochastic. The results show that the PSO algorithm gives the best values over all setups.