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A novel light chopper system for fast timing experiments in the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) and x-ray spectral region has been developed. It can be phase-locked and synchronized with a synchrotron radiation storage ring, accommodating repetition rates in the range of ∼8 to ∼120 kHz by choosing different sets of apertures and subharmonics of the ring frequency (MHz range). Also the opening time of the system can be varied from some nanoseconds to several microseconds to meet the needs of a broad range of applications. Adjusting these parameters, the device can be used either for the generation of single light pulses or pulse packages from a microwave driven, continuous He gas discharge lamp or from storage rings which are otherwise often considered as quasi-continuous light sources. This chopper can be utilized for many different kinds of experiments enabling, for example, unambiguous time-of-flight (TOF) multi-electron coincidence studies of atoms and molecules excited by a single light pulse as well as time-resolved visible laser pump x-ray probe electron spectroscopy of condensed matter in the valence and core level region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple asynchronous mechanical light chopper, based on modification of a turbo-molecular pump, has been developed to extend the interval between light pulses in single bunch operation at the Photon Factory storage ring. A pulse repetition rate of 80 kHz was achieved using a cylinder rotating at 48000 rpm, with 100 slits of 80 μm width. This allows absolute timing of particles up to 12.48 μs instead of the single-bunch period of 624 ns. We have applied the chopper together with a light pulse monitor to measure multielectron coincidence spectra using a magnetic bottle time-of-flight electron spectrometer. With such a system, the electron energies are determined without any ambiguity, the folding of coincidence spectra disappears and the effect of false coincidences is drastically reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]