Design and performance of coded aperture optical elements for the CESR-TA x-ray beam size monitor

We describe the design and performance of optical elements for an x-ray beam size monitor (xBSM), a device measuring e+ and e− beam sizes in the CESR-TA storage ring. The device can measure vertical beam sizes of 10–100μm on a turn-by-turn, bunch-by-bunch basis at e± beam energies of ~2–5GeV. x-rays produced by a hard-bend magnet pass through a single- or multiple-slit (coded aperture) optical element onto a detector. The coded aperture slit pattern and thickness of masking material forming that pattern can both be tuned for optimal resolving power. We describe several such optical elements and show how well predictions of simple models track measured performances.