A New Plasma Chamber for the Selective Cleaning of Beamline Optical Elements

In synchrotron light environments, the cleanliness of optical surfaces is essential to ensure beam quality and photon transport efficiency. Over time, however, prolonged operation of beamlines can lead to the build-up of thin carbon contaminations that reduce the overall beamline performance.

To address this issue, we have developed a dedicated system for the selective and non-destructive cleaning of optical elements, capable of removing carbon contamination and restoring the original performance of the components.

The project involved the recovery and modification of a vacuum chamber from a decommissioned beamline, repurposed to host mirrors up to 1.4 meters in length. A pumping system and a plasma generation unit were also acquired. The Optics team was responsible for the assembly and testing activities.