Beam footprint (Bragg-Brentano geometry)

About the calculator

The calculator calculates the width of the incident X-ray beam on a sample for a given incident angle (θ), divergent slit size (R), and the goniometer radius (D).

How to use it

  1. Set the starting incident angle (θstart) and the step angle (θstep) to run the calculation.
  2. Enter the goniometer radius (D).
  3. Enter the divergent slit size (R) to calculate the beam footprint for different incident angles. You can set up to four slit widths.

Theory

Variables

Symbol Meaning Units
θstart Starting incident angle degree
θstep Incident angle step size degree
R1 – R4 Divergent slit size(s) degree
D Goniometer radius mm

The beam footprint F at incident angle θ is calculated as:

\(F = \left(\frac{D}{\sin(\theta+R)} + \frac{D}{\sin(\theta-R)}\right)\cdot \sin(R)\)

Incident angle parameters
[deg]
[deg]
Goniometer parameter
[mm]
Divergence Slit Sizes

R = [deg]

[deg]
[deg]
[deg]
[deg]
Beam Width vs Incident Angle
Beam Width Results
2θ [deg] F1 [mm] F2 [mm] F3 [mm] F4 [mm]