A soft X-ray fast polarization switching project has been started at the Photon Factory, in collaboration with The University of Tokyo, Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and Keiko University, as a quantum beam development project of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology, Japan. The aim of the project is to analyze functional materials such as spin-electronics devices and catalysis surfaces and to develop novel materials based on the obtained information.
 
The fast polarization switching (10 Hz) will be realized by modulating the electron orbit through two variable polarization undulators (APPLE-II type) in a tandem configuration, by using five kicker magnets. Although such a technique has originally been developed at SPring-8, novel optical systems will be adopted in order to achieve an ideal polarization switching, in which the photon energy, energy resolution, beam position, spot size and light intensity are kept unchanged during the polarization switching. Sensitivity for dichotic signals such as X-ray magnetic circular dichroism will be improved by about three orders of magnitude, which enables high precision analyses for the spin-electronics materials.
 
A time- and position-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy will be also developed, by combining wavelength-dispersed X rays with a photoelectron emission microscope (PEEM), which enables an in-situ observation of surface chemical reactions without repetition. By combining this novel technique with the fast polarization switching, quantitative analyses for chemical species, spatial distribution and molecular orientation are realized which are inevitable to understand the mechanism of surface chemical reactions.