An essential property of synchrotron radiation: linear and circular polarization for X-ray absorption spectroscopy

It is now well-documented that linearly polarized X-rays, available from synchrotron radiation sources, yield a fundamental tool to determine the anisotropy of local atomic or electronic structure. Recently a new area of science emerged in direct connection with the helicity of X-ray photons. X-ray spectroscopists are very keen users of this property and now, insertion devices are specifically tailored to fulfil polarization requirements