Kinematic mounting systems for National Synchrotron Light Source beamlines and experiments

Methods for kinematically mounting equipment are well established, but applications at synchrotron radiation facilities are subject to constraints not always encountered in more traditional laboratory settings. Independent position adjustment of beamline components can have significant benefits in terms of minimizing time spent aligning, and maximizing time spent acquiring data. In this article, we use examples taken from beamlines at the National Synchrotron Light Source to demonstrate approaches for optimization of the reproducibility, stability, excursion, and set‐up time for various situations. From our experience, we extract general principles which we hope will be useful for workers at other synchrotron radiation facilities.