A millisecond X-ray reflectometer

Many important processes occur at surfaces and interfaces on timescales ran ging from milliseconds up to hours. The advent of third generation synchrot rons provides X-ray fluxes sufficiently high that it is now conceivable tha t these processes can be studied with millisecond time resolution using X-r ay reflectometry. Several configurations for an X-ray reflectometer designe d to measure X-ray reflectivity profiles with this time resolution are exam ined. The feasibility of each configuration in terms of information retriev al from reflectivity data is explored by application of modelling technique s to simulated 'experimental' data.