Methods for measuring sub-pm rad vertical emittance at the Swiss Light Source

We report on methods capable of measuring a rms vertical electron beam size of 3μm with a rms error of less than 10% at a diagnostic beamline at the Swiss Light Source (SLS). This corresponds to a vertical emittance of 0.6 pm rad with a 20% rms error. We showed this capability by presenting the theoretical basis for, and the data from, a series of measurements on a stable beam at 1.6 pm rad vertical emittance at the SLS. The methods presented utilized either π- or σ-polarized synchrotron radiation (SR) in the visible to ultra violet (vis-UV) spectral range. In addition to the established π-polarization method, we introduced a diffraction method with a potentially high resolution capability. Also an intensity imbalanced diffraction scheme was introduced, but was found to be prone to SR induced carbon contamination on optical elements.