Quantitative determination of major systematics in synchrotron x-ray experiments: seeing through harmonic components

In line with an ongoing programme to determine accurately x‐ray attenuation coefficients, we have developed a method for the quantitative determination of the effect on experimental results of monochromator harmonic components in a synchrotron beam. The technique can be adapted to suit a wide variety of experiments, and is of particular interest because it determines the effect of the harmonic components directly. This avoids the necessity for modelling and is therefore robust. Results of a direct determination of the effect of harmonic components illustrate the power of the technique. We extended the technique to quantify the effects of dark current‐induced errors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.