The atomic beam is formed through a supersonic expansion, which is a standard technique used in helium atom scattering. The centreline of the gas is selected by a skimmer to form an atom beam with a narrow velocity distribution. The gas is then further collimated by a pinhole to form a narrow beam, which is typically between 1–10 μm. The use of a focusing element (such as a zone plate) allows beam spot sizes below 1 μm to be achieved, but currently still comes with low signal intensity.