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XRF services

Technique

Sample preparation

Our team of expert spectroscopists is available to support your sample preparation needs using our fully equipped support laboratories. These facilities include fume hoods, a glove box, pellet presses, and microtomes.

For powdered samples, a small quantity is mixed with an inert solvent to create a suspension, which is then deposited onto a TEM grid or Kapton tape and left to dry. Solid samples, on the other hand, are embedded in epoxy resin and sectioned to a defined thickness using a microtome

Data collection

Our data collection service comes with a range of options to ensure you get the most out of your experiment.  Our highly qualified and experienced team of XRF specialists will help you to get started with your experiment and will be available for technical support during your experiment. They will help you to select the most appropriate approach from a wide choice of specialist spectroscopy instruments available. You may wish our team to perform the experiment on your behalf or would prefer to perform the research yourself or with your own team; either way, we have a wide range of access options, including remote access and mail-in, to suit your needs.

Contract research

Our Contract Research service includes data collection and data analysis. Essentially, you send us the sample(s), our highly qualified and experienced staff collect the data, perform the appropriate analysis (in discussion with you) and then send you a clear and accessible report explaining the results.

There's no need for you to fully understand how a synchrotron works, or even the finer details of the technique, we'll take care of that. If you would like to come to Diamond and see the experiment taking place, you are welcome to do so. If you'd prefer to wait for the report, that's great too.

Flexible access

We have a range of flexible access options to suit your needs.

Mail in

Mail-in

How it works

With this option, you send us your sample(s), and our highly qualified and experienced staff will collect the data for you, exactly as you would if performing the measurements yourself. We then send you the data in an appropriate format, along with a clear and accessible report detailing all experimental conditions, allowing you to fully analyse the results.

Mail-in

Perfect for

  •  
  • Performing routine measurements or those you haven’t conducted before
  • When you need an experienced pair of hands
  • If you don’t have the time to conduct the experiment yourself

Mail-in

Benefits

  •  
  • Quick and easy process
  • The assurance of being in the safe hands of experienced scientists
  • Can be seamlessly integrated into your routine pipeline

Self-service

self-service

How it works

This option allows you to access the beamline in person and lead the process of data collection. Technical support is available on request.

self-service

Perfect for

This option is perfect for users with extensive experience in leading XAS measurements and familiarity with beamline operations. It is best suited for complex experiments, such as time-resolved or in situ studies, where users can adjust experimental conditions based on real-time results.

self-service

Benefits

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  • The ability to alter experimental conditions on the fly
  • Gives a better overview of the experiment performed

Remote

Remote

How it works

This mode allows you to collect data yourself by accessing the beamline via an interactive remote connection.

Remote

Perfect for

This route is ideal for routine experiments on challenging samples, based on their heterogeneity and sensitivity. You can determine the different sample positions to be measured, as well as the number of locations and repetitions.

Remote

Benefits

  •  
  • The ability to access the beamline from virtually anywhere, eliminating the need for travel
  • The flexibility to involve multiple team members in the experiments

Related techniques

X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS)
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)
Scanning-X-ray-Microscopy (SXM)
Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy
Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES)

Want to know more?

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