XAS Beamlines

The core EXAFS beamline, B18, is characterised by a wide energy range, a focused beam and a continuous scanning monochromator.  These characteristics allow for efficient collection of XAS data on all elements heavier than phosphorus.

The recent implementation of a fluorescence mapping tool has enabled new experiments to be performed on the beamline.

Benefits:

• Wide energy range (2-35 keV)
• Quick EXAFS mode enabling single XAS spectrum to be collected in a few seconds to a few minutes
• Provides access to all elements ranging from phosphorous and sulphur up to the actinides
• Enables a combined set-ups of XAS/XRD, XAS/DRIFTS, XAS/Raman, XAS/UV-Vis
• Enables time-resolved and in situ conditions
• Flexible to accommodate various sample environments

Best for: 

• Heterogeneous systems
• Corrosion mechanisms
• Novel materials for renewable energy storage
• New battery materials under different operating conditions

Further details on B18

Sample environments for B18

The microfocus spectroscopy beamline, I18, uses 2 x 2 µm² beam to examine heterogeneous materials on the micrometre scale using a variety of techniques, such as XRF, XANES and XRD.

Benefits:

• Allows structural investigations of complex systems
• Provides special resolution of down to 2 microns 
• Enables investigations of materials in hostile environments
• Dedicated optics for µ-focus allows the mapping of elements in complex samples
• Enables combined experiments, such as XRF tomography, XAS-CT, XRD-CT, XAS/XRF, XRD/XRF

Best for: 

• Complex samples and challenging conditions/hostile environments.
• Real systems such as mineral samples returned from space
• Anti-cancer drug candidates with tumours

Further details on I18

Sample environments for I18

The scanning branch of I20 exploits the high flux provided by the wiggler delivers to two different set-ups/techniques:

1) XAS uses 64 element monolithic germanium detector with a very fast read-out system to examine the struture of very low concentration samples.
2) X-ray Emission Spectroscopy (XES) is dedicated to perform high-energy resolution studies of the electronic structure. 

Benefits:

I20 supports a wide range of applications especially in biology, environmental science, chemistry and materials science.

• Suitable to study very dilluted samples
• Enables the study of local structure and electronic properties of gases, liquids and solid state materials.
• High flux and high spectral purity in energy solution - provides very high data quality

Best for:

• Chemical speciation in porous matrices used for air pollution control
• Metalloproteins
• Photochemical processes
• Solution chemistry of very dilute compositions

Further details on I20 scanning

Sample environments for I20 scanning

The Energy Dispersive EXAFS (EDE) branch of I20 uses a polychromator to perform XAS experiments in a dispersive geometry.  It is designed for in situ and operando studies with time resolutions ranging from seconds down to milliseconds, or even microseconds.

Benefits:

• Optimised for in situ time-resolved and extreme conditions
• The whole EDE spectrum is collected simultaneously therefore making it ideal for fast processes. 

Best for:

• Wide range of industrial processes such as reactions at solid/gas phase interfaces (high temperature fuel cells) and solid/liquid interfaces (hydrothermal synthesis of materials).
• Transient intermediates under in situ time-resolved conditions
• Materials at pressures up to 20 GPa

Further details on I20 EDE

The Scanning X-ray Microscopy (SXM) beamline (I08) is dedicated to morphological, elemental and chemical speciation on a broad range of organic-inorganic specimens in a 250-4400 eV photon energy range, and sample investigations under ambient or cryogenic conditions.

Benefits:

• Dedicated to X-ray absorption and phase-sensitive imaging and spectroscopies in real and reciprocal space.
• Covers elemental mapping as low-energy X-ray flurorescence (LEXRF) and chemical analysis by X-ray near-edge absorption spectroscopy (XANES)
• Can be combined with complementary imaging and spectroscopic techniques.
• Produces high quality spectroscopic data for chemically-sensitive analysis and X-ray fluorescence mapping (XRF) when operating at the upper end of the photon energy range. 

Best for:

• Nanoscale elemental distribution in biological samples
• Nanoparticles in materials
• Chemical processes at the nanoscopic scale applied in the fields of batteries, fuel cells and catalysis
• Metal interactions in metal-containment soils

Further details on I08

Sample environments for I08

The Nanoscience beamline exploits the brightest region in Diamond’s spectrum, providing a high-photon flux density for soft X-ray experiments. It combines microfocused soft X-rays with variable linear and circular polarisation and X-ray photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) to provide spectroscopic data on nanometre length scales. The intense polarised beam can be focused to a spot several microns in diameter, allowing the study of nanomagnetism and nanostructures.

Benefits:

• Enables the study of nanomagnetism and nanostructures
• Allows the study of light elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur present in the specimen.
• Enables L-edge XANES studies of heavier elements.
• Capable of collecting element specific data at high spatial resolution (~20nm) 

Best for:

• The structure-function relationship of nanostructures
• The electronic properties and chemical species of complex materials
• Composition of challenging materials

For further details on I06

B07 is a Versatile Soft X-ray (VERSOX) beamline with near ambient pressure XPS/NEXAFS capabilities. The beamline covers a wide range of non-vacuum sample environments. We are currently in the process of installing a second branch of the beamline, to enable high-throughput XPS measurements on multiple samples and in situ NEXAFS studies at up to 1 bar pressure.

Benefits:

• It enables the chemical nature and composition of the near-surface regions of the samples, which are to be characterised using soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS/XANES).
• Suitable for samples that do not need extreme energy resolution or photon flux but may require non-standard sample environments and detection techniques
• Capable of performing XPS (up to 100 mbar) and NEXAFS experiments under near-ambient pressures (up to 1 bar)

Best for studies of:

• Heterogeneous catalysts
• Pharmaceuticals and biomaterials under realistic conditions
• Environmental and space science studies on liquids and ices
• Heritage conservation
• Electronic and photonic materials.

Further details on B07

I14, the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe beamline, offers a small beam of 50 nm for high-resolution imaging with a wide energy range (5-23 keV). The beamline has developed and expanded its capabilities in X-ray fluorescence, diffraction and XANES mapping. Raster scanning capability combined with simple data acquisition software is suitable for fast acquisition and increased sample area coverage.

Benefits:

• Provides the ability to obtain structural and chemically-specific information on a full range of materials (inorganic/organic)
• Enables samples to be studied under both static and real (e.g. wet, heated, in-situ strain) conditions. 
• Provide a flexible endstation, with a beam size of 50 nm, optimised for scanning X-ray fluorescence, X-ray spectroscopy and diffraction

Best for:

• Corroded metal interfaces
• Metallic particles in cells
• Catalysis under in situ conditions
• Photovoltaic films

Further details on I14