CONTACT & STAFF

For more information on this beamline, contact us.

EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

The following experimental techniques and setups are available to users in this beamline. To learn more about the techniques’ limitations and requirements (sample, environment, etc.) contact the beamline coordinator before submitting your proposal.

AMBIENT MEASUREMENTS

Ambient measurements are conducted on samples which require the high resolution capability of the beamline. Here samples are measured under ambient temperatures and are exposed to the atmosphere during measurements. The setup gives accurate peak position and shape and reduces peak overlap of highly crystalline materials while reducing background signal. This set-up is normally required for quantitative analysis of samples, i. e. Structure determination of performing Rietveld Refinement to determine crystalline parameters, such as cell parameter and volume, crystal size, investigation of strain, lattice defects and micro-structure of materials. It is carried out at ambient conditions (room temperature) in Bragg-Brentano geometry or at cryogenic temperature with a cryostat. It is important to note that the cryostats work without sample spinning during the measurement. High resolution requires an analyzer crystal, a Ge (111) crystal, installed before the point detector (Cyberstar scintillation detector), which provides a step-size resolution of 0.002° in 2θ2θ. This analysis mode results in low photons flux and thus a lower intensity of the diffracted beam and consequently, longer data acquisition times (8-14 hours for each sample).

IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS

Canario Furnace

These measurements involve the use of a furnace with the additional capability of gas flow. With this setup various types of reactions can be simulated. The temperature range is dependent on the furnace used (please see types of furnaces available at the beamline). Various gas environments are allowed to simulate chemical reactions. Some restrictions are in place for safety as well as preventing damage to the furnaces. Thus, no corrosive gases are allowed. Further, restrictions apply to the use of hydrogen (5% max) and oxygen (20% max). We strongly urge you to contact the beamline staff prior to sending a beamtime proposal to certify that your experiment fits into our safety regulations. A mild vacuum may be applied to the furnace as well as humidity if required. A mass spectrometer is also available to analyze the chemical composition at the outlet of the furnace. The appropriate furnace will be selected by the beamline staff depending on the needs of the user.

The in-situ setup works for both fast measurements (lower resolution) using the Mythen 1K detector as well as the High resolution setup using the Cyberstar point detector. Please note the large time differences in collecting data between these two detectors. For further information about more complex setups, please contact the beamline staff.

CRYOSTAT

For low temperature measurements, a cryostat from Advanced research systems is available. The lowest temperature achievable is around 10 K. The measurement at low tempetature using cryostat can be carried out using fast detector Mythen or the Cyberstar point detector

SAMPLE PREPARATION

Sample holders from left to right: Furnace, cryostat, High-resolution

Depending on the type of experimental setup required samples may be prepared as either a powder or pellet. Powder samples are preferred however. Samples need to be ground down to the finest possible size to avoid sample related effects affecting the data. This applies to all data collections.

BEAMLINE ENERGY

XPD is normally fixed at 8 keV (λ=1.5498Å) which corresponds to the highest photon flux and is equivalent to Cu Kα wavelength used in conventional X-ray sources. However, the energy may be changed if anomalous diffraction experiment are required or if the sample is composed of Fe and/or Co. The energy is then set to 7 keV to avoid fluorescence. It is also possible to work at higher energies if it is important to increase the penetration depth of the X-rays into the sample, in the case of samples composed of high Z materials.

LAYOUT & OPTICAL ELEMENTS

PARAMETERS

INSTRUMENTATION

CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION

The beamline is controlled using EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) that is running on a PXI from National Instruments. All data acquisition and diffractometer movements are done using fourc mode on SPEC (software for instrumentation control and data acquisition in X-ray diffraction experiments from Certified Science Software).  For some graphical interfaces and beamline devices can be controlled using CSS (Control System Studio).

HOW TO CITE THIS FACILITY

Users are required to acknowledge the use of LNLS facilities in any publications and to inform the Laboratory about any publications, thesis and other published materials. Users must also cooperate by supplying this information upon request. 

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