Beamlines | I11 - High resolution powder diffraction

Status: Operational
Village: Engineering and Environmental Sciences
Main Research Techniques: X-ray powder diffraction

Experimental hutch 1 (EH1) at I11 will be fully operational in AP14 (October 2013 - March 2014)

The construction work on the Long Duration Experiment (LDE) project is progressing well. This new facility will be unique within the synchrotron world and will be used for scientific investigations where samples will be maintained at, or cycled through, various non-ambient conditions for extended periods. More details regarding the upgrade project can be found here.
 
Although the upgrade will not alter or change the performance specifications of the high-resolution and time-resolved facilities currently available in the existing hutch, we will have to alter the existing layout to accommodate the new LDE hardware. In order to deliver the new facility the installation team require an access period in AP13 (04 Feb to mid Sep 13) for initial structural alternation and constructional work during which it will be necessary to shutdown the beamline.

Powder diffraction is the principal technique for determining the structure of materials that do not necessarily form large ordered crystals. It is therefore the technique of choice for the analysis of many naturally occurring materials such as minerals and artefacts as well as novel man-made materials where synthesis is under-developed, or for highly strained materials subject to twinning. The technique has the advantage of a relatively simple scattering geometry but has been much enhanced by the development of intense synchrotron sources as well as advances in data analysis, using modelling, direct methods and global optimisation methods.

In recent years powder diffraction has provided crucial structural information for many strategically important materials including:

    • high temperature semiconductors,
    • fullerenes,
    • oxides,
    • mesoporous materials and
    • self-assembled nanoscale assemblies.

The combination of very high angular resolution, high count rates and controlled environmental conditions on I11 make it possible to carry out detailed structural analysis of complex materials. These studies are important to many fundamental areas of the physical, life and environmental sciences as well as pharmaceutical, engineering and industrial materials.

This versatile beamline has the resolving power to probe deep into sample structures ( Δ d/d ~ 10-3-10-4 Å), to detect rapid changes ( Δ t ~ ms-s) under non-ambient conditions as they occur and to perform resonant diffraction in order to solve complex structures containing low normal electron contrasts.

I11 experimental hutch

I11 experimental hutch showing the heavy duty diffractometer (DIF), 5 arms for multi-analysing crystal-detectors (MACs), robotic-arm (ROB), carousel with 200 specimen positions (CAR) and heavy duty table (XYZ).

MAC arms on 2 circle; each with Si(111) analysing crystals (x9) mounted on and detectors (x9) on 2 rotary table

MAC arms on 2Θ circle; each with Si(111) analysing crystals (x9) mounted on α and detectors (x9) on 2α rotary table