For Synchrotron Users | Find a Beamline

Users can find out more about the beamlines at Diamond Light Source via the web. Currently technical information is available for each beamline plus information regarding the working groups and the scientists involved.

For the current allocation period, the following beamlines are operational and offering 3 shifts per day:

  • I02, I03 & I04 - Macromolecular Crystallography for understanding the structure of complex biological samples, including proteins.  Beamline I03 may be used to study category 3 pathogens.
  • I06 - Nanoscience which is capable of imaging structures and devices at a few millionths of a millimetre.
  • I15 - Extreme Conditions for studying materials under intense temperatures and pressures.
  • I16 - Magnetism & Materials to probe the electronic and magnetic properties of materials at the atomic level.
  • I18 - Microfocus Spectroscopy with the ability to map the chemical composition of complex materials, such as moon rocks and geological samples.
  • I22 - Non-Crystalline Diffraction for studying large, complex structures including living organisms, polymers and colloids. 
  • B16 - Test beamline for testing new developments in optics and detector technology and for trialling new experimental techniques.
  • I11 - High Resolution Powder Diffraction specialises in investigating the structure of complex materials, including high temperature semiconductors, ceramics, alloys, zeolites and fulerines.
  • I19 - Small Molecule Single Crystal Diffraction is a high-intensity beamline for determining the structure of small molecule crystalline materials, such as new catalysts and 'smart' electronic materials.
  • B23 - Circular Dichroism is a life sciences and chemistry beamline for investigating and observing structural, functional and dynamic interactions in elements such as proteins, nucleic acids and chiral molecules.
  • I24 - Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography is a microfocus medium energy beamline for investigating the relationship between the structure of large macromolecules and their function within living organisms.
  • I07 - Surface and Interface High Resolution Diffraction for investigating the structure of surfaces and interfaces under different environmental conditions, including semiconductors and biological films.
  • I12 - Joint Engineering, Environmental and Processing beamline providing a multi-purpose facility for high intensity diffraction and imaging of engineering components and materials under real conditions.
  • B22 - Infrared Microspectroscopy is a powerful and versatile method of revealing and/or imaging the molecular micro-structure of living systems or condensed matter bringing new levels of sensitivity and spatial resolution, with subsequent impact across a wide range of applications in Life or Physical Sciences.
  • I04-1 - Monochromatic MX will be available by invitation from the Principal Beamline Scientist to users already awarded beamtime in this period.
  • B18 - Core EXAFS is an established technique providing essential element specific information about the local atomic geometry and about the chemical state of the absorbing atom. The technique is not limited to the crystalline phase materials, but may be used with highly disordered amorphous, liquid and gaseous samples.
  • I20- LOLA X-Ray Spectroscopy is a versatile spectroscopy beamline which aims to cover three very distinctive modes of operation (1) X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) on challenging samples, (2) Energy Dispersive EXAFS (EDE) and (3) X-ray Emission Spectroscopy.
  • I10 - Beamline for Advance Dichroism Experiments (BLADE)  for soft x-ray resonant scattering, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroism.

The amount of beamtime available for each of the beamlines will vary depending on the length of time they have been operational.  The beamlines which have ore recently come online will offer a restricted amount of beamtime.  The above list has been sectioned to indicate the order in which beamlines came online.

Users who are unsure about which is the most appropriate beamline for their experiment should contact the User Office.

Details of all invitation and deadline dates will be given on Diamond's external website and on the Diamond Usernet. In addition to this, all users registered with Diamond will be notified via e-mail by the User Office.