Materials Characterisation Laboratory (MCL)

The Materials Characterisation Laboratory (lab 42-43) houses a variety of instruments for advanced material characterisation including a single crystal X-ray diffractometer for structure determination, atomic force microscopy for surface and topographic imaging and SQUID VSM for magnetic property measurements. 

The laboratory is also equipped with a sample preparation area, optical microscope, precision weighing scale, wire-bonder and sputter coater.

All the instruments are available for use by Diamond staff, external users and collaborators both as part of approved beamtime and offline (without approved beamtime).

Users with approved beamtime should contact the lab manager, Dr. Sahil Tippireddy (sahil.tippireddy@diamond.ac.uk) for scheduling and discussing the experimental details. Users will have to send the ERA of their samples before the scheduled lab visit.

The procedure for offline access is:  

1. Contact Lab Services (laboratoryaccess@diamond.ac.uk) for access to offline lab or equipment.
2. For frequent users, Lab Services will check with lab/equipment manager (Sahil Tippireddy) on availability and discuss/agree visit dates. New users will be initially directed to Sahil Tippireddy (sahil.tippireddy@diamond.ac.uk) to discuss experimental details, feasibility and training, etc.
3. Lab Services will send a Peripheral Laboratory Hazard Declaration (PLHD) form to users for completion and the users will be asked to provide details regarding the sample and the planned activity in the laboratory.
4. Once the PLHD form is received, reviewed and validated by Safety, Health & Environment (SHE Group), the date of the visit will be confirmed. Lab Services will contact the User Office regarding the user details and pre-register all declared investigators to access the RAL campus.  

For enquiries about instrument availability, training or general information, please contact: sahil.tippireddy@diamond.ac.uk. All training requests should be made at least 48 hours in advance. 

If work carried out in this laboratory contributes towards a paper or other publication, the use of the MCL should be acknowledged as: “We acknowledge Diamond Light Source for provision of facilities in the Materials Characterisation Laboratory”.

Please click below for more information about the capabilities and specifications of the instruments: