Instruments by Science Group
Macromolecular
Soft Condensed 
Imaging and
Biological
Magnetic
Structures and
Crystallography 
Spectroscopy I14 Contact
I14 Control room:
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778570
Principal Beamline Scientist:
Majid Kazemian
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778222
Science Group Leader
Julia Parker
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)1235 778924
I14 Hard X-ray Nanoprobe
Status: Operational
Beamsize: 50nm x 50nm
Energy: 5 - 20 keV
Energy: 5 - 20 keV
Our students are a key part of our team, conducting their own research projects using nanoprobe techniques.
Amadeus Derjean
Amadeus is a PhD student at the University of Plymouth and the Diamond Light Source, spending
2 years at each site.
In 2024, she was awarded a MSci in Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter and has since continued their research in aquatic toxicology. Her PhD project is investigating the dietary accumulation and toxicity of nanoplastics and adsorbed zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles in fish.
During her time at Diamond, she will be using the I14 hard X-ray nanoprobe beamline to investigate how the adsorption and transformation of ZnO on nanoplastics changes in simulated fish gastrointestinal gut fluid.
Research interests: aquatic toxicology, environmental pollution, nano pollutants, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray adsorption near-edge structure, cell culture.
Lauren Hudson
Lauren is a PhD student at the University of Southampton and Diamond Light Source spending half of her time at each.
In 2024, she was awarded an Msci in Biology and Marine Biology at the University of Southampton and is now continuing her research in Evolutionary Developmental Biology/ Molecular Biology. Her PhD project involves the study of the sea urchin tooth as a model for understanding the biological and chemical contributors to biomineralization.
During her time at diamond, she will be using i14 and i08 to focus on the mineral structure and elemental content of the sea urchin tooth. Elemental composition focusing on Mg, Ca and Sr, will be mapped on cross sections of the adult and juvenile tooth using XRF on both beamlines. This will be supported by FIB slide-and-view with SEM to gain a holistic view of the morphology of the mineral structure and its composition.
Research interests: Biomineralization, Evolutionary developmental biology, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray Diffraction, FIB/SEM, Echinoderms, in situ hybridisation, immunohistochemistry.
Alumni
Hallam Greene
Hallam Greene was an undergraduate placement student, based at beamline I14. Under the supervision of Jessica Walker, he was investigating biomineralisation in coccolithophores, and calcite crystallisation, using the I14 hard X-ray nanoprobe. Before this placement year at Diamond (during 2022-2023), he completed 3 years of his undergraduate Chemistry degree at the University of Sheffield and undertook summer placements at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre and in the group of Prof. Julia Weinstein. Hallam is now pursuing his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Bristol.
Reham Gonnah
Reham was a postgraduate researcher. Reham's PhD project was a collaboration between the University of Leeds (School of Dentistry) and Diamond Light Source, and focused on using X-ray techniques, mainly diffraction and tomography, to characterise enamel remineralisation with the use of a self-assembling peptide (SAP) which, hypothetically, acts as a scaffold for hydroxyapatite nucleation. At Diamond, she was working on the development of an in situ sample environment for use on the Dual Imaging and Diffraction (DIAD) beamline in order to study enamel remineralisation under near-physiological conditions. As part of her PhD project, the liquid cell on the hard X-ray nanoprobe beamline (I14) was used to investigate how the SAP induces mineral formation.
Jess Pitchforth
Jess was a PhD student with a combined studentship between the University of Cambridge, Rolls Royce Plc, Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. She completed an MChem at Cardiff university and now studies Metallurgy. She worked on nickel single crystal superalloys, using the hard x-ray nanoprobe to look at lattice misfits between the two phases. Research interests: diffraction, x-ray imaging, single crystal superalloys, crystallography
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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Didcot
Oxfordshire
OX11 0DE
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