Beamline B16 welcomes first user

27 February 2008

On 30^th January 2008, Beamline B16 was pleased to welcome its first users: Professor Moreton Moore, Professor Victor Petrashov and Dr Rais Shaikhaidarov from Royal Holloway, University of London. B16 is a flexible and versatile beamline for testing new developments in X-ray optics and detector technology and for trialling new experimental techniques. It is the ninth Diamond beamline to welcome users.

The monochromatic 15-keV focused beam from B16 was guided through a very fine collimator, only 1 micron x 0.5 micron wide, which Rais had fabricated, which in turn facilitated the study of tiny metal inclusions in synthetic diamonds (see image).

Figure 1: 3D map of metal inclusions collected at 1 micron x 1 micron spatial resolution

The group at Royal Holloway are interested in developing high-resolution X-ray diffraction techniques to map crystal imperfections in materials of industrial importance, especially diamonds, using both characteristic and synchrotron X-rays. The recent research at Diamond aimed to test the collimator technology.

Professor Moore said: "I am very pleased to obtain such good results in the first experimental run at B16, and to be using Diamond to study diamond! This success indicates the potential of our collimators for scanning microscopy using hard X rays to study nanostructures, insulators, multi-phase minerals and metals, penetrating specimen thickness beyond the reach of electrons. We are most grateful to the Diamond scientists and support staff for all their help, for welcoming us and for making our visit such a pleasant experience." 

Figure 2:  The first  users  with the  B16  beamline  team,  left to  right:  Prof Moreton Moore and Dr Rais Shaikhaidarov  (Royal  Holloway,  University  of London),  Dr Igor  Dolbnya and Stewart Scott (Diamond), Prof Victor Petrashov (Royal Holloway) and Dr Kawal Sawhney (Diamond).

More on Beamline B16