Measurement Techniques Available at the MINAXS Beamline

Users of MINAXS beamline are going to attack a wide number of scientific problems. The goal is to offer the users a wide variety of experimental techniques that are not possible in small laboratories. We believe that users will benefit from the use of the state-of-the-art techniques possible only at the MINAXS beamline combined with the immediate possibility to characterize the samples also with direct methods before or after the x-ray measurements.

μGISAXS

Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering is a rapidly growing characterization method by which surfaces of samples can be accurately characterized. [1] The X-ray beam of a few micrometers in size in experimental hutch 1 will allow also GISAXS studies over very small areas of sample at a time.

μUSAXS

Ultra-small angle x-ray scattering will be possible at the MINAXS beamline due to the segmented flight tube construction, which allows to vary the sample-to-detector distance from 0 to 10 meters.

µWAXS

Combined SAXS/WAXS experiments using the microbeam are possible. The 2theta range covered is approx. upto 22degree.

In-situ sputter deposition

A novel in-situ sputter deposition chamber has been designed for high-throughput experiment. It allows for several different sources to be used.

AFM

Closely related to the μGISAXS technique, an atomic force microscope is planned to be installed onto the beamline. The combined use of direct microscopy methods and indirect scattering methods is going to promote understanding on the structure of the sample. It will be a unique chance to characterize the same part of the sample with multiple methods.

Optical Microscope

'One picture tells a thousand words.' Sometimes a picture of the micrometer scale structure can give understanding of the nanometer scale structure. The optical microscope is useful also for the mounting of very small samples to sample holders and for other similar activities. A magnification upto 2500x is available in the lab. In EH1, a magnification of upto 500x at a working distance of 85mm is possible.

Scanning Nanodiffraction WAXS/SAXS

Both, the nanofocused beam and the ability to precisely position and move samples at the EH2 combine into Scanning Nanodiffraction (SXND). This technique provides structural information with sub-µm resolution from crystalline and semi-crystalline materials (e.g. metals, biomaterials, synthetic compounds). For example, grain orientation, residual stress profiles, crystal structure or texture can be obtained in a nondestructive analysis. This technique can be applied to static samples as well to in situ sample environments.