Situated 94 m from the source, this station was built to carry out experiments with ~1 micron spatial resolution. EH3 has its own dedicated optical systems (OH2) offering a range of focussing methods. The diffractometer, has movement in x, y, z, θ, and ω and on it is mounted a sample stage with movement in x, y, z, rx & ry and a variety of permanently mounted detector systems, in order to allow the rapid switching between different experimental configurations, as well as simultaneous use of some detectors. The detectors available are:

  • Dectris Eiger2 X CdTe 4M
  • Near field FReLoN camera (white beam detector)
  • Near field FReLoN camera with lenses
  • Far field FReLoN camera
  • Fluoresence detector

This hutch was originally constructed in a collaborative project with the Synchrotron Working Group, at Risø National Laboratory, in order to make 3-dimensionally resolved measurements examining strain and texture. These measurements are possible during in-situ experiments on thermally or mechanically loaded samples as well as strain analysis with sub-micron resolution near surfaces and grain boundaries.

Currently, a brief description of the beamline and of some of our recent research activities can be found in the web pages of our major collaborator, the Risø National Laboratory.

3DXRD station

The experimental station is built around a Huber diffractometer with a vertical rotation axis. There is a base tilt to allow topo-tomography scans (around the scattering vector) and a heavy duty “motorized goniometer” sample stage. The run out of the rotation axis is about 0.8 μm, this is compatible with the focal spot sizes that are typically 1-2 µm.  Granite translations are used to align and scan the diffractometer in the beam, and a granite gantry system holds a suite of ESRF Frelon based imaging and diffraction detectors. Cryostream and furnace sample environments can be used with this station and there are two in-situ loading devices. A twin-screw load frame from ADMET offers tension and compression to 5kN, and a dedicated “NaNoX” rig was developed for DCT experiments which require a very short sample-detector distance.


Nanofocus station

A dedicated instrument has been commissioned to exploit high-energy submicron focal spot sizes from silicon compound refractive lenses. The mechanical performance is able to match the X-ray beam size and it is possible to bring a sub-micron sized crystal onto the rotation axis and collect data during a rotation scan. A hexapod is installed on top of the rotation axis for sample positioning and aligning thin film samples so they are parallel to the X-ray beam. A piezo stage is used for sample positioning and rapid scanning. The rotation axis offers extremely good mechanical performance with a measured run out for the complete system of 40 nm at the sample position. In order to allow continuous sample rotation an electrical slip ring is installed to control the hexapod and piezo stage that are mounted above the rotation axis.

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