ID31 - High-energy beamline for buried interface structure and materials processing

Synopsis

ID31 is dedicated for interface and materials processing studies using high energy x-rays. It offers a portfolio of hard X-ray characterisation techniques including reflectivity, wide and small angle diffraction (SAXS and WAXS, both in transmission and grazing incidence geometry), imaging methods, auxiliary techniques, coupled with a great versatility in choosing beam sizes, energy and energy-band.

Disciplines

• Materials and Engineering
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Environmental Sciences
• Cultural Heritage
• Life Sciences

Applications

• Materials for energy applications and storage devices
• Catalysis
• Additive manufacturing
• Metallurgy

Techniques

• Compton scattering
• GID - grazing incidence diffraction
• GISAXS - grazing incidence small-angle scattering
• SAXS - small-angle X-ray scattering
• WAXS - wide-angle X-ray scattering
• XRD - X-ray diffraction
• XRR - X-ray reflectivity
• Pair-distribution function analysis

Sample environments

• Low temperature (1.2K)
• High temperature (2000K)
• High magnetic field (8T)
• Stress rigs (up to 50kN)
• Gas loading system
• Electrochemical cells
• Hydrogen Fuel Cell
• Fuel cell testing station

Detectors

• Pilatus4 X CdTe 4M
• Perkin Elmer XRD 1621
• MAXIPIX
• 13-element solid-state Ge detector

Technical details

Technical description

Overall layout

X-ray source

In-vacum cryo-colled undulator with 14.5mm period (U14) is the source of photons at ID31. It provides the highest possible intensity in the energy range 20-150keV. Figure 2 compares the U14 with the U22 used at ID15.

Figure 2. The X-ray source of the ID31 beamline is an in-vacuum cryo-cooled undulator with a period of 14.5 mm. This figure shows the brightness of the U14 undulator installed in ID31. 

OH1

White beam optics hutch holds: gas and solid absorbers, high power slits, transfocator (T1), white beam viewer and beam mask. 

OH2

The optics hutch 2 holds: high power slits, multilayer monochromator (for energies < 80 keV, 0.3% bandwidth), Laue-Laue monochromator (for energies > 50 keV, tunable bandwidth), white beam viewer, beam mask, monochromatic beam viewer, beam position monitors, transfocator, solid absorber, high power double slits, and beam shutter. All monochromatic beam equipment are on motorized long granite tables to guarantee their simultaneous offset movement.

Focusing

The focusing optics consists of three transfocators:

1. A white beam transfocator in optics hutch 1 (to condense the incident beam when very intense beams with medium range spot sizes are needed)

2. A monochromatic beam transfocator in optics hutch 2 (to focus a beam up to 3.0 x 20.0 µm² with low divergence)

3. A monochromatic beam transfocator in the experimental hutch to provide sub-micron beams (in the future).

 

EH

The experimental hutch (EH) is a white beam hutch which holds several equipment: the high precision imaging and diffraction instrument (µStation), an auxiliary detector table, the High Energy MicroDiffraction instrument (HEMD) with its detector table, and the WAXS and SAXS detector assemblies at very end of the hutch. The large granite structure supporting the area detector enables a flexible use of the detector with the sample stations including users setups, which can be installed on the hutch floor. 

The experimental stations can be easily converted for different experimental approaches.

The SAXS flight tube can also be installed on supports between the sample stations and the SAXS detector located at the end of the hutch

Large area WAXS detector can be moved along 12m longitudinal granite beams supported by granite pillars, as well as sideways and vertical, allowing detector positioning with respect to the incident beam and moving detector out from the beam when the downstream SAXS detector is used.

• µStation instrument

This station is a high-resolution diffraction and imaging system based on a modular design. It consists of a heavy-duty sample positioning and scanning system (hexapod) with the possibility having optional modules before or after the sample. 

The main components of the sample positioning and scanning system are translation, tilt and rotation stages and the sample positioning hexapod. The stages are high precision scanning axis for reflectivity, reciprocal space mapping and tomography scans and the hexapod is used for sample positioning. The sample environment, often provided by the users, is mounted on the top plate of the instrument. The actual spatial resolution of the sample stage is about 100 nm. 

• Heavy duty micro diffraction instrument

The existing HEMD instrument was moved to ID31 from ID15A. It is designed for reflectivity and diffraction measurements using few micron beams and allows using heavy sample environment equipments (up to 300kg).

The instrument includes the secondary optics to deflect the incident beam (liquid monchromator) and small area detector (or point detector) setup for in- and out-of plane scanning.

• High resolution diffraction and imaging instrument

It is designed for experiments using very small beam (down to 200nm). It houses the third transfocator, a nano positioning sample tower and imaging detector setup, all on their own granite blocks.

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