Beamlines | Imaging

Microscopy/Imaging

Hard X-ray imaging allow detailed information to be gathered from below the surface of a material through either full-field imaging, where the whole sample is illuminated, or through scanning, where the beam is focused to a small spot which is scanned across the sample. The high intensity and energy of synchrotron X-rays makes it possible to image a much larger range of materials and sample thicknesses than conventional X-ray sources, and the brilliance of the synchrotron source produces very high resolution images. An additional technique called X-ray computed tomography can create three dimensional reconstructions of the internal sample volume. This makes it possible to view any cross-section of the virtual image at any angle.

The main microscopy and imaging techniques employed at Diamond are:


Diamond Beamlines

The following Diamond beamlines are suitable for Microscopy and Imaging experiments:

I06 - Nanoscience
Operational		 A microfocus soft-X-ray beamline for X-ray photoelectron microscopy. It is used to study nanostructures significant for sensors, catalysts and magnetic materials and nanoscale devices. 
I12 - JEEP
Operational		 A multi-purpose beamline for researchers and practitioners from engineering and materials science, imaging, process engineering and earth sciences.
I13 - X-ray microscopic imaging with branchline for coherence A beamline for studying the structure of micro-and nano-objects. The information is either acquired in direct space or by inverting (diffraction) data recorded in reciprocal space. Dynamical studies are performed on different time- and length- scales with X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS) and pinhole-based Ultra-Small Angle Scattering (USAXS).
B16 - Test beamline
Operational 		A beamline for testing new developments in optics and detector technology and for trialling new experimental techniques.
I18 - Microfocus Spectroscopy
Operational		 A beamline providing micron size x-ray beams combined with fine sample control for 2D compositional (fluorescence detection) studies of complex inhomogeneous materials under realistic conditions.
B22 - IR Spectromicroscopy
Operational		 This beamline provides a powerful and versatile method of determining chemical structure with unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution.