B18: A core XAS spectroscopy beamline for Diamond

During the past twenty years, XAS has progressed from being a technique only suitable for specialists to become a widely applicable tool. This situation has resulted from the steady development of reliable spectrometers and new generations of software for data analysis. B18 will be a general purpose XAS beamline on Diamond. It will cover a wide energy range (2 to 35 keV), with a monochromator designed to carry out both conventional and QEXAFS measurements. The main design novelty is that the low and high energy optic branches will run in parallel and the appropriate branch for a given experiment will be selected by changing the position of the slits, instead of by moving the optical elements. This will allow us to develop a very high level of automation in the operation of the instrument. Detection systems will include transmission, fluorescence and electron yield. Experience shows that considerable value is added by combining techniques. Therefore provision has been made for wide angle X-ray diffraction studies to be incorporated into the beamline architecture. The instrument will offer a variety of sample environments and the flexibility to integrate set-ups designed by the users. Hence, B18 will be able to contribute to research programs across a wide range of scientific disciplines, e.g. solid state physics and materials, catalysis, chemistry, soft matter, surfaces and biomaterials. The instrument will open to first users in April 2010.