Synchrotron Beamline Operations

Our objective is to ensure that the NIST beamlines U7A, X23A2, and X24A, located at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, operate efficiently, effectively, and safely to enable customers to conduct their experiments. The Department of Energy (DOE) is our partner in this endeavor. One of our main goals is to meet DOE's requirement that 25% of the beam time for each beamline is reserved for General Users.

Synchrotron beamlines are widely used to determine structure of materials and devices that cannot be measured by more common, conventional methods. Such measurements enable the development of new materials and devices in a broad spectrum of industries. The NIST NSLS beamlines are fully operational and in use about eleven months of the year. There are 108 fully trained beamline users who conduct over 84 experiments each year. Examples of technology advancements in multimillion dollar industries that have been enabled by synchrotron measurements include: development of next-generation catalysts for chemical production; optimization of semiconductor and organic materials for microelectronics; and development of lubricants for magnetic hard drives. 

 

Impact and Customers:

• A 25 year NIST-DOE partnership at the NSLS has developed beamlines, specialized detectors, and endstations; most importantly, it has enabled industrial, academic, and government customers to perform state-of-the-art local structure measurements for electronic, energy, and magnetic storage applications.

• NIST operates a suite of three synchrotron beamlines that, in concert, can interrogate the structure of materials comprised of every element in the Periodic Table. With our partners, we develop and apply new synchrotron x-ray measurement methods to establish structure-property relationships for rational materials design.

• An FY2007 NIST Budget Initiative, "Synchrotron Measurement Science and Technology: Enabling Next-Generation Materials Innovation", will enable us to develop world-class capabilities to measure the electronic, chemical, and structural properties of materials with sub-nanometer resolution.

 

 

Over the past 15 years, we have established the following measurement capabilities at three beamlines at the NSLS: (1) near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) at beamline U7A; (2) extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) at beamline X23A2; and, more recently, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at beamline X24A. Although these beamlines operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week, the demand for beamtime far exceeds the available time. We continuously strive to maximize beamline accessibility and ease of operation for beamline users by developing new and improved operating practices. Further, we provide service to the synchrotron community by working with NSLS and DOE to optimize beamline operations and transfer our best practices to other beamlines at the NSLS. One member of our team currently chairs the NSLS Users' Executive Committee and serves on its Science Advisory Committee. All of the members of our team serve on DOE synchrotron proposal review panels at the NSLS and at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

U7A wobble mirror image

On NIST beamline U7A, a wobble mirror for delivering a 10 mm x 10 mm soft X-ray beam to a new parallel process, full-field imaging NEXAFS detector and endstation was completed and installed. In addition, a fully automated, multi element mesh incident beam monitor for accurate energy calibration of samples during NEXAFS
measurements was also installed. 

Reconfigured U7A incident beam section

Over the past two years, NIST, in partnership with Sandia National Laboratory, has developed a fully operational XPS beamline at X24A. This required complete refurbishment of the beamline, including installation of new hardware and control software. Over the next year, a state-of-the-art detector will be installed on the beamline. Plans are underway to expand the XPS capability to allow imaging, making this a best-in-the-world XPS measurement facility.

Finally, on NIST Beamline X23A2, the X23A3 beamline monochromator was removed, transforming this beamline from a side station to an endstation. This resulted in a large increase in available instrument space in the X23A2 hutch for placement of additional instruments.

 

 
Reconfigured U7A incident beam section

 
One of our team members teaches week-long EXAFS classes twice a year at international and national conferences and workshops, providing training for the next generation of synchrotron scientists.