Beamline 1.3W · Small and Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS/WAXS)

Experimental Station

Beamline Layout, Specification & Experimental Station

Beamline Layout and Specification

Figure 1: BL1.3W beamline layout, from source to Experimental Hutch — schematic, not to scale

BL1.3W Optical Layout

The light source is shared across three parallel beamlines — BL1.1W, BL1.2W, and BL1.3W — each divided into four sections: the Front End (FE), Optics Hutch 1 (OH1), Optics Hutch 2 (OH2), and the Experimental Hutch (EH).

Synchrotron light from the Multipole Wiggler passes through a Double Multilayer Monochromator (DMM) — a mirror coated with alternating layers of tungsten and boron carbide, 150 layers total at 2.5 nm per layer — which selects a working X-ray energy of 9 keV (1.38 Å), tunable across a range of 6–9 keV. The energy-selected beam then passes through a toroidal focusing mirror, which focuses the X-rays onto the sample position in the Experimental Hutch.

The beam travels the length of the beamline through a vacuum tube, ending at a beryllium (Be) window that separates the beamline vacuum from the experimental hutch. A beam shutter within the beamline opens and closes to control when X-rays reach the sample; SAXS/WAXS measurements are carried out by opening the shutter and triggering the detector at the same time, under computer control.

BL1.3W Specification

Experimental Station

X-ray Techniques Available at BL1.3W

Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)

Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) is a powerful X-ray-based technique used to investigate the structure and morphology of materials at the nanoscale. SAXS measures the scattering of X-rays at very small angles as they interact with variations in electron density within a sample. The technique provides structural information in the nanometer range, typically from approximately 1 to 100 nm, depending on the experimental configuration. SAXS can be applied to a wide range of materials, including polymers, proteins, nanoparticles, composites, colloids, and biological materials.

Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS)

Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) is a powerful X-ray-based technique used to investigate the atomic and crystalline structure of materials. WAXS measures X-rays scattered at wide angles as they interact with the atomic arrangement within a sample.

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) is an analytical technique used to determine the elemental composition of a material. In XRF measurements, an incident X-ray beam excites the atoms in the sample, causing them to emit characteristic X-rays. The energy of these emitted X-rays is used to identify the elements present in the sample, while their intensity can be used for quantitative analysis. At an incident X-ray energy of 9 keV, XRF is suitable for exciting and analyzing elements whose absorption edges are below the incident energy. The selection of the incident energy is important because it affects the excitation efficiency, detection sensitivity, and background of the XRF measurement.

Detector Specifications Summary