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General details on applying for beamtime at the Australian Synchrotron are available in the User Information section. |
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Ensure you read and follow the entire Proposal Guide (download below). Your proposal will otherwise not be competitive at a highly sought-after beamline. All new users to the beamline must contact the beamline scientists well in advance of |
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submission in order to discuss feasibility |
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All applicants seeking to use |
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Preparing Your Beamtime Proposal
Ensure that you read the entire proposal guidelines document.
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the crystal spectrometer (Hutch C) must contact the beamline scientists ahead of submission. |
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Once your proposal is successful and you have beamtime scheduled, please refer to the Beamtime Guide (download below) for practical information and experimental planning. |
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If you want to prepare your 7 mm pellet samples ahead of beamtime, we recommend ordering your sample holders from this supplier: hollandplastics.com.au At the XAS Beamline we normally stock some 1.5 mm thick, clear acrylic plastic holders from this company. We have limited resources for sending out ahead of beamtime for everyone.
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DOWNLOAD THE PROPOSAL GUIDE
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When evaluating your proposal, the beamline team will first consider a series of prerequisites. It is essential that you can answer ‘yes’ to the following questions:
Does the experimental plan include a table of samples and experimental conditions as outlined in the guidelines? See example on page 5 of the guidelines.
If you have not used the XAS beamline over the past 3 years, have you contacted the beamline scientist team to discuss the feasibility of your experiment?
If you are proposing an experiment for Hutch C (non-standard experimental set-ups), have you contacted the beamline scientist team to discuss the feasibility of your experiment?
If you are applying for more than 6 shifts (2 days), are at least 3 people listed as attending?
Are the absorption edges you would like to examine in the same energy mode? The XAS Beamline operates across a range of different energy modes, and it takes significant time to change between modes (see XAS Technical Information and the Australian Synchroton website). If you need access to absorption edges in different modes, please submit a separate proposal for each mode (e.g. Part 1, Part 2, containing different sample tables).
Overhead times to consider in your experimental plan:
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The first 4 to 6 hours will be required for beamline optimisation, inductions, training, and radiation hardness testing.
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DOWNLOAD THE BEAMTIME GUIDE
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THERE MIGHT CURRENTLY BE CONFUSION AROUND WHICH BEAMLINE TO APPLY FOR; XAS OR MEX. IF UNSURE, USE THIS HANDY GUIDE:
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For more information about the MEX Beamlines, please visit the MEX User Wiki.
Reminders for IN SITU proposals:
Please read and follow the Proposal Guidelines (above) as you prepare, and ensure the following information is included:
Have you tried ex situ analysis first? In situ experiments are difficult and your proposal will likely be stronger if you demonstrate that you have collected good ex situ data before attempting an in situ set up.
Attach a diagram / photo of your in situ cell at minimum, and describe if your group has used it successfully before at XAS beamline.
If you have a new in situ cell, contact the XAS beamline team well in advance of the deadline to ensure that your cell can fit in the space and has appropriate geometry to be feasible.
SAMPLE TABLE – have you included the sample table listing experimental conditions and scan parameters, as per the Proposal Guidelines?
Describe all potential hazardous products of your reaction (e.g. if your reaction will generate gases, include the table of exposure limits as described in the Proposal Guidelines).
If you require gases:
Gas flow? – list flow rates, and provide the table of exposure limits as described in the Proposal Guidelines.
Pressure? – list pressures, describe in detail how safety risks will be managed. Note capillary requirements here.
Non ambient temperature? – The hot air blower is a shared resource with PD beamline, so availability is not guaranteed. See our Wiki page for details on which experimental conditions are possible.
When and where will gases be used? Are gases required for solution purging between experiments (e.g. could be done in the Chem Lab) or are they required to be used inside the Hutch during the scan?
Can any of the hazardous gases in your proposal be substituted for less hazardous options? E.g. could compressed air, nitrogen, or argon be used instead?