Versions Compared
Key
- This line was added.
- This line was removed.
- Formatting was changed.
XFM ‘mail-in’ experiments
With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, XFM is supporting many experiments running with specimens mailed to the beamline for analysis. Users can remotely guide the experiment with the help of beamline staff. In the longer term we also aim to support targeted applications of mail-in operations as a regular available access mode.
This page describes mail-in procedures and advice for XFM. Follow them closely to ensure your experiment runs smoothly.
Expand | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
Please be aware mail-in operations have some inherent differences compared to experiments where you are onsite:
|
Expand | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
The beamline has various sample platen mount designs (Sample guide XFM ) that we can send to users beforehand for mounting samples. For sample mount platens, please contact XFM staff <as-xfm@ansto.gov.au> for advice on a design suitable for your samples and experiment. We can send you sufficient sample platens and instructions for pre-mounting of samples in the comfort of your lab. Mounting your samples on the XFM platens will save valuable beamtime and XFM staff time and is often a safer way to ship fragile samples. Document your samples by including images of the mounted specimens with helpful sample descriptions for the beamline staff. |
Expand | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
For official details, please consult the Bringing Samples, Chemicals or Equipment Onsite document here. Important points
Shipping instructions
|
Expand | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
One safe way of shipping sample mount platens is shown in the following photos. Here aluminium foil was loosely formed into balls and packed around the edges of the platen within a plastic container with lid (Sistema brand in this case). The plastic container was placed in a plastic bag and boxed with foam. Ensure the foil does not touch your samples. In general, DO NOT mount your windows in a what appears to be a random orientation as in the photo, but there was a valid reason in this case. |
Expand | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
For hand-delivering or shipping samples, chemical or equipment to the beamline in advance of your beamtime, follow the following instructions:
|
Expand | ||
---|---|---|
| ||
To participate (remote or on-site) all researchers are required to complete off-site safety training and be included on the approved Experiment Authorisation (EA). We will typically use Zoom sessions to discuss, plan and execute you experiment. We will make extensive use of data analysis software GeoPIXE in XFM–Offline sessions on ASCI. Researchers will select regions of interest and interrogate scans as they progress using GeoPIXE. You can access ASCI at: https://asci.synchrotron.org.au logging in with your Australian Synchrotron user portal credentials. Getting started on ASCI: https://asci.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting_started.html |