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High Throughput NEXAFS System

High Throughput NEXAFS System

Before starting your beamtime at the high-throughput NEXAFS system, please carefully read this page and all relevant pages, including instructions on sample mounting, batch scanning software, and related videos. Doing so will help ensure your experiments run smoothly. Some software must be installed prior to starting your experiment, and this link will guide you through the entire process.

 

General info:

An inline high-throughput NEXAFS chamber has been constructed upstream on the Imaging branchline. This chamber allows for batching of multiple samples for automatic scanning. The system is built for samples that are not compatible with ultra-high vacuum (samples can be scanned at a pressure of 10-6 mbar) and is ideal for beam-sensitive samples.

Detectors

  • Hemispherical Analyser (Auger Electron Yield mode)

  • Retarding Grid Analysers (Partial Electron Yield and Fluorescence Yield modes)

  • Drain Current

  • Photodiode

Sample Environment

High Vacuum (HV) environment, base pressure 1 × 10-7 mbar. Room temperature samples only

Preparation facilities

  • Flood gun

  • Sample transfer carousel

  • Easy sample loading

  • Batch scanning

Click here for information on safe transport and handling of samples.

Data analysis
Data formats

  • NEXAFS data from beamline software: *.mda, ASCII

Analysis software

  • QANT

 

For details on sample mounting, please refer to this page: Sample Mounting at the SXR-HTN System

Before Starting Your Experiment on the High-Throughput NEXAFS (HTN) Endstation

If your beamtime on the Soft X-ray HTN endstation is coming up, please get in touch with the SXR beamline scientist at as-softxray@ansto.gov.au

To help us ensure your beamtime runs smoothly, we’d like to check on your sample preparation and offer any support you may need.

The HTN endstation can be operated on-site or via mail-in mode, so please let us know your preferred option. Regardless of your choice, we strongly recommend mounting and sending your samples in advance. This allows us to load them into the system and pump them down before your beamtime begins. Our goal is to have all samples ready and pumped by noon the day before your scheduled session.

It’s also very helpful if you can send your scan control file ahead of time. This lets us pre-run images, check sample positions, and ensure everything is ready. The more preparation done in advance, the more efficient your beamtime will be.

Even if you plan to attend in person, posting your samples in advance is highly encouraged.

 

 

Beamtime on the High Throughput NEXAFS (HTN) System

Important Note for Using the BatchScan Software

The beamline’s detector architecture has recently been upgraded from VME to DETACQ. To build a scan control file for the HTN system, you’ll need to install the latest version of the BatchScan software on your computer. If an older version is already installed, please uninstall it before proceeding. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions provided below.

Files needed for installation:

The installation software:

The two files that have to be manually replaced after installation (You must do this or the batchscan software does not work properly):

 

 

 

Data Analysis Tools

 

We use Igor Pro along with the QANT routines developed by Dr. Eliot Gann to analyse data.

You can download a free 30-day trial of Igor Pro with full functionality for any computer. Once installed, the 30-day trial begins, so we recommend waiting to install Igor Pro until just before the beam time to ensure you have full functionality when we use the program together. During the beamtime, we will analyse and display results using Igor Pro.

 

To install the QANT GUI on Igor Pro, please download the following ZIP file

and follow the instructions below:

With Igor Pro installed on your computer, do the following to get QANT up and running

 Open Igor pro, click help/show igor pro user filer and file explorer window should open

image011.png

Unzip the folder you downloaded from above and replace the Igor Procedures and User Procedures folders in the file explorer window with the ones you unzipped from the zip file.

Close down igor pro. Open it up again and all should work.