XMaS: The UK Materials Science Facility at the ESRF
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Synchrotron radiation (SR) sources provide brilliant beams of light by accelerating electrons at high energies around a circular magnetic lattice. The resulting X-rays provide a uniquely powerful tool in the exploration of structure, composition and excitations in materials. The UK has been at the forefront of SR provision for decades, building the world's first dedicated facility in 1981. Insertion devices, first introduced as part of the lattice at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and then incorporated into the new magnetic lattice at the Diamond Light Source (DLS), increased the flux and beam quality, greatly increasing the impact of SR across the physical and life-science portfolios. New magnets and vacuum technologies mean that storage rings can now be designed to give X-ray beams with hugely increased brilliance (flux per unit area per unit solid angle in a specified bandwidth) and coherence. These transformative designs are redefining the SR landscape with all major facilities planning upgrades to this lattice technology.
The XMaS (X-ray Materials Science) beamline facility is part of the ESRF which, in 2019, undergoes the final phase of its upgrade programme (EBS project) with the installation of an ultra-low emittance storage ring. After the EBS upgrade the XMaS beamline will have more than an order of magnitude increase in usable flux for most experiments due to a smaller focused beam size. The new source characteristics also allow higher X-ray energies to be used and expand the scientific challenges that can currently be addressed. For the first time, it will be possible to study the same sample volume across an extensive energy range and within the same sample environment. This will enable real time reactions to be followed on a site-by-site basis, opening up new opportunities for studying materials relevant to catalysis and green chemistry applications. The facility will deliver new insights into quantum critical behaviour as well as facilitating studies of confinement and proximity in magnetic and superconducting materials at low temperatures (1-10 K). Newly combined X-ray metrologies enable structure to be measured across a wide range of length and time scales simultaneously. More systems will be studied in-operando and under technologically relevant conditions, for example, the study of ionic migration in battery systems and photovoltaics. Structural studies will become spatially resolved allowing studies of individual domains and their temporal evolution under external stimuli. An upper energy of ~33 keV will extend studies of buried interfaces in complex sample environments, for example, solid-liquid interfaces, relevant to electrochemical technologies. External stimuli including electrical and magnetic fields as well as humidity, gaseous atmospheres and temperature control (1 to 1200 K) will all be available.
XMaS is an enabling tool, and provides an essential part of the UK research infrastructure for material science ensuring that UK researchers have access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, expertise and techniques now and into the future. By providing an essential layer of capacity and unique capabilities, XMaS facilitates investigator-led research by enabling X-ray characterisation across a range of temporal and spatial length scales. In addition, by training students and early career researchers, XMaS provides highly skilled individuals to the wider materials research base. Partnerships with national research centres and international collaborators ensure the future competitiveness, resilience and creativity of the UK materials sector which relies on the development, characterisation and exploitation of novel functional materials. The balance of science on XMaS will encompass both long-term discovery-led research as well as shorter term impact-focused research thereby providing an environment for transformative, challenge-led material science research.
The XMaS (X-ray Materials Science) beamline facility is part of the ESRF which, in 2019, undergoes the final phase of its upgrade programme (EBS project) with the installation of an ultra-low emittance storage ring. After the EBS upgrade the XMaS beamline will have more than an order of magnitude increase in usable flux for most experiments due to a smaller focused beam size. The new source characteristics also allow higher X-ray energies to be used and expand the scientific challenges that can currently be addressed. For the first time, it will be possible to study the same sample volume across an extensive energy range and within the same sample environment. This will enable real time reactions to be followed on a site-by-site basis, opening up new opportunities for studying materials relevant to catalysis and green chemistry applications. The facility will deliver new insights into quantum critical behaviour as well as facilitating studies of confinement and proximity in magnetic and superconducting materials at low temperatures (1-10 K). Newly combined X-ray metrologies enable structure to be measured across a wide range of length and time scales simultaneously. More systems will be studied in-operando and under technologically relevant conditions, for example, the study of ionic migration in battery systems and photovoltaics. Structural studies will become spatially resolved allowing studies of individual domains and their temporal evolution under external stimuli. An upper energy of ~33 keV will extend studies of buried interfaces in complex sample environments, for example, solid-liquid interfaces, relevant to electrochemical technologies. External stimuli including electrical and magnetic fields as well as humidity, gaseous atmospheres and temperature control (1 to 1200 K) will all be available.
XMaS is an enabling tool, and provides an essential part of the UK research infrastructure for material science ensuring that UK researchers have access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, expertise and techniques now and into the future. By providing an essential layer of capacity and unique capabilities, XMaS facilitates investigator-led research by enabling X-ray characterisation across a range of temporal and spatial length scales. In addition, by training students and early career researchers, XMaS provides highly skilled individuals to the wider materials research base. Partnerships with national research centres and international collaborators ensure the future competitiveness, resilience and creativity of the UK materials sector which relies on the development, characterisation and exploitation of novel functional materials. The balance of science on XMaS will encompass both long-term discovery-led research as well as shorter term impact-focused research thereby providing an environment for transformative, challenge-led material science research.
Planned Impact
XMaS: The EPSRC's National UK Materials Science beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a synchrotron beamline embedded in the European Photon and Neutron (EPN) Science Campus in Grenoble, France and has been supporting the UK material sciences community since 1997. During the final phase of a planned upgrade to the ESRF, the XMaS beamline will undergo a significant modernisation to deliver a new state-of-the-art facility exploiting the capabilities of the new ESRF machine. The revamped XMaS will provide a bright x-ray beam, primarily for UK users, to investigate the structure and properties of the latest generation of functional materials.
By taking data simultaneously from samples using a range of different techniques and at high speeds it is possible to explore the correlation between the sample's structure and its functional properties. Even better insight is gleaned by performing such studies In-operando and under realistic operating or industrial conditions. The facility will bring academic and industrial partners together, provide an efficient pathway for materials discovery and provide the underpinning characterisation essential for delivering new technologies to the marketplace. As the research is generally interdisciplinary in nature, any developments in one research bring immediately impact others driving innovation in sample design and advanced metrologies.
The relatively simple beamline design and the direct involvement in the experiments by the on-site staff have enabled XMaS to work with our users and external partners in delivering collaborative projects. Much of this work involves the design, development and implementation of new sample environments giving additional capabilities to the research teams on the beamline and generating additional revenue from commercial licence agreements. This work benefits both the companies we work with and other scientists around the world, who purchase and use the instrumentation. New collaborations with scientists at the Diamond Light Source (DLS) will drive advanced data manipulation and analysis methodologies at both facilities, which in turn, will impact a broad range of scientists from PhD students through to experienced synchrotron users.
Synchrotron studies tend to be collaborative and XMaS will ensure that international collaboration is nurtured. Being located at the ESRF, XMaS will facilitate interactions between multinational users and provides a unique training opportunity for the next generation of material scientists: typically ~40% of the XMaS users are new and we train ~60 PhD students and young researchers a year. Both numbers likely to increase by 20% after the instrument upgrade. To increase this impact still further we will also provide onsite placements as well as bespoke technique training courses to support CDTs and Marie-Curie networks.
Research impact will be disseminated through peer-review publications as well as at user meetings, conferences and seminars. Press-release case studies with multimedia content associated with high impact publications will increase awareness and interest. A dynamic programme of scientific meetings, a strong web and social media presence, utilising scientific networks, as well as increased training with on-site placements, will ensure continuing and deepening community engagement. To inspire and inform the general public, we will use articles in the mainstream press and industry journals to augment peer reviewed output coupled with the active outreach program. The "XMaS Scientist Experience" (@XMaSSchoolTrip) which runs annually and tackles the important issue of women within STEM careers will be expanded and developed with 'hands-on' demonstrators and short case study video presentations. The output will be used in outreach activities, particularly focused on the local community, which will benefit science education in general.
By taking data simultaneously from samples using a range of different techniques and at high speeds it is possible to explore the correlation between the sample's structure and its functional properties. Even better insight is gleaned by performing such studies In-operando and under realistic operating or industrial conditions. The facility will bring academic and industrial partners together, provide an efficient pathway for materials discovery and provide the underpinning characterisation essential for delivering new technologies to the marketplace. As the research is generally interdisciplinary in nature, any developments in one research bring immediately impact others driving innovation in sample design and advanced metrologies.
The relatively simple beamline design and the direct involvement in the experiments by the on-site staff have enabled XMaS to work with our users and external partners in delivering collaborative projects. Much of this work involves the design, development and implementation of new sample environments giving additional capabilities to the research teams on the beamline and generating additional revenue from commercial licence agreements. This work benefits both the companies we work with and other scientists around the world, who purchase and use the instrumentation. New collaborations with scientists at the Diamond Light Source (DLS) will drive advanced data manipulation and analysis methodologies at both facilities, which in turn, will impact a broad range of scientists from PhD students through to experienced synchrotron users.
Synchrotron studies tend to be collaborative and XMaS will ensure that international collaboration is nurtured. Being located at the ESRF, XMaS will facilitate interactions between multinational users and provides a unique training opportunity for the next generation of material scientists: typically ~40% of the XMaS users are new and we train ~60 PhD students and young researchers a year. Both numbers likely to increase by 20% after the instrument upgrade. To increase this impact still further we will also provide onsite placements as well as bespoke technique training courses to support CDTs and Marie-Curie networks.
Research impact will be disseminated through peer-review publications as well as at user meetings, conferences and seminars. Press-release case studies with multimedia content associated with high impact publications will increase awareness and interest. A dynamic programme of scientific meetings, a strong web and social media presence, utilising scientific networks, as well as increased training with on-site placements, will ensure continuing and deepening community engagement. To inspire and inform the general public, we will use articles in the mainstream press and industry journals to augment peer reviewed output coupled with the active outreach program. The "XMaS Scientist Experience" (@XMaSSchoolTrip) which runs annually and tackles the important issue of women within STEM careers will be expanded and developed with 'hands-on' demonstrators and short case study video presentations. The output will be used in outreach activities, particularly focused on the local community, which will benefit science education in general.
Organisations
Publications
Bikondoa O
(2019)
XMaS @ the ESRF.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Bikondoa O
(2020)
X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy with Coherent Nanobeams: A Numerical Study
in Crystals
Hussain H
(2019)
Water-Induced Reversal of the TiO2(011)-(2 × 1) Surface Reconstruction: Observed with in Situ Surface X-ray Diffraction.
in The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces
Habib I
(2023)
Vacuum deposited organic solar cells with BTIC-H as A-D-A non-fullerene acceptor
in APL Materials
Dremann D
(2024)
Understanding radiation-generated electronic traps in radiation dosimeters based on organic field-effect transistors.
in Materials horizons
Lehmann A
(2018)
Transition between tangential and co-axial liquid crystalline honeycombs in the self-assembly of Y-shaped bolapolyphiles.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Costley-Wood L
(2023)
Towards the Operational Window for Nitridic and Carbidic Palladium Nanoparticles for Directed Catalysis
in ChemCatChem
Inyang O
(2019)
Threshold interface magnetization required to induce magnetic proximity effect
in Physical Review B
Picavet E
(2023)
The self out-of-plane oriented La 2 O 2 CO 3 film: an integration tool for fiber textured ferroelectric thin films
in Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Ramadan A
(2023)
The Role of the Organic Cation in Developing Efficient Green Perovskite LEDs Based on Quasi-2D Perovskite Heterostructures
in Advanced Functional Materials
Inyang O
(2020)
The role of low Gd concentrations on magnetisation behaviour in rare earth:transition metal alloy films.
in Scientific reports
Hase T
(2022)
The power of x-rays in materials science
in Futurum Careers
Dowsett MG
(2020)
Synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigation of the surface condition of artefacts from King Henry VIII's warship the Mary Rose.
in Journal of synchrotron radiation
Kindi MA
(2021)
Substrate Protection with Corrosion Scales: Can We Depend on Iron Carbonate?
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Treacy JPW
(2019)
Structure of a Superhydrophilic Surface: Wet Chemically Prepared Rutile-TiO2(110)(1 × 1).
in The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces
Liang X
(2023)
Structural transformation of metal-organic frameworks and identification of electrocatalytically active species during the oxygen evolution reaction under neutral conditions
in Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers
Dann E
(2019)
Structural selectivity of supported Pd nanoparticles for catalytic NH3 oxidation resolved using combined operando spectroscopy
in Nature Catalysis
Wlodek M
(2020)
Structural evolution of supported lipid bilayers intercalated with quantum dots.
in Journal of colloid and interface science
Sirovica S
(2019)
Structural Evidence That the Polymerization Rate Dictates Order and Intrinsic Strain Generation in Photocured Methacrylate Biomedical Polymers
in Macromolecules
Eales J
(2023)
Structural changes in borosilicate glasses as a function of Fe2O3 content: A multi-technique approach
in Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids
Huss-Hansen M
(2018)
Structural basis for a naphthyl end-capped oligothiophene with embedded metallic nanoparticles for organic field-effect transistors
in Applied Physics Letters
Romano Brandt L
(2021)
Stress-Assisted Thermal Diffusion Barrier Breakdown in Ion Beam Deposited Cu/W Nano-Multilayers on Si Substrate Observed by in Situ GISAXS and Transmission EDX.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Romano Brandt L
(2021)
Stress-Assisted Thermal Diffusion Barrier Breakdown in Ion Beam Deposited Cu/W Nano-Multilayers on Si Substrate Observed by in Situ GISAXS and Transmission EDX.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Burn D
(2022)
Spin orbit torque driven magnetization reversal in CoFeTaB/Pt probed by resonant x-ray reflectivity
in Physical Review B
Dowsett M
(2021)
Spectroscopy, Diffraction and Tomography in Art and Heritage Science
Thornber SM
(2020)
Solubility, speciation and local environment of chlorine in zirconolite glass-ceramics for the immobilisation of plutonium residues.
in RSC advances
Lehmann A
(2018)
Soft Rectangular Sub-5 nm Tiling Patterns by Liquid Crystalline Self-Assembly of T-Shaped Bolapolyphiles
in Advanced Functional Materials
Finkel P
(2022)
Simultaneous Large Optical and Piezoelectric Effects Induced by Domain Reconfiguration Related to Ferroelectric Phase Transitions.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Criado-Gonzalez M
(2023)
Semiconducting Polymer Nanoporous Thin Films as a Tool to Regulate Intracellular ROS Balance in Endothelial Cells.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Heeley E
(2019)
Self-assembly of fluoride-encapsulated polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanocrystals
in CrystEngComm
Evans PG
(2020)
Resonant nanodiffraction x-ray imaging reveals role of magnetic domains in complex oxide spin caloritronics.
in Science advances
Patterson E
(2023)
Rejuvenation of giant electrostrain in doped barium titanate single crystals
in APL Materials
Swindells C
(2020)
Proximity-induced magnetism in Pt layered with rare-earth-transition-metal ferrimagnetic alloys
in Physical Review Research
Swindells C
(2021)
Proximity-induced magnetism and the enhancement of damping in ferromagnetic/heavy metal systems
in Applied Physics Letters
Swindells C
(2021)
Proximity-induced magnetism and the enhancement of damping in ferromagnetic/heavy metal systems
in Applied Physics Letters
Torrelles X
(2019)
Pristine and hydrated fluoroapatite (0001).
in Acta crystallographica Section B, Structural science, crystal engineering and materials
Geprägs S
(2020)
Precise control of J eff = 1 2 magnetic properties in Sr 2 IrO 4 epitaxial thin films by variation of strain and thin film thickness
in Physical Review B
Gründer Y
(2020)
Potential-induced structural deformation at electrode surfaces
in Current Opinion in Electrochemistry
Gründer Y
(2019)
Potential-dependent surface compression of gold and its link to electrocatalytic reactivity
in Surface Science
Checchia S
(2020)
Pd-LaFeO 3 Catalysts in Aqueous Ethanol: Pd Reduction, Leaching, and Structural Transformations in the Presence of a Base
in ACS Catalysis
Davies CJ
(2020)
Operando potassium K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy: investigating potassium catalysts during soot oxidation.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Bikondoa O
(2021)
On Compton scattering as a source of background in coherent diffraction imaging experiments.
in Journal of synchrotron radiation
Bikondoa O
(2021)
On Compton scattering as a source of background in coherent diffraction imaging experiments.
in Journal of synchrotron radiation
Inyang O
(2023)
Non-uniform Gd distribution and magnetization profiles within GdCoFe alloy thin films
in Applied Physics Letters
O'Neill CD
(2021)
Non-Fermi liquid behavior below the Néel temperature in the frustrated heavy fermion magnet UAu2.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Gubala D
(2020)
Multiscale characterisation of single synthetic fibres: Surface morphology and nanomechanical properties.
in Journal of colloid and interface science
Ryan P
(2020)
Multiferroic behavior in EuTi O 3 films constrained by symmetry
in Physical Review B
Guo X
(2023)
Molecular interactions, elastic properties, and nanostructure of Langmuir bacterial-lipid monolayers: Towards solving the mystery in bacterial membrane asymmetry
in Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science
Winokur M
(2020)
Modeling of Grazing-Incidence X-ray Diffraction from Naphthyl End-Capped Oligothiophenes in Organic Field-Effect Transistors
in Crystal Growth & Design
Description | The XMaS Scientist Experience is a nationwide competition [1] aimed at encouraging young women to consider careers in science, by showing them some opportunities available to them and introducing them to inspirational role models, all within the international setting of the EPN campus [2]. The applicants are required to write about a famous female scientist, her contribution to promoting the cause of women in science, and their own motivation for entering the competition. The prize for the competition winners is a 4 day trip to Grenoble, France. The group of up to 18 year-12 female students visits ESRF, including XMaS, as well as nearby laboratories. A major part of the trip is to take part in the Synchrotron@school programme run by the ESRF. After the trip, the girls share their experiences with family and friends and their peers, further influencing the views of the students' support groups. The XMaS Scientist Experience has now been running for 7 years (with a 2 year break in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid restrictions), allowing us to reflect on the outcomes of the trips. The enthusiasm of the participants afterwards is remarkably positive and they all comment that it is an eye-opener to the roles that they could play as future women in science. The first few years' entrants came only from schools located near the XMaS hubs of Liverpool and Coventry (Warwick) areas. Applicants come now from schools located as far away as Kent and Essex. We have now actively started to target students from Widening Participation backgrounds, devoting specific spaces on the 2022 trip to females from such backgrounds. [1] www.xmas.ac.uk/impact/xmas_scientist_experience/ [2] http://www.epn-campus.eu/ |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | The XMaS Scientist Experience |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | The XMaS Scientist Experience is a nationwide competition [1] aimed at encouraging young women to consider careers in science, by showing them some opportunities available to them and introducing them to inspirational role models, all within the international setting of the EPN campus [2]. The applicants are required to write about a famous female scientist, her contribution to promoting the cause of women in science, and their own motivation for entering the competition. The prize for the competition winners is a 5 day trip to Grenoble, France. The group of up to 16 year-12 female students visits ESRF, including XMaS, as well as nearby laboratories. A major part of the trip is to take part in the Synchrotron@school programme run by the ESRF. After the trip, the girls share their experiences with family and friends and their peers, further influencing the views of the students' support groups. The XMaS Scientist Experience has now been running for 5 years, allowing us to reflect on the outcomes of the trips. The enthusiasm of the participants afterwards is remarkably positive and they all comment that it is an eye-opener to the roles that they could play as future women in science. The first few years' entrants came only from schools located near the XMaS hubs of Liverpool and Coventry (Warwick) areas. Applicants come now from schools located as far away as Kent and Essex. We have now actively started to target students from Widening Participation backgrounds, devoting specific spaces on the 2020 trip to females from such backgrounds. [1] www.xmas.ac.uk/impact/xmas_scientist_experience/ [2] http://www.epn-campus.eu/ |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
URL | https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/xmas/impact/xmas_scientist_experienceb/ |