Energy Materials BAG Applications

Proposal form_BAG

HINTS ON SAMPLE PREPARATION

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to give you an update on the status of the Energy Materials BAG.

The UK has been in lockdown since 23 March as the reaction to the Covid19 pandemic. Clearly, since then very little has been happening although Diamond has put into place measures that have enabled running some experiments relating to the virus research. It has also been difficult to do any planning as the conditions at the end of the lockdown were unclear. It is only this week that the UK is beginning to relax the lockdown however some important restrictions will be in place. The most important restrictions are social distancing and travel rules. Currently the minimum distance between people (other than those who have been in lockdown together) is two metres. This is very difficult in many buildings and businesses. For example, we cannot go into the labs at Kent until 1 July as new procedures are being devised and the buildings are equipped with cleansing station. Similarly Diamond has also been equipping its buildings and rooms with limitations on the number of people allowed on-site and establishing protocols for working arrangements. This distance may be reduced to one metre but the need for caution and strict protocols will remain. Travel in and out of the UK will require several days of quarantine.

The need for social distancing and limitations on travel will clearly limit Diamond and normal visits by users have been cancelled until further notice. However Diamond is now starting to accept “straightforward” experiments which are not Covid19 related. This means that the BAG can still operate as samples can be sent directly to Diamond. There will be a new temporary schedule for the beamlines and this is currently being assembled by the beamline scientists and the User Office, although it is likely to evolve as conditions and operational procedures become clearer. We aim to have plans in place to anticipate the schedule and are proposing the following procedures.

  1. We had planned to run scans for several proposals in BAG time during April. These groups will be contacted directly.
  2. New proposals should be sent to Giannantonio or me. A form is attached.
  3. We will vet a proposal very rapidly and let you know if your samples can be run. The aim is to minimise possible delays due to the postal system.
  4. If you want to run a lot of samples (>10 and up to 32) then we will post you a rack for you to load and post/courier to Diamond.
  5. The raw data will be returned to you.
  6. We will still offer help with data analysis.

The major delay that we envisage is the posting out of the racks. Within the UK this is not a big problem but international mail can be slow. If you have access to a 3D printer then we can send you the plan and you could print your own sample rack. We are currently working on a more flexible rack design; i.e. one that could be assembled from smaller units, such 4 hole strips. All the operations of the beam line will be down to Diamond staff, e.g. setting up the optics, loading and aligning the samples, programming the run, downloading data, etc, etc.  Hence there will not be the efficiency of the usual BAG day with staff and users present and a full 24 hour manning of the beamline by at least two users.

The BAG has an excellent record of success and we are keen to maintain the impressive productivity. We need your continued support so please send in your proposals.

Keep safe

Alan and Giannantonio

Professor A.V. Chadwick, B.Sc., Ph.D., FRSC
Room 121A
Materials for Energy and Electronics Group
School of Physical Sciences
University of Kent
Canterbury
Kent CT2 7NH, UK
phone:- +44-1227-827245
fax:- +44-1227-827558
mobile:- +44-7821605660