Beamline 2-1 is used for structural studies across a range of materials systems focused on powder diffraction and reflectivity. In addition to high throughput, high resolution diffraction data the beamline can accommodate highly customized in situ and operando configurations. The beamline is frequently used to study electrochemical reactions, material response to variable temperatures or gas environments, and other user-defined setups.
Beamline 2-1 is a general purpose powder diffraction and reflectivity instrument designed around a 2-circle diffractometer. The diffractometer can accommodate numerous sample environments including custom designed in situ and operando setups. Standard configurations include powders packed in capillaries, flat plate samples holders (including under inert atmosphere), and holders for transmission geometry samples. The beamline can be equipped with a sample changing robot for automated measurement of samples packed in Kapton capillaries which are spun during measurement. This has enabled a mail-in program for users to quickly obtain high throughput, high resolution, synchrotron powder diffraction data on non-hazardous samples. In addition to ex situ measurements, several standard in situ configurations are available. These include an Oxford cryostream for low temperature measurements and an Anton Paar HTK1200N high temperature chamber for measurements up to 1000˚ C in both flat plate and capillary configurations. The beamline operates primarily at 17 keV but has the X-ray energy can be tuned to suit the needs of a measurement. This also enables the beamline to perform resonant diffraction studies for elements with absorption edges between 6-17 keV, covering the majority of the first row transition metal K-edges and many rare earth L-edges.
