X-ray Diffraction Unit

X-Ray diffraction is a non-destructive technique that provides structural information on length scales from microns down to the atomic level. From the crystallographic orientation of an epitaxial film in a semiconductor to the nature of a single bond in an active drug candidate or the crystal structure of a catalytic precursor it is a truly indispensable tool.

Southampton Diffraction Centre (SDC) brings together world leading facilities and staff to offer a wide range of high-end services to academia through local small research facilities (SRF) and the National Crystallography Service (NCS) and to industry as part of Southampton Chemistry Analytical Solutions (SCAS).

The single crystal diffraction lab comprises both small molecule and macromolecular instrumentation including the brightest molybdenum lab source in the world. A range of different experiments are possible including: full data collection on protein and other macromolecules, absolute structure determination of light atom molecules, charge density studies of small molecules, polymorph studies and standard high throughput structure determination.

Rigaku FR-E+ Single Crystal X-Ray Diffractometer is the brightest lab based molybdenum source.

The powder diffraction facilities offer a range of capabilities from simple phase identification through to complex materials analysis. Available techniques include: X-Ray reflectivity for film thickness measurements, grazing incidence diffraction for thin film characterisation, reciprocal lattice mapping for epitaxial systems, pole figure measurement for texture analysis, residual stress determination, in-plane diffraction & microdiffraction (50 microns) for sample mapping.

Rigaku SmartLab thin film and materials diffractometer is a highly versatile high resolution instrument.

Contacts:

Dr Mark Light (02380599429)
[email protected]

Dr Simon Coles (02380596722)
[email protected]

Dr Ivo Tews (02380594415)
[email protected]