Speakers Include
Professor Mike Chesters
CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory
Professor Philip Coppens
University of Buffalo, USA
Shedding light on transient species by atomic-resolution time-resolved
synchrotron diffraction. Current status and projections.
Time-resolved (TR) pump-probe X-ray diffraction methods are now capable
of analyzing the geometry of excited states of molecular complexes in crystals.
The stroboscopic method used in our current studies and a series of results
involving both intramolecular and intermolecular excitations will be presented.
The possibilities for extension to single- or multi-shot monitoring of non-reversible
processes will be discussed. The TR diffraction technique has the potential
of revolutionizing our understanding of dynamic processes in solids.
Professor Gerrit van der Laan
CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory
The Magic of Magnetism
Information processing technology has thus far purely relied on charge-based
devices, ranging from the old vacuum tube to today's microchips. However
the quantum property of the electron known as spin can be used as a tag for
the electron path and is the cornerstone of magnetism. Microelectronic devices
that operate by using the spin are a nascent multibillion dollar industry
and may lead in the near future to quantum computing.
Examples from recent research at the SRS are presented, such as x-ray magnetic
circular dichroism and resonant scattering studies on ferromagnetic semiconductors,
giant magnetoresistance materials, magnetic tunnel junctions, half metallic
systems, spin valves, biomagnets and magnetic nanostructures.
This talk is a must for those who are curious to understand the science
that is behind their electronic devices like ipods, dvd recorders, mobiles
and who like to know what the next generation of spintronics devices might
have in store. Novel magnetic materials can be tailored thanks to the application
of polarized synchrotron radiation. Third generation facilities make it possible
to use the phase coherence and the time structure of the x-rays, giving access
to the local magnetic order and to the spin dynamics. Examples will be presented
from recent work at the ESRF on magnetic nanostructures and self-assembled
domain structures reaching storage densities of terabits per square inch.
Ian Madsen
CSIRO, Australia
The mining industry and synchrotron radiation
(or how synchrotron radiation can cure all the problems of Australia)
In-situ X-ray Diffraction Studies
into Pressure Acid Leaching of Lateritic Ores Nicola
V.Y. Scarlett a* , Ian Madsen a, Barry Whittington, b aCSIRO
Minerals, Box 312, Clayton South, Victoria, 3169, Australia. bAJ
Parker CRC (CSIRO Minerals), PO Box 90, Bentley, Western Australia,
6102. E-mail: nicola.scarlett@csiro.au
Nickel is the earth’s 22 nd most abundant element but it
is not found in its native form other than in meteorites. Increasing
world demand for nickel is reflected by its recent price increase.
The majority of nickel is refined from sulphide ores but the oxide
ores or laterites (saprolite, nontronite, limonite) represent the
largest reserves of this metal. There is increasing interest in pressure
acid leaching (PAL) as a means of extracting nickel from laterites.
PAL involves leaching of laterites in sulphuric acid under hydrothermal
conditions, typically 250°C and 45 atmospheres pressure.
The
saprolitic component of the ore is known to undergo rapid changes
upon cooling following PAL thus making it difficult to examine
using traditional post-mortem techniques. Time resolved, in-situ,
X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies have been carried out into the
reaction mechanisms of this process. The sample environment during
this study aimed to closely emulate the conditions used in industrial
processing plants. The novel experimental set-up used a capillary
reaction vessel, short wavelength radiation and a position sensitive
detector to enable rapid, simultaneous collection of a wide range
of diffraction data. Quantification of the data via the Rietveld
method has allowed the derivation of reaction mechanisms and kinetics.
This paper will present
the results of both laboratory and synchrotron experiments within
this system and will discuss the practice and perils of in-situ experimentation
in general.
Professor Alain Manceau
CNRS, Grenoble, France
Illuminating the complex world of environmental
materials with bright synchrotron light
Control of the mobility of toxic elements in natural systems and
waste depositories, and the remediation of contaminated soils, sediments,
or subsurface waters, are major goals of environmental science. These
goals cannot be met without first having in hand a fundamental understanding
of the elemental composition, spatial distribution, and chemical form
of trace elements in environmental nanoparticles. Key problems in
understanding how elements interact with environmental constituents
at the molecular level are the partitioning of elements into coexisting
minerals, the difficulty of identifying the mineral species to which
these elements are bound, and the multiplicity of sorption mechanisms.
Hard x-ray microscopy, one of the important new probes emerging from
the current generation of synchrotron sources, offers unprecedented
opportunities for molecular environmental science. In most cases, the
information sought can be obtained by a synergistic use of synchrotron-based
X-ray microfluorescence (micro-SRXF), microdiffraction (micro-XRD),
and microspectroscopy, including micro-XANES and micro-EXAFS. Micro-SRXF
is for mapping the distribution of trace contaminants among coexisting
mineral phases in a natural matrix, thus determining their concentrations
with unrivaled sensitivity. Micro-XRD allows the identification of
nanoscale minerals. Micro-XANES gives the oxidation state of sorbed
elements, and micro-EXAFS opens the way for determining the uptake
mechanism of trace contaminants by individual mineral phases. Since
trace element sorption is heterogeneous on nanometer to micrometer
length scales, the combination of these chemical and structural techniques
provides just the tool needed to scrutinize fundamental properties.
These new scientific opportunities will be illustrated using examples
currently being investigated in Grenoble, that are concerned with the
natural sequestration of trace metals in soils and the phytoremediation
of contaminated soils, sediments, and waste waters.
Professor Gerd Materlik
DIAMOND Light Source
Dr. David
A. Moss
ANKA, Karlsruhe, Germany
Investigating molecular mechanisms in proteins with infrared spectroscopyInfrared spectroscopy of proteins is an analytical method with a rather unusual disadvantage - it provides too much information. Thousands of individual bands contribute to the spectrum, leading to an overlap so extensive that essentially all detail is obscured. One successful approach for circumventing this problem is difference spectroscopy. This technique is a perturbation approach designed to overcome the information surfeit problem: instead of the complete infrared spectrum, only the changes in the spectrum in response to a biologically interesting perturbation of the sample are recorded. The resulting difference spectra are far simpler than complete infrared spectra of proteins, and thus can be interpreted at the level of individual molecular bonds. Yet at the same time, they retain all the information pertaining to the structural dynamics related to the protein's catalytic cycle, and are thus of direct relevance to the study of molecular mechanisms in proteins. This talk will present infrared difference spectroscopy as a biomolecular research tool, with particular emphasis on how the advantages of synchrotron light as an infrared source - brilliance, spectral range, polarization and time structure - can each be exploited in this field of research.
Dr Trevor Rayment
University of Cambridge
Professor Arthur Suits
Wayne State University, USA
Probing chemical dynamics with intense VUV sources: from tabletop to undulator
to FEL
Chemical dynamics is a field driven by the desire to gain insight into the general principles governing elementary chemical phenomena, with a goal of sharpening our chemical intuition and establishing a solid foundation for the theoretical description of macroscopic chemical systems. Its practical applications range from combustion to atmospheric and interstellar chemistry. The field has profited enormously in recent years from advances in laser and synchrotron radiation techniques, and our work in particular has exploited these developments in the VUV, combining these sources with molecular beam and ion imaging techniques. In this lecture, we will highlight a number of studies in chemical dynamics over the past several years conducted using laboratory VUV sources, synchrotron undulator radiation on the Chemical Dynamics Beamline at the ALS, and recent studies using the Deep Ultraviolet Free Electron Laser (DUV-FEL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Future opportunities afforded by further developments in FEL science will also be discussed.
Professor Philip Coppens
Shedding light on transient species by atomic-resolution time-resolved synchrotron diffraction. Current status and projections
Time-resolved (TR) pump-probe X-ray diffraction methods are now capable of analyzing the geometry of excited states of molecular complexes in crystals. The stroboscopic method used in our current studies and a series of results involving both intramolecular and intermolecular excitations will be presented. The possibilities for extension to single- or multi-shot monitoring of non-reversible processes will be discussed. The TR diffraction technique has the potential of revolutionizing our understanding of dynamic processes in solids.
Professor Gerrit van der Laan
The Magic of Magnetism
Information processing technology has thus far purely relied on charge-based devices, ranging from the old vacuum tube to today's microchips. However the quantum property of the electron known as spin can be used as a tag for the electron path and is the cornerstone of magnetism. Microelectronic devices that operate by using the spin are a nascent multibillion dollar industry and may lead in the near future to quantum computing.
Examples from recent research at the SRS are presented, such as x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and resonant scattering studies on ferromagnetic semiconductors, giant magnetoresistance materials, magnetic tunnel junctions, half metallic systems, spin valves, biomagnets and magnetic nanostructures.
This talk is a must for those who are curious to understand the science that is behind their electronic devices like ipods, dvd recorders, mobiles and who like to know what the next generation of spintronics devices might have in store. Novel magnetic materials can be tailored thanks to the application of polarized synchrotron radiation. Third generation facilities make it possible to use the phase coherence and the time structure of the x-rays, giving access to the local magnetic order and to the spin dynamics. Examples will be presented from recent work at the ESRF on magnetic nanostructures and self-assembled domain structures reaching storage densities of terabits per square inch.
Ian Madsen
The mining industry and synchrotron radiation
(or how synchrotron radiation can cure all the problems of Australia)
In-situ X-ray Diffraction Studies into Pressure Acid Leaching of Lateritic Ores Nicola V.Y. Scarlett a* , Ian Madsen a, Barry Whittington, b aCSIRO Minerals, Box 312, Clayton South, Victoria, 3169, Australia. bAJ Parker CRC (CSIRO Minerals), PO Box 90, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102. E-mail: nicola.scarlett@csiro.au
Nickel is the earth’s 22 nd most abundant element but it is not found in its native form other than in meteorites. Increasing world demand for nickel is reflected by its recent price increase. The majority of nickel is refined from sulphide ores but the oxide ores or laterites (saprolite, nontronite, limonite) represent the largest reserves of this metal. There is increasing interest in pressure acid leaching (PAL) as a means of extracting nickel from laterites. PAL involves leaching of laterites in sulphuric acid under hydrothermal conditions, typically 250°C and 45 atmospheres pressure.
The saprolitic component of the ore is known to undergo rapid changes upon cooling following PAL thus making it difficult to examine using traditional post-mortem techniques. Time resolved, in-situ, X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies have been carried out into the reaction mechanisms of this process. The sample environment during this study aimed to closely emulate the conditions used in industrial processing plants. The novel experimental set-up used a capillary reaction vessel, short wavelength radiation and a position sensitive detector to enable rapid, simultaneous collection of a wide range of diffraction data. Quantification of the data via the Rietveld method has allowed the derivation of reaction mechanisms and kinetics.
This paper will present the results of both laboratory and synchrotron experiments within this system and will discuss the practice and perils of in-situ experimentation in general.
Professor Alain Manceau
Illuminating the complex world of environmental materials with bright synchrotron light
Control of the mobility of toxic elements in natural systems and waste depositories, and the remediation of contaminated soils, sediments, or subsurface waters, are major goals of environmental science. These goals cannot be met without first having in hand a fundamental understanding of the elemental composition, spatial distribution, and chemical form of trace elements in environmental nanoparticles. Key problems in understanding how elements interact with environmental constituents at the molecular level are the partitioning of elements into coexisting minerals, the difficulty of identifying the mineral species to which these elements are bound, and the multiplicity of sorption mechanisms. Hard x-ray microscopy, one of the important new probes emerging from the current generation of synchrotron sources, offers unprecedented opportunities for molecular environmental science. In most cases, the information sought can be obtained by a synergistic use of synchrotron-based X-ray microfluorescence (micro-SRXF), microdiffraction (micro-XRD), and microspectroscopy, including micro-XANES and micro-EXAFS. Micro-SRXF is for mapping the distribution of trace contaminants among coexisting mineral phases in a natural matrix, thus determining their concentrations with unrivaled sensitivity. Micro-XRD allows the identification of nanoscale minerals. Micro-XANES gives the oxidation state of sorbed elements, and micro-EXAFS opens the way for determining the uptake mechanism of trace contaminants by individual mineral phases. Since trace element sorption is heterogeneous on nanometer to micrometer length scales, the combination of these chemical and structural techniques provides just the tool needed to scrutinize fundamental properties. These new scientific opportunities will be illustrated using examples currently being investigated in Grenoble, that are concerned with the natural sequestration of trace metals in soils and the phytoremediation of contaminated soils, sediments, and waste waters.
hover over a speaker name to view the abstract
Professor Arthur Suits
Probing chemical dynamics with intense VUV sources: from tabletop to undulator to FEL
Chemical dynamics is a field driven by the desire to gain insight into the general principles governing elementary chemical phenomena, with a goal of sharpening our chemical intuition and establishing a solid foundation for the theoretical description of macroscopic chemical systems. Its practical applications range from combustion to atmospheric and interstellar chemistry. The field has profited enormously in recent years from advances in laser and synchrotron radiation techniques, and our work in particular has exploited these developments in the VUV, combining these sources with molecular beam and ion imaging techniques. In this lecture, we will highlight a number of studies in chemical dynamics over the past several years conducted using laboratory VUV sources, synchrotron undulator radiation on the Chemical Dynamics Beamline at the ALS, and recent studies using the Deep Ultraviolet Free Electron Laser (DUV-FEL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Future opportunities afforded by further developments in FEL science will also be discussed.
Dr. David A. Moss
Investigating molecular mechanisms in proteins with infrared spectroscopy
Infrared spectroscopy of proteins is an analytical method with a rather unusual disadvantage - it provides too much information. Thousands of individual bands contribute to the spectrum, leading to an overlap so extensive that essentially all detail is obscured.
One successful approach for circumventing this problem is difference spectroscopy. This technique is a perturbation approach designed to overcome the information surfeit problem: instead of the complete infrared spectrum, only the changes in the spectrum in response to a biologically interesting perturbation of the sample are recorded. The resulting difference spectra are far simpler than complete infrared spectra of proteins, and thus can be interpreted at the level of individual molecular bonds. Yet at the same time, they retain all the information pertaining to the structural dynamics related to the protein's catalytic cycle, and are thus of direct relevance to the study of molecular mechanisms in proteins.
This talk will present infrared difference spectroscopy as a biomolecular research tool, with particular emphasis on how the advantages of synchrotron light as an infrared source - brilliance, spectral range, polarization and time structure - can each be exploited in this field of research.
