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Updated: May 19, 2026

Synchrotron X-ray Microdiffraction and Fluorescence Imaging of Mineral and Rock Samples
Published on: June 19, 2018
DISCO synchrotron-radiation circular-dichroism endstation at SOLEIL
Matthieu Réfrégiers1, Frank Wien, Ha Phuong Ta
1Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, 91192 Gif sur Yvette, France. refregiers@synchrotron-soleil.fr
Abstract:
The new synchrotron-radiation circular-dichroism (SRCD) endstation on the UV-visible synchrotron beamline DISCO has been commissioned at the SOLEIL synchrotron. The design has been focused on preservation of a high degree of linear polarization at high flux and moderate resolving power covering the vacuum ultraviolet to visible spectral range (125-600 nm). The beam dimensions have been set to 4 mm × 4 mm at 1 nm bandwidth for lower sample degradation. The nitrogen-purged sample chamber fits three types of sample holders accommodating conventional round cell mounting, automated rotation of the samples, as well as a microfluidic set-up. Automated temperature-controlled data collection on microvolumes is now available to the biology and chemistry communities. Macromolecules including membrane proteins, soluble proteins, bio-nanotubes, sugars, DNA and RNAs are now routinely investigated.
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