NECAT Beamline

The Northeastern Collaborative Access Team (NE-CAT) facility at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is managed by Cornell University and consists of seven member institutions:

  • Columbia University
  • Cornell University
  • Harvard University
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Rockefeller University
  • Yale University.

    • Primary funding for this project comes from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Additional financial support for NE-CAT comes from the member institutions.

    Status of NE-CAT Sector 24 Activities

     

    December 2006  

     

    24-ID Phase 1 Beam Line User Operations

    The NE-CAT 2006-3 (October-December) user operations period ended very successfully on December 19, for NE-CAT institutional and APS General User Program users. This was the first APS operating period that NE-CAT declared it was operational and provided 25% of its beam time to General Users. During the entire run, the beam line operated without any significant problems or lost of experimental time. All users reported on the “End of Run Summary Forms” that they were pleased with the beam line performance and support provided. A pie chart showing the distribution of users, by user affiliation, for the 2006-3 run is given below.

     

    The “Hours for Development” were appreciable since 24-ID is just coming into full operation and a number of beam line components had to be checked out using beam before operation could be turned over to the users. In particular, considerable testing, modifications, and calibrations had to be performed on the Phase 2 (24-ID-E) monochromator, going in and out of the vacuum system, which impacted availability of the Phase 1 (24-ID-C) beam line.

    We have received all the requests for beam time for the next run cycle, 2007-1 (February-April), and are in the process of performing the detailed day-by-day scheduling. This run, as the previous run, will be fully booked by institutional members and APS General Users with a smaller amount of time set aside primarily at the beginning of the run for beam tuning and development. Setting aside several days for beam development at the beginning of each run cycle is essential in order to test modifications to the beam lines during the month long shutdown and to wait until APS re-establishes a good stable orbit of the electron beam.

     

    24-ID Phase 2 Fixed-Energy Beam Line Installation

    Commissioning activities during the few weeks of beam time available in December before the shut down were devoted to beam focusing and stability studies. The Phase 2 beam is very tightly focused, with a beam profile of approximately 20 microns vertical by 60 microns horizontal, as shown in the following figure.

    The beam stability is exceptionally good at this state of commissioning, stable to within a few microns over a period of hours. The following scan of beam stability was taken over a period of ½ hour.

     

    Micro-Diffractometer

    Representatives from Maatel spent several days at NE-CAT setting up and testing the MD2 micro-diffractometer and providing a comprehensive operating tutorial on its use. The arrival of this first MD2 to NE-CAT and APS generated quite a stir of interest, with a number of APS CAT members and visitors from other institutions visiting our laboratory as well attending the tutorial. The set up and testing took place in NE-CAT’s engineering laboratory. The MD2 will remain in the engineering laboratory while its software is being integrated into NE-CAT’s Console operating system and its elaborate support table, providing full range of alignment, is assembled. Following integration of the software, the MD2 will be mounted on its support table in 24-ID-E (the fixed-energy side-bounce end station).

    The following photograph shows the innards of the MD2 with its covers removed. Virtually everyone who viewed it during setup and testing was very much impressed with the quality of design, engineering, and workmanship that went into its construction.

     

     

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