Specifications

Sample holders

Different supports are available to host the samples.
Users willing to bring their sample holders are asked to contact the staff to ensure the compatibility with the sample manipulation system.

1. Teflon holders

These holders are ideal for transmission measurements and are designed to work at 45° with respect to the X-ray beam direction.
Their dimensions are 12 x 2.5 cm² and they have a longitudinal hole (at 45°, as shown by the drawings below) for the X-ray beam to pass through it.
Two different versions are available: one has a hole of 7.1 mm, the other one of 10 mm.
 

                                                                



Several samples can be mounted at once. They can be kept in place using teflon stripes screwed to the main structure, or kapton/carbon tapes.

                         

2. Stainless steel holders 

These supports are best suited for Grazing Incidence and Reflectivity measurements, but they can also be used for collecting XRF maps.
They offer a large surface (12 x 5.5 cm²) to accomodate samples which can be mounted using teflon stripes screwed in the main structure. 
Sample nature may vary from thin films to artefacts of different shapes.

3. Glass slide holders 

These supports are designed to host sample supports having a circular shape of diameter 26mm.
This choice has proven very efficient for XRF maps collection in the case of thin sections (few μm) of biological samples.
The picture below shows 4 samples of rat organs freeze dried and deposited on an ultralene foil. The ultralene is kept tight and wrinkle-free by two plastic rings.

4. Total reflection holders 

These holders can host up to 3 glass reflectors and are dedicated to total reflection measurements.