As of March 29, 2007

for international journal X-Ray Spectrometry (John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

X-ray spectroscopy supports the hypothesis of how pigeons find their way home (March 14, 2007)

It has long been believed that birds can in some way use the natural magnetism of the earth to navigate.  Recently, scientists from the University of Frankfurt employed micro X-ray fluorescence as well as micro XAFS spectroscopy to analyze the skin of the upper beak of homing pigeons.  Within the skin lining, they established the existence of tiny maghemite (g-Fe₂O₃) and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) particles (with a ratio of around 9:1) in the dendritic nerve branches that were arranged in a 3D pattern.  According to the research team, this strongly supports the theory that the upper beak of pigeons houses a highly sensitive magneto-receptor that can be used for navigation.  The experiments were done with synchrotron X-rays at HASYLAB in Hamburg, Germany.  For more information, see the paper, "A novel concept of Fe-mineral-based magnetoreception: histological and physicochemical data from the upper beak of homing pigeons", G. Fleissner et al., Naturwissenschaften, published online in mid-March, 2007.
　

X-ray laser pulses snapshot the motion of Bismuth atoms in sub-picosecond resolution (February 2, 2007) 

The Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source (SPPS) is a prototype X-ray free electron laser built using the 2-mile-long linear accelerator at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), California, United States.  To date, ultrafast phenomena have been mainly studied with femtosecond lasers operating at ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths; however, these wavelengths are not short enough for structural studies on atomic distances.  Therefore, the emergence of short pulse laser in the hard X-ray region represents a significant challenge.  Recently, at Stanford, an international collaborative team from 20 different institutions succeeded in observing the atomic motion of Bismuth crystal, which, although cubic, has a slight elongation along the diagonal called a Peierls distortion.  The measurements have brought new fundamental insights into the dynamics of the material, which shows very strong coupling between the electronic and ionic structures.  The results could also be used to screen many theoretical calculations made so far.  For more information, see the paper, "Ultrafast Bond Softening in Bismuth: Mapping a Solid's Interatomic Potential with X-rays ", D. M. Fritz et al., Science 315, 633 (2007).
　

Another step towards shorter and brighter pulses: first successful observation of superradiance in FEL (January 19, 2007) 

At Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States, researchers have recently found a novel way to generate a very short controllable free electron laser (FEL) pulse, which usually depends on the length of the electron pulse.  The main idea is the use of a Ti:Sapphire laser that combines a 150 femtosecond (FWHM) pulse of light with the much longer electron beam.  This leads to a femtosecond FEL pulse that keeps growing in intensity and shortening in time duration, which is attributed to a phenomenon called superradiance (for details, see, R. H. Dicke, Phys. Rev. 93, 99 (1954)).  The present research is the first to experimentally observe the effects of superradiance in a FEL setup.  The output FEL pulse duration was measured to be as short as 81 femtoseconds, a roughly 50% reduction compared to the input seed laser.  Understanding how to produce these intense, ultrafast pulses of light could help scientists around the world as they begin to construct the next generation of light source facilities.  For more information, see the paper, "Experimental Characterization of Superradiance in a Single-Pass High-Gain Laser-Seeded Free-Electron Laser Amplifier ", T. Watanabe et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 034802 (2007).
　

Lensless X-ray microscopy (January 18, 2007)

Professor J. Rodenburg and his colleagues from the University of Sheffield, UK and the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland recently developed a novel X-ray microscope, which is very different from conventional microscopes developed so far, because it does not employ any optics to focus the beams. The lensless technique collects diffraction patterns from several overlapping areas in space, which provides information about how the rays interfere with each other after they have been diffracted through the object.  This interference can then be calculated backwards to what the rays' previous phase changes must have been, giving a complete picture of the structure.  Since this innovative technique relies on a special type of computation (called ptychographical iterative engine (PIE), for details, see H. M. L. Faulkner and J. M. Rodenburg, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 023903 (2004)), rather than specific equipment, it could also be used to boost the power of optical and even electron microscopes.  For more information, see the paper, "Hard-X-Ray Lensless Imaging of Extended Objects", J. M. Rodenburg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 034801 (2007).
　

Atomic structure of complex quasicrystals (January 1, 2007)

Icosahedral quasicrystals (i-QCs) are long-range ordered solids that show non-crystallographic symmetries such as five-fold rotations.  Their detailed atomic structures are still far from completely understood, because most stable i-QCs form as ternary alloys suffering from chemical disorder.  Recently, a French-Japanese collaborative team led by Professor A. P. Tsai (Tohoku University, Japan) has succeeded for the first time in obtaining a detailed structure solution for i-YbCd_5.7.  Similar to normal crystals, i-QCs exhibit beautiful diffraction patterns, but their lack of periodicity prevents conventional analysis.  However, mathematically, i-QCs can be seen as the projection in 3D of a structure that is periodic in a virtual space of higher dimension.  This resolves the situation because it allows conventional crystallography to be used in the higher-dimensional space.  The obtained result represents an essential starting point for finding the atomic structure of more complex i-QCs.  The team’s X-ray experiments were done with synchrotron X-rays at D2AM beamline, ESRF in Grenoble, France.  For more information about the analysis, see the paper, “Atomic structure of the binary icosahedral Yb-Cd quasicrystal", H. Takakura et al., Nature Materials, 6, 58-63 (2007).
　

First research projects started at Diamond (February 6, 2007)

Diamond Light Source, in the United Kingdom, has opened its doors for business and welcomed its very first scientific users - top academic teams from Durham, Oxford, Leicester and London, selected from a total of 127 proposals.  These first research projects will be carried out in beamlines that are part of Phase I (the synchrotron machine itself and the first seven beamlines).  For more information about Diamond Light Source, contact: Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke at Diamond: 01235 778130 / 07990 797916 / isabelle.boscaro-clarke@diamond.ac.uk, http://www.diamond.ac.uk
　

First meeting of future XFEL users in Hamburg (January 27, 2007)

260 scientists from 22 countries gathered on January 24-25 at the DESY research center in Hamburg for the first European XFEL Users' Meeting, which brought together the future users of the European X-ray laser facility.  The first users' meeting marks the beginning of a series of regular workshops and meetings between the scientists interested in the research opportunities at the XFEL and the planners of the facility.  For more information, contact Petra Folkerts, Press officer XFEL project, FLASH, DESY, Phone: +49-40-8998-4977, Fax: +49-40-8998-2020, petra.folkerts@desy.de, http://www.xfel.net
　

PGT releases new model of LaBr₃ scintillation detector (March 7, 2007)

Princeton Gamma-Tech (PGT) has announced the release of its new Model 2100LA, which is a scintillator-based spectroscopy system with a LaBr₃ detector, electronics and software.  The detector is used with a multi-channel analyzer, and the energy resolution is 2.5 %.  The detector works at room temperature.  For further information, contact Rich Varall, Princeton Gamma-Tech, Phone: +1-(609)924-7310 ext. 306, nuclearsales@pgt.com, http://www.pgt.com
　

JEOL starts distributing a new thermal field emission SEM (February 7, 2007)

JEOL Ltd. has announced the release of its new thermal field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), JSM-7001F, which characterizes nanostructures with a resolution of 1.2nm at 30kV.  This new SEM permits high-resolution micrographs at up to 1,000,000x for applications ranging from semiconductors, metals, minerals, materials, and ceramics, to non-conductive biological samples.  For further information, contact JEOL Ltd., 1-2, Musashino 3-chome Akishima, Tokyo 196-8558, Japan, Phone: +81-42-543-1111, Fax +81-42-546-3353, http://www.jeol.com
　

Agilent Technologies releases new software for X-ray inspection (January 3, 2007)

Oxford Instruments has launched a new fast, lightweight, hand-held XRF analyzer - the X-MET3000TX+, which is configured for producing fast and accurate analysis of metals for the recycling industry and for reliable Positive Material Identification (PMI) in the metal fabrication and process industries.  For further information, contact Oxford Instruments Corporate Communications Manager, Lynn Sherherd, lynn.shepherd@oxinst.co.uk, http://www.oxford-instruments.com/wps/wcm/connect/Oxford+Instruments/Internet/Home/
　

USA subsidiary SPECTRO Analytical Instruments, Inc. moves to new facility (March 25, 2007)

SPECTRO USA has moved from its Marlborough Massachusetts facility to a new facility in Mahwah New Jersey.  The new contact details are SPECTRO Analytical Instruments, Inc., 91 McKee Drive Mahwah, NJ 07430 USA, Phone: +1-800-548-5809, +1-201-642-3000, Fax (Service): +1-201-642-3092, Fax (Sales):+1-201-642-3091, info@spectro-usa.com
　

Shimadzu strengthens X-ray spectrometer sales business in North America (March 12, 2007)

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. (SSI) has announced the transfer of the X-ray spectrometer business from Kratos Analytical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shimadzu Corporation, to SSI. Effective April 1, SSI will handle sales, service, and technical support for current and future customers of Shimadzu’s X-ray spectrometers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  For further information, contact Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, 7102 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD 21046, U.S.A, Phone: +1-800-477-1227, Fax: +1-410-381-1222, Email: kgmclaughlin@shimadzu.com, http://www.ssi.shimadzu.com/
　

Xradia raises $7 million in venture capital funding led by Harris & Harris Group (March 7, 2007)

Xradia, Inc. has raised $7.0 million by offering equity in exchange for financing.  Major investors included Harris & Harris Group, Inc., an unnamed strategic investor, and an investor from a prior round of financing.  Xradia designs, manufactures and sells a suite of ultra high resolution 3D X-ray microscopes and fluorescence imaging systems capable of nondestructive imaging of internal structures at the micrometer and nanometer scale.  The company has experienced rapid revenue growth over the last two years and achieved profitability in 2006.  For further information, Phone: +1-925-288-1228, Fax: +1-925-288-0310, sales@xradia.com, http://www.xradia.com/
　

e2v supplies IOTs for UK Diamond synchrotron facility (February 14, 2007)

e2v technologies plc has announced that it has supplied four IOTD2130 inductive output tubes (IOTs) for the new Diamond Light Source synchrotron based in Oxfordshire, England.  The tubes are to be installed into the synchrotron’s storage ring RF system, providing a combined RF power of 300kW under continuous wave (CW) conditions.  The company has a track record of supplying klystrons to the scientific community.  In May 2005, e2v was selected to supply CW klystrons for Cornell University’s prototype energy-recovery linear accelerator (ERL), an advanced synchrotron radiation machine.  For further information, call Andy Bennett, Phone: +44 1245 453296, andy.bennett@e2v.com, http://www.e2v.com/

SpectroscopyNow.com

For additional news about X-ray analysis and other spectroscopy sciences, browse the Wiley website.

Kenji Sakurai
Director, X-Ray Physics Group, National Institute for
Materials Science (NIMS)
and Professor, Doctoral Program in Materials Science and
Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences,
 University of Tsukuba
1-2-1, Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 Japan
Phone : +81-29-859-2821, Fax : +81-29-859-2801
sakurai@yuhgiri.nims.go.jp
http://www.nims.go.jp/xray/lab/

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