Mauro N A, Kelton K F
Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4899, USA.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2011 Mar;82(3):035114. doi: 10.1063/1.3554437.
High-energy x-ray diffraction studies of metallic liquids provide valuable information about structural evolution on the atomic length scale, leading to insights into the origin of the nucleation barrier and the processes of supercooling and glass formation. The containerless processing of the beamline electrostatic levitation (BESL) facility allows coordinated thermophysical and structural studies of equilibrium and supercooled liquids to be made in a contamination-free, high-vacuum (∼10(-8) Torr) environment. To date, the incorporation of electrostatic levitation facilities into synchrotron beamlines has been difficult due to the large footprint of the apparatus and the difficulties associated with its transportation and implementation. Here, we describe a modular levitation facility that is optimized for diffraction studies of high-temperature liquids at high-energy synchrotron beamlines. The modular approach used in the apparatus design allows it to be easily transported and quickly setup. Unlike most previous electrostatic levitation facilities, BESL can be operated by a single user instead of a user team.
金属液体的高能X射线衍射研究提供了关于原子长度尺度上结构演化的有价值信息，有助于深入了解成核势垒的起源以及过冷和玻璃形成过程。束线静电悬浮（BESL）设施的无容器处理使得能够在无污染的高真空（约10^(-8) 托）环境中对平衡液体和过冷液体进行协同的热物理和结构研究。迄今为止，由于设备占地面积大以及运输和安装方面的困难，将静电悬浮设施纳入同步加速器束线一直很困难。在此，我们描述了一种模块化悬浮设施，该设施针对高能同步加速器束线的高温液体衍射研究进行了优化。设备设计中采用的模块化方法使其易于运输和快速设置。与大多数以前的静电悬浮设施不同，BESL可以由单个用户操作，而不是由用户团队操作。
