NANOSTAR

The NANOSTAR with its incomparable modularity is the ideal tool for characterization of nanostructures and nanostructured surfaces by Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS), Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (GI-SAXS), Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering (WAXS), and Nanography. The mirror-conditioned pinhole collimation system produces a parallel, ideal circular beam shape with high intensity and low parasitic scatter. The extra-large (XL) sample chamber accommodates a variety of dedicated and 3rd party sample stages for measurements of many sample types under all conditions. Finally the scattered signal is collected with a large, low background, highly sensitive 2D detector for isotropic and anisotropic samples.

This unique X-ray source supplies a very stable and intense spot-focus X-ray beam without the need for water cooling. Thanks to its robust design, the source comes with a 3-year warranty. The IµS includes integrated MONTEL, state-of-the-art 2-D beam-shaping optics, for highest intensity on the sample. This side-by-side multilayer mirror design captures a large solid-angle of x-ray from the source and efficiently redirects in a highly parallel and monochromatic beam.  

The VANTEC-500 2-D detector with Mikrogap^TM technology satisfies all of the ideal requirements of a dedicated SAXS system. First, no need for gas, water, or routine maintenance and no concerns for intense radiation or movement damage results in detector that is robust and very easy to use. A large active area (14 cm diameter) to enable huge angular coverage with full field of view. Incredibly low background and high maximum count rate for fantastic dynamic range and sensitivity to weakly scattering samples. Excellent spatial resolution to resolve closely spaced scattering features. No other detector can offer these combination of ideal features for these applications.  

Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) is a phenomenon caused by particles embedded in a matrix of different electron density. If the particle size ranges from 1 nm to 200 nm, the scattering angle lies within the range of 0° to 5°, depending on the X-ray wavelength used. The smaller the particles are, the wider are the scattering angles.

Any arrangement of particles in any medium shows a difference in electron density, which results in a specific pattern when executing a SAXS experiment. Along with the size of the particles, SAXS can also determine their shape, their distance apart and size distribution from the 2-D pattern. Particles can be dissolved macromolecules, precipitations in metals, mineral particles in biological tissues, and surfactant micelles.

In contrast to SAXS, Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) examines structures on the Angstrom level, which are typically interplanar distances of crystalline structures. Often WAXS is used to analyze Bragg the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern which can help determine crystalline structure, degree of crystallinity, crystallite size, and phase composition (Phase ID). WAXS data can be collected at the same time (simultaneously) as SAXS data with a 2nd detector positioned much closer to the sample.

A Nanography investigation utilizes the motor-driven XY stage integrated into the sample chamber of the NANOSTAR. This allows a selected region of the sample to be scanned through the X-ray beam automatically. The intensity distribution (or other scattering parameter) can then be displayed by means of a color-coded contour plot.

Nanography permits fast and selective detection of relevant measuring points with inhomogeneous samples and allows even small samples to be positioned precisely. Each individual point of the complete Nanography image itself represents the integral SAXS/WAXS intensity collected by the 2-D.