SAMBA is one of the two hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) beamlines at SOLEIL together with Diffabs. SAMBA aiming to be dedicated to large and varied scientific communities from physics to chemistry and biology, is characterised by a lot of techniques combined to XAS, such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Raman Spectroscopy and UV-Visible Spectroscopy. The design of SAMBA optics is optimised in order to be very versatile, to cover permanently the 4-40 keV energy range with a high flux of photon and a good energy resolution. Measurements of the absorption coefficients will be done either in the step by step mode or in a quick mode (september 2009). A SEXAFS experiment is also available at the end of the beamline.
Determination of structural and electronic properties and average size of nanosystems. Dynamic or static study of new anodic or cathodic materials. Understanding of magnetic phase transition of molecular system in coordination chemistry. Characterisation of glasses etc...
Physic
Investigation of clusters embedded in matrices.
Biology , Biomaterials
Study of reactivity of biomimetic compounds which are used as simple model compounds to understand the mechanism of catalysis of more sophisticated systems like metallo-enzymes. Investigation of metal ions present in metallo-proteins and in bio-inorganic complexes.
Earth and environmental sciences
Local environment probe of any element in natural systems (soils, sediments, snow, plants, microorganisms ...).
Surface science
Characterisation of the local structure of thin films at the very first stages of growth. Study of the interfaces : metal/metal, metal/semiconductor and oxides/metal.
Catalysis
Structural and electronic characterisation of catalysts in order to understand/predict their catalytic activity/selectivity in a given reaction. (DeNOx catalysis, Fischer-Tropsch, hydrogenation of hydrocarbons ...).