Speaker
Dr
Mark Basham
(Diamond Light Source)
Description
Diamond Light Source is not alone in having multiple beamlines capable of conducting X-Ray mapping style experiments. These experiments involve moving a sample through the X-Ray beam, and collecting the result of the interaction on one or more detectors. As the mapping techniques themselves become more advanced, and the expectations of users increase with requirements for real time feedback and processing, it has become increasingly complex and inefficient to deal with these beamlines on an individual basis. In early 2015, Diamond Light Source undertook a cross beamline project with the aim of unifying the mapping experience of 5 beamlines at diamond, and ultimately to extend the final system to all beamlines which conduct mapping experiments. The initial 5 beamlines chosen were deliberately picked to be as varied as possible, from the techniques and detectors they use (STXM, XRF mapping, XRD Mapping, Ptychography and ARPES mapping) to the relative maturities of the beamlines (from one of the first beamlines commissioned at Diamond through to beamlines currently in construction)
The mapping project is now 18 months in, and significant progress has been made on all elements of the project. Unification of hardware and software implementations on the 5 primary beamlines have been driven forward significantly, allowing common frameworks, such as GDA9, Malcom2, Epics Area Detector and HDF5 SWMR to be adopted and globally supported. Centralisation of these key frameworks has allowed for generic implementations to be created for continuous scanning of arbitrary trajectories as well as live visualisation and sophisticated live processing. The core deliverables of the project are now being rolled out to a selection of other beamlines who are able to easily adopt and maintain these common components, thus allowing Diamond to scale up individual beamlines feature set with minimal support implications.
Primary author
Dr
Mark Basham
(Diamond Light Source)
Co-author
Dr
Jacob Filik
(Diamond Light Source)
