Dear GSE Users, With the General User Proposal deadline coming up on Friday, we wanted to give you an update on the upgrade at GSECARS. We spent the first few weeks of this run (2012-3) installing the new monochromator and rest of the beamline components for the 13-ID-E branch, and making some minor improvements to the monochromator for the 13-ID-C/D branch. So far, everything is working very well, and we will be accepting General User Proposals for both 13-ID-C/D and 13-ID-E branches and all undulator techniques for 2013-1. In more detail: For the 13-ID-C/D branch, the monochromator is working extemely well, and is able to work reliably at higher energy than we have in the past. While this monochromator has both Si(111) and Si(311) crystals, most of the commissioning work we've done is with the Si(111) crystal, and we may reserve a few days in the next run to some further commissioning, especially with the Si(311) crystals at energies above 40 keV. But, we are now in a fully operational mode and expect to run a complete schedule of General User Proposals for DAC, LVP, and GPD experiments on the ID-C/D branch in 2013-1. For the 13-ID-E microprobe branch, the monochromator has been delivered, installed, and had first x-rays on it last Thursday. The new undulator, monochromator, and large mirrors to deflect and focus the beam in the horizontal direction are working well. We have had x-rays in the ID-E station, and have seen beam from the Si(111) mono and large mirrors from 2.4 keV up to 27.5 keV. The mono seems to be scanning energy quite well. We have not yet put beam onto the Si(311) crystals on this mono, and there is quite a bit of work to do for careful alignment and calibration of this mono and the other beamline components, but so far everything seems to be working exceptionally well. A new small K-B mirror system for the ID-E station is expected to arrive in November, and we will commission these by the end of this run. We're now confident that we will be able to do measurements between the S K edge (2.470 keV) and well past the Cd K edge (26.7 keV) in the 2013-1 run, including micro-XRF 2-D mapping and fluorescence tomography, micro-XRD, and micro-XAS measurements. We will set aside a few weeks during the next run for further testing and commissioning, but we expect to run General User Proposal experiments for most of the run. We know many of you have been waiting very patiently for beamtime, and we will try to accommodate as many as we can, with special attention to proposals from post-docs and students near the end of their dissertation work. If you have a proposal currently in the APS General User Proposal system that has already been rated, you will be able to make a beamtime request, selecting 13-IDE, for 2013-1. Of course, you can also submit a new proposal. Summary of Techniques and Capabilities for 13-ID-C/D and 13-ID-E: 13-ID-C/D branch: ----------------- Techniques: 1000-ton Large Volume Press), Laser Heated Diamond Anvil Cell, General Purpose Diffraction including Surface Scattering and Spectroscopy, and Inelastic X-ray scattering. Energy range: 5.8 to 50 keV with Si(111), up to 75 keV with Si(311). white beam capable BeamSize(HxV): 2x2 micron @ 10^11 photons/sec (DAC only) 20x60 micron @ 10^13 photons/sec up to 3x1 mm @ 10^13 photons/sec 13-ID-E branch: --------------- Techniques: X-ray Microprobe, including XRF, XRD, XAS. Energy range: 2.4 keV to 27.5 keV with Si(111), 4.9 keV to 27.5 keV with Si(311). BeamSize(HxV): 1x2 micron @ 10^11 photons/sec up to 3x1 mm @ 10^13 photons/sec If you have questions about the new capabilities of either branch, don't hesitate to contact us. Please note, 13-IDE and 13-ID-C/D beamlines are now completely independent. The 13-BM line will be operating with the same techniques and capabilities as in previous runs. Sincerely, Mark Rivers (rivers@cars.uchicago.edu) and Steve Sutton (sutton@cars.uchicago.edu), GSECARS Co-Directors