You can also use a cryostat with only vacuum and no cooling, if desired. Good luck! Mike

On Mar 23, 2025, at 08:16, Carlo Segre via Ifeffit wrote:

 This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. Hi Helen,

We have had luck using a vacuum sealing system such as used for food. However the Polyethylene is subject to degradation under the beam so that wrapping with Kapton is helpful as well as double bagging it. Finally, if you keep it under Argon when transporting it to the beamline and then in a helium filled chamber, you should avoid the oxidation.

Carlo

-- Carlo Segre, Duchossois Professor of Physics Illinois Institute of Technology From: Helen Chen via Ifeffit Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 8:05 PM To: ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov Cc: Helen Chen Subject: [Ext][Ifeffit] Question about Air sensitive sample holder

This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. Hello, Our group (Jerry Seidler) just started a project involving doing VTC and HERFD on Yb doped CrX3 material. They are thin small crystal sheets and are very air sensitive. We have tried encapsulated them between a layer of laptop tape and film, but after 12hr we see degradation due to air leaks. I am looking for some advice on air sensitive sample holder. What are some typical methods you use to deal with air sensitivity, especially for samples in thin sheets geometry? Thank you

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Hi, We often use transmission gas cells with continuous gas flow for measurements in the soft X-ray range, and we are wondering if these cells are also a good option for measuring air/moisture-sensitive samples in the hard X-ray range. Two ~150 nm SiN windows isolate the sample and the gas from the environment, and we have never had problems with X-ray-induced window damage or leaks. Even with continuous helium flow, the pressure in the chamber was <1E-6 mbar. A single window is sufficient for emission experiments and the design can be adapted to allow for large take-off angles. Does somebody already have experience using cells with SiN/SiC membranes in the hard X-ray range and know what the challenges or limitations are? Best Richard On 24/03/2025 20:35, Matt Newville via Ifeffit wrote: Hi Helen, +1 on using Aluminized Mylar and Aluminized Kapton (and we have some of each at sector 13 if you want to borrow some). The aluminum layer on Mylar is very thin (you can see visible light through) but it holds helium. In an undulator beam, Mylar might last 10 seconds. The thin aluminum layer helps a lot, but I would not guarantee this by itself for multiple hours. Kapton is leaky but holds up better in an undulator beam (but you can burn a micro-hole in it over several hours with 10^13 photons/sec in a few square microns: loving APS-U!) The Aluminized version is a non-trivial thickness (several microns) of aluminum, so not suitable for tender beams, but should be OK above 5 keV (wait, which "V" in VTC -- Yb K or L3 edge?). I'll say that we have had decent luck (with old APS undulator) with samples in an otherwise regular Ziplock bag with a Kapton film window (held on with carefully cut packing tape) for X-rays in and out and over-pressuring the bag with blow-off N2 (which is free) or helium (which is not). But, oxygen-sensitivity can vary a lot, so I’m not sure there is a single “best” solution. --Matt On Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM matthew marcus via Ifeffit < ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.govmailto:ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov> wrote: Aluminized mylar has a much lower permeability to oxygen than polyethylene and still works with a heat-sealer. I'm assuming you're in the hard- or tender X-ray range. mam On 3/22/2025 12: 16 PM, Carlo Segre via Ifeffit wrote: > Hi Helen, We ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEnd Aluminized mylar has a much lower permeability to oxygen than polyethylene and still works with a heat-sealer. I'm assuming you're in the hard- or tender X-ray range. mam On 3/22/2025 12:16 PM, Carlo Segre via Ifeffit wrote: Hi Helen, We have had luck using a vacuum sealing system such as used for food. However the Polyethylene is subject to degradation under the beam so that wrapping with Kapton is helpful as well as double bagging it. Finally, if you keep it under ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEnd Hi Helen, We have had luck using a vacuum sealing system such as used for food. However the Polyethylene is subject to degradation under the beam so that wrapping with Kapton is helpful as well as double bagging it. Finally, if you keep it under Argon when transporting it to the beamline and then in a helium filled chamber, you should avoid the oxidation. Carlo -- Carlo Segre, Duchossois Professor of Physics Illinois Institute of Technology ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Helen Chen via Ifeffit mailto:ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov *Sent:* Tuesday, March 18, 2025 8:05 PM *To:* ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.govmailto:ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov mailto:ifeffit@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov *Cc:* Helen Chen mailto:helen86@uw.edu *Subject:* [Ext][Ifeffit] Question about Air sensitive sample holder Hello, Our group (Jerry Seidler) just started a project involving doing VTC and HERFD on Yb doped CrX3 material. They are thin small crystal sheets and are very air sensitive. We have tried encapsulated them between a layer of laptop tape and ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEnd Hello, Our group (Jerry Seidler) just started a project involving doing VTC and HERFD on Yb doped CrX3 material. They are thin small crystal sheets and are very air sensitive. We have tried encapsulated them between a layer of laptop tape and film, but after 12hr we see degradation due to air leaks. I am looking for some advice on air sensitive sample holder. What are some typical methods you use to deal with air sensitivity, especially for samples in thin sheets geometry? Thank you ifeffit mailing list: https://millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov/mailman3/lists/ifeffit.millenia.cars.aps.a... to unsubscribe, send mail to ifeffit-leave@millenia.cars.aps.anl.govmailto:ifeffit-leave@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov ifeffit mailing list: https://millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov/mailman3/lists/ifeffit.millenia.cars.aps.a... to unsubscribe, send mail to ifeffit-leave@millenia.cars.aps.anl.govmailto:ifeffit-leave@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov ifeffit mailing list: https://millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov/mailman3/lists/ifeffit.millenia.cars.aps.a... to unsubscribe, send mail to ifeffit-leave@millenia.cars.aps.anl.govmailto:ifeffit-leave@millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov ________________________________ Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH Mitglied der Hermann von Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren e.V. Aufsichtsrat: Vorsitzender Dr. Volkmar Dietz, stv. 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