DECTRIS Application Webinar Series

DECTRIS’ detectors; your results

A lot has happened in research despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is a great opportunity to learn more about our users’ achievements. Normally, we would exchange this knowledge at a conference, a workshop, or a user meeting; however, the current situation is not yet allowing us to meet in person. And so, the DECTRIS application webinar series is our way to stay connected and hear from our users about their research and results. Join us and learn about the latest developments in different techniques, discuss the impact that these developments could have on the scientific community, or ask questions about the experimental setups. Each webinar will feature one speaker and one application. You can sign up for individual events or select several events and design your own application webinar series.


Past webinars

X-Ray Diffraction Computed Tomography: The Technology and Its Applications in Real-time Characterization of Functional Materials

The spatially-resolved signals obtained through synchrotron X-ray Diffraction Computed Tomography (XRD-CT) can reveal information that would otherwise be lost in bulk measurements, thus opening up new possibilities for functional material characterization. In this webinar,  Dr. Antony Vamvakeros, a research scientist from Finden Ltd., presented results from key case studies in which he and his team have applied XRD-CT to track the evolving solid-state chemistry of complex devices and functional materials under operating conditions. The webinar also focused on the recent technical advances in data acquisition, treatment, and handling strategies, as well as on bottlenecks/limitations of the technique and the potential routes toward overcoming them.

EELS with a Hybrid Pixel Detector: The Performances of DECTRIS ELA and NION IRIS Spectrometer

What makes a detector ideal for Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) applications? How can it affect the technique and the field? What results could be achieved with a DECTRIS ELA detector that is integrated into a NION IRIS spectrometer? In the second webinar of our series, Tracy C. Lovejoy, COO at NION, presented the results of NION's research and shared his outlook on the new era of EELS. Together with Luca Piazza from DECTRIS, he answered questions about the performance of hybrid pixel detectors, their integration into a spectrometer, and the potential of this experimental setup.

Recent publication:
Hybrid pixel direct detector for electron energy loss spectroscopyElectron Energy Loss Spectroscopy with a hybrid-pixel detector: pros, no cons!

Macromolecular Crystallography at High Energies

Using high energies for Macromolecular X-ray Crystallography (MX) brings many potential benefits, such as reduced damage to samples and more efficient data collection. However, this technique requires a suitable detector. In this webinar, Dr. Selina Storm, a serial crystallography beamline scientist on I24 at Diamond Light Source (DLS), compared different detector sensors (Si and CdTe) based on the data they collected, talked about photoelectron escape in microcrystals at higher energies, and introduced other benefits of collecting MX data at high energies. Together with Dr. Andreas Förster, Application Scientist Crystallography at DECTRIS, Storm answered your questions about the CdTe sensors’ performance and the experimental setup.

Fast-Scanning Ptychography: The implementation at the Australian Synchrotron XFM Beamline with an EIGER2 X 1M Detector

Ptychography is a super-resolution imaging method based on coherent diffractive imaging, which produces quantitative images with contrasts in their phase and absorption. A phase contrast provides morphological information and is exceptionally useful in the hard X-ray imaging regime, where absorption is comparatively weak – high-contrast ultrastructural images can be obtained even from single-component specimens. In our fourth webinar, Dr. Cameron M. Kewish, a research scientist at the ANSTO Australian Synchrotron, demonstrated how fast-scanning ptychography and other microanalysis methods had been implemented with an EIGER2 X 1M detector at the Australian Synchrotron XFM beamline.


XAFS Spectroscopy in a Laboratory: a HAPG von Hamos Laboratory Spectrometer 

The investigation of the chemical bond state by measuring the fine structure of absorption edges (XANES, EXAFS) has so far been a domain of synchrotron radiation. In this webinar, Dr. Wolfgang Malzer, a research scientist at the Berlin Laboratory for Innovative X-ray technologies, presented a modified Von Hamos laboratory spectrometer, based on pyrolytic graphite crystals and 2D hybrid photon counting detector. This new spectrometer maked it possible to achieve high-energy resolutions and large solid angles of the detection. Results of demonstration experiments and of applications in chemical research were shown. Prospects and possible use cases of laboratory XANES and EXAFS were discussed.

MA-XRPD: A Novel Method for the Non-invasive Analysis of Cultural Heritage Artifacts 

In an effort to avoid using invasive analytical procedures on pieces of art, non-invasive macroscopic imaging techniques are becoming more prevalent in the field of cultural heritage. For this purpose, a Macroscopic X-ray Powder Diffraction (MA-XRPD) scanner, which is capable of visualizing crystalline compounds in a highly specific manner, was recently developed at the University of Antwerp. In this presentation, Steven De Meyer, a PhD student at the University of Antwerp, highlighted the possibilities and limitations of this method, along with several case studies that have contributed to a better understanding of the original pigments used by the Old Masters of painting and the manner in which those pigments have deteriorated over time.

Recent publications: Imaging secondary reaction products at the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring by means of macroscopic X-ray powder diffraction scanning


These are just to get us started! Even more application-focused webinars will follow, so stay tuned! If you, too, would like to share your research results with the DECTRIS community, please do not hesitate to contact us at marketing@dectris.com. We will be happy to organize a joint online event with you!