Brilliance of X-rays

Looking at materials

Our modern lifestyles depend very much on the huge variety of materials at our disposal. To understand the behaviour of these materials we need to examine them at the atomic level, using advanced experimental facilities. Everyday materials like polymers, cements, glasses and even chocolate have been under scrutiny at the SRS.

A composite crystal of antigorite and chrysotile, a serpentine mineral.

The best results are often gained by studying materials under conditions that are similar to their 'real life'. To help do this special equipment is often installed on the SRS, such as a miniature injection moulding device for the study of plastics, and a giant press which will simulate conditions of temperature and pressure many miles below the Earth's surface, helping us understand how atoms bind together when minerals are formed deep underground.

The structure of glasses like this can be studied easily with synchrotron light.

With the advent of personal computers, high density data storage is becoming more and more important. Magnetic recording media have been used for many years but the amount of data that can be stored in this way is rapidly reaching its upper limit. Magneto-optic films offer an alternative type of data storage. Researchers on the SRS are investigating the properties of these materials using circularly polarised X-rays. Their findings may help us reach the data storage goal of 10 megabytes per square inch of film.

A magneto-optical disk used for high density data storage.