• Welcome to the SGM beamline. This guide walks you through all steps of your SGM experience from applying for beamtime, to data acquisition and analysis.

Beamtime can be accessed through three methods:

1. Academic Mail-in Service: samples are sent to the CLS for data collection by the SGM beamline staff. Currently only accepting samples the XAS endstatkion.
2. On-Site Visit: users come to the CLS and operate the beamline and collect the data themselves.
3. Industrial Access: for proprietary work not intended for publication. Visit the Industry Services page for additional information.

Note: Remote access is currently not available on the SGM beamline.

Peer-Reviewed Access: For non-proprietary research intended for publication.

• A call for submission of General User proposals is open for about a month, twice a year, usually opening in January and July. Check the CLS website for dates. The January proposal is for the next July-December cycle and the July proposal for the next January to June cycle. Proposals are valid for a 2-year period (4 cycles). Each proposal is reviewed by 3 to 5 synchrotron scientists and given a score. Available time is allocated based on the ranking of these scores. For SGM there are more requests than can be accommodated each cycle. If you don't succeed on your first proposal, try again for the next cycle.
• For an active peer-reviewed proposal (i.e., project) a beamtime request must be submitted during the call for General User proposals, to be allocated beamtime in the next cycle. Note if the score/rating was low in relation to the beamline cut-off score, consider submitting a new proposal instead of a beamtime request.

Purchased Access: For proprietary work not intended for publication (fees apply).

• Researchers from industry and academia can purchase beamtime through our Industrial Service Program. Contact the Industrial Services Manager for current fees. Note that industrial and academic researchers that do intend to publish but want guaranteed access to beamtime may qualify for a reduced fee.

Rapid Access: For special requests of a time-sensitive nature

• Rapid access requests allow users to access beamtime in a cycle without going through the peer-reviewed process. Beamtime is awarded to projects that demonstrate a need for urgency and/or exploratory/proof of concept experiments. Research must be approved by the SGM Beamline Responsible, prior to submitting the rapid access proposal, to confirm feasibility, timeframe and/or meets the needs of the beamline. Also, the Science Director must approve all Rapid Access Proposals prior to the experiment being performed. Projects awarded beamtime can only be allocated beamtime for the six month period from the day the project was approved. Future project beamtime requests are expected to be through the Peer-Reviewed Access mechanism.

All proposals are submitted through the User Portal.

NOTE: each individual user, once registered, has an individual CLS User Portal account which is also used for the CLS Training Site, and the SGM data portal (sgmdata.lightsource.ca).

Use the following checklist to prepare for your beamtime:

On-Site Visit

• Update your project & team - CLS User Portal
  • Ensure all team members planning to control the beamline are included on the project, have registered as a CLS user, and have accepted the user agreement.
  • Changes to the project, including the addition of samples and equipment require that a beamline permit amendment be completed at least four weeks prior to the scheduled beamtime to guarantee that the necessary safety, technical and ethics (if required) reviews are completed. Samples not listed on the beamline permit cannot be run during your beamtime.
    • Note that only the project spokesperson or delegate can update the project and team, which is done by amending the proposal through the User Portal.
• Check training - CLS Training Website
  • Complete the workplace hazardous material information system (WHMIS), health safety orientation (HSO) and radiation awareness module (RAM) training. These are required before the user will have free access to the experimental floor. In addition, the laboratory safety module is required to use the laboratory for sample preparation and other activities. Complete the cryogenic safety training module if planning to cool samples at the beamline. These are all completed online through the users' Training Site. It is advisable that you complete all training modules before your arrival at the CLS so that no delays occur due to completing this required training, which can take significant time (2-4 hours) to finish.
  • A CLS user access badge will be issued once all modules required for free access to the experimental floor are completed. You may pick up your access badge from the CLS reception desk in the main lobby (Monday to Friday; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, excluding holidays). You will need to present a government-issued photo ID (passport, drivers' licence, etc.), and have your picture taken before a CLS user access badge can be issued.
    • Note that all the above training needs to be completed every 2 years. An email is sent by the user office a month or so before a training module expires, to ensure sufficient time is available to complete it before coming on-site.
  • An in-person (staff delivered) beamline specific orientation (BSO) will be given before access to the beamline is granted. This training needs to be re-taken every 2-years.
• Submit sample and experiment information - SGM Data Website
  • Sample information can be submitted to the SGMData website prior to beamtime.
• Review documentation and verify schedule
  • Please read through the documentation available on this website and the SGM Data Website
• Contact us to confirm things are on track
  • About a week before your beamtime, you will normally receive an e-mail reminder from us about your upcoming beamtime. Please respond to this e-mail to provide us with any requested information or alert us of any issues.

Academic Mail-in Service

• Update your project & team - CLS User Portal
  • Ensure all team members planning to control the beamline are included on the project, have registered as a CLS user, and have accepted the user agreement.
  • Changes to the project, including the addition of samples and equipment require that a beamline permit amendment be completed at least four weeks prior to the scheduled beamtime to guarantee that the necessary safety, technical and ethics (if required) reviews are completed. Samples not listed on the beamline permit cannot be run during your beamtime.
    • Note that only the project spokesperson or delegate can update the project and team, which is done by amending the proposal through the User Portal.
• Submit sample and experiment information - SGM Data Website
  • Sample information can be submitted to the SGMData website prior to beamtime.
  • Only after the samples are reviewed by the beamline staff will samples be accepted at the CLS. The user will receive an email to confirm that the sample list is approved and if any changes have been made by beamline staff.
• Prepare samples for shipment/delivery
  • Use the links on the right to review the sample preparation requirements and shipping instructions.
• Review documentation and verify schedule
  • Please read through the documentation available on this website and the SGM Data Website
• Contact us to confirm things are on track
  • You will normally receive an e-mail reminder from us when your measurements have been scheduled. Please respond to this e-mail to provide us with any requested information or alert us of any issues.

On-Site Visit

• The beamline specific orientation (BSO) is completed with beamline staff at the beginning of the beamtime, taking about 15 minutes. This can also be scheduled in advance for user groups aiming to maximize their beamtime.
• At times, beamline changeovers between user groups will occur, and this may delay the start of your experiment. This usually occurs when the beamline requires a configuration change between user groups. For example, switching between the XPS and XAS endstations. This is considered part of your beamtime, and may take 1-2 hours to complete. During this timeframe users will be taught how to operate aspects of the beamline, or they can prepare their samples.
• Beamline staff will show the user how to prepare samples, load samples into the endstations and operate the software for data collection.

Academic Mail-in Service

• Beamline staff will mount the samples (if needed) and collect the spectra indicated in the SGM Data Website. The sample mounting method is determined by the following flow-chart:

• Scheduling of when the samples will be run will be at the discretion of the beamline staff. Users generally select an available mail-in time slot that spans about two weeks (each month is divided into two time slots), with the measurements taking place during that timeframe. Nevertheless, the sooner samples are received, the sooner they are put in the queue to run.
• Data will be stored in the same account that submitted the samples for easy download.

On-Site Visit

• The user can access their data in real time and perform the data analysis themselves by logging onto the SGM Data Website using their CLS User Portal credentials.
• CONTACT US if help with data analysis is needed.
• Please take the User Experience Survey to help us inform future beamline developments. We take the responses seriously and endeavour to implement common recommendations as we are able to. We thank you in advance. 🙏🏽

Academic Mail-in Service

• The measured data will go through a quality assurance process by the beamline staff and an email will be sent to the user when the data is available for viewing/download from the SGM Data Website.
• CONTACT US if help with data analysis is needed.
• Please take the User Experience Survey to help us inform future beamline developments. We take the responses seriously and endeavour to implement common recommendations as we are able to. We thank you in advance. 🙏🏽