Bruker-Compatible Zero-Background Sample Holders

Zero-background holders are an ideal solution when only a small volume of sample material is available. We've used these for as little as 0.7mg of powder with excellent results.

The inserts are made from silicon wafers grown at a specific orientation such that no x-rays that strike the surface are diffracted into the detector. This allows us to analyze these small volumes without the complicating signature of the sample holder material itself. It's as if the powder is floating in free space. 

All plates are cut in-house at KSA. Our most popular sizes are 25, 30, and 32mm round. However, we can cut plates up to 75mm in diameter and even rectangular or other odd shapes as required.

Choosing a stainless steel body material has a few advantages, but the most notable is reduced scatter at angles below 20 degrees 2Theta when larger aperture slits are used. Most instruments will expose at least some of the sample holder body to the incident beam at low angles which makes a larger zero background plate or stainless steel body beneficial.

For slightly larger sample volumes or applications that benefit from a fixed irradiated surface area, consider the optional wells which can be ground into the surface. We've accommodated requests for depths from 0.1 to 1mm and diameters from 5 to 20mm, but the most common are 10x0.5mm wells.