Spectroscopy and Spectro-ptychography of Ordered and Disordered Materials

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My research group studies basic questions in the X--ray absorption spectroscopy of molecules and uses these insights to study nanomaterials through X--ray spectromicroscopy and spectroptychograpy. X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful technique that provides detailed chemical information on specific elements in a sample. We will examine the temperature dependence in the X-ray absorption spectra of molecules, which can provide information on how these spectra are affected by the motion of atoms. As we explore how X-ray absorption spectroscopy is sensitive to order and disorder, we can use this method to study molecular glasses that have unusual stability. This spectroscopy work will improve our ability to perform chemical microanalysis of materials by X-ray spectromicroscopy. Ptychography is a rapidly developing lensless imaging technique, with the potential to significantly improve the spatial resolution of X-ray microscopy, down to 1-2 nm scale. My research group will extend its work on X-ray microscopy to this new form of microcopy, through research and technique development at the Canadian Light Source. We will examine new information that can be obtained from this method, and use X-ray spectroptychography to study the composition and magnetic structure of iron oxide nanoparticles, to help optimize their use in medicine.