The Research Center for Spectrochemistry (RCS) was founded in 1976. Current research at RCS mainly covers synchrotron radiation spectroscopy and fast (millisecond) Raman spectroscopy for the investigation of chemical states and transient phenomena. RCS also undertakes spectroscopic observation of living cells or functional materials such as ionic liquids or spintronics materials. This research is related to chemistry as well as other scientific disciplines, including clinical diagnosis, and to the development of inter- and multidisciplinary sciences. RCS also maintains and manages various spectroscopic instruments for common use.
Electron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation
Synchrotron radiation is produced by accelerating particles to near light speed and bending their paths with a magnetic field. This process has the advantages of brilliance and tunable photon energies from the infrared (IR) to x-ray regions. The Research Center for Spectrochemistry constructed a beamline (BL-7A) with a bending magnet to produce ultra-violet (UV) and soft x-ray radiation at the Photon Factory high-energy accelerator organization (KEK), Tsukuba. The equipment for high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy, x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS or XAS), and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) are located at the end station, which can be utilized for the research on chemical bonding states and electronic and magnetic structures. Three kinds of gratings (150, 300, and 650 mm−1) are mounted, and high brilliant x-rays from 200 to 1500 eV with high resolution are available. In particular, this beamline has become a powerful tool for studies of element-specific magnetic structures by XMCD and crystalline structures of molecules by XAFS. This beamline is open to all researchers who pursue surface science, magnetism, and photochemistry during chemical reactions.
XMCD is defined as the difference in absorption spectra excited by right and left circular polarized light, which is also shown in the bottom panel in Fig. 3. Analysis of spectral shapes using the sum rule enables the observation of spin and orbital magnetic moments separately, which becomes a powerful technique for clarifying the mechanism of the functionalities of novel materials and molecules.
Maintenance and management of various spectroscopic instruments for common use
RCS manages the instruments available to all researchers and students. Please contact the staff at RCS to request the use of them. Instruments for the following techniques are available for common use: powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescent (XRF) analysis, single-crystal XRD, ultraviolet–infrared (UV–IR) spectroscopy, fluorescent spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gas chromatography (GC), electron spin resonance (ESR), differential thermo analysis (DTA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG).
