Measuring radioactive powder samples on the high-resolution powder diffraction beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

This laboratory note describes a new sample preparation technique to enable high-resolution powder diffraction experiments at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility on radioactive samples. The sample preparation involves setting the active material in resin and several layers of encapsulation suitable for measurement at the beamline. This has allowed low-temperature measurements on very small quantities of samples, providing new insights into materials that are notoriously difficult to measure elsewhere.