Sample Mail-in Form Information & Instructions

A list of samples, including the project and contact person information and the relevant information for each sample is required to be entered electronically into the Sample Mail-in Form.

Maximum 20 samples per Sample Mail-in Form. For additional samples repeat the Sample Mail-in Form process.

Project and Contact Person Information

Project Number: Combination of the first cycle for which the project is valid, project type and the project number (e.g., 31G00000). It will be on the proposal.
Principal Investigator: Person indicated on the project as the principal investigator (e.g., John Smith).
Institution: University or research centre of the principal investigator (e.g., University of Saskatchewan).
Contact Person: Person that SGM beamline staff contact with questions about the samples and project (e.g., Mary Smith).
Phone Number: Contact person's phone number.
Contact E-mail: Contact person's email (marysmith@university.ca).
User's Portal Account: The User's account where the data will be put, which is usually that of the contact person (e.g., smithm) as it is password protected. DO NOT use your email as the User account as the SGMdata website is not setup to recognize it. Note Users need to login to their SGM data User Account for the first time at SGM_data_account in order to activate it to receive data into the account.

Click the Next button to enter sample specific information.

Sample Class

Select from a pull-down menu the appropriate selection.

Samples - Originating from the User such as those collected from the environment or prepared in the laboratory
References - Commercial and/or laboratory materials where the chemical structure/formula (e.g., Fe₂O₃, hematite) was characterized by other methods (e.g., XRD)
Calibrants - Used to calibrate the energy scale for a particular edge. Note that Beamline staff routinely select materials for energy calibration and quality control

Note that the number of scans for sample and reference materials are usually more than that for calibrant materials as they require a high signal/noise (S/N) ratio to resolve all the peaks - only (strong) peak used for calibration needs to be well resolved. The spectrum from a calibrant is not expected to be published. Calibrant spectra expected to be published should be classified as references.

Sample Identification (ID)

Sample Identifier - each sample, reference and calibrant will have a unique sample code, composed only of letters, numbers and dashes..
Maximum 8 characters - the sample identifier can be a maximum of eight characters, with a numbr at the end (e.g., xxxxxx-8).
Sequential - the sample identifier will be the same for all samples in each project/sub-project followed by sequential numbers for each sample (e.g., xxxxxx-1, xxxxxx-2, xxxxxx-3, or xxx1, xxx2, xx3, etc.). More than one sequential sample identifier can be used to differentiate sample project subsets (e.g., xxxx-1, xxxx-2, xxxx-3, etc. and yyyyyy-1, yyyyyy-2, yyyyyy-3, etc.). . List in order on the Sample Mail-in Form the samples based on the sequential sample identifier.
Container Label - the sample identifier on the sample container (e.g., vial, bottle, petri dish) will be the same as on the Sample Mail-in form. DO NOT include any other information on the container.

Failure to adhere to these instructions may result in the return of the samples for relabeling at the User's expense.

Note that XANES measurements will have the edge (e.g., Mg K-edge) added at the end of the Sample ID (e.g., xxxxxx-1-Mg), whereas EEMS measurements will be indicated only by the Sample ID.

Sample Name

Chemical name or formula of the reference and/or calibrant samples (e.g., hematite or Fe₂O₃, sodium chloride or NaCL). This can be left blank for User's samples or the Users sample name can be input here. Abbreviations for common materials are allowed (e.g., EDTA for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid).

Sample Type

Nature of the sample (e.g., soil, biochar, chemical).

Sample Form

Physical form of the sample (e.g., powder, coupon, suspension, section).

Determines the appropriate SGM sample holder mounting method (e.g., pressing of powder onto double sided C-tape or into a pellet, coupon fastened to plate with C-tape, drop deposited onto a substrate).

Sample Hazardous

Select from a pull-down menu Yes if the sample is hazardous, which opens a new box to enter the hazardous type.

Hazardous type (e.g., oxidizer, corrosive, poisonous)

Edges:

Select from a pull-down menu (Energy Range 250 to 2000 eV).

K, L_2,3 or M_4,5-edges -

Opens a pull-down list of the elements for each selected edge.

Element(s) for which XANES spectra for the selected edge (e.g., Carbon, Iron, Cesium) are to be collected.

Opens a new box to enter the estimated concentration of the element

Elemental Concentration (%) - enter the estimated weight percentage for the selected element(s) in the material. Separated percentages by a comma (e.g., 23, 34, 1, 6).

The SGM beamline staff use the estimated elemental concentration to determine the number of scans required to obtain high S/N ratio spectra for samples and reference materials. If the element/edge is not listed on the Sample Mail-in Form contact the beamline staff.

Sample Return

Select from a pull-down menu No if the sample is NOT to be returned.

User's Expense - A Shipping Form to be completed to return samples, which must contain the Users name and phone number and the courier account number.

Additional Sample Information

Indicate any information that will help the SGM beamline staff understand your samples (e.g., air-sensitive). Any extra steps required in the preparation and measurement (e.g., clean sample surface with ethanol before analysis) of the sample should also be described here. Use "same as above" if the information is the same as that of the preceding sample.

Entering Another Sample

Click on the Next button at the bottom of the page to enter another sample, otherwise change the Yes to a No and a User Agreement will appear.

User Agreement

Statement of Terms - Information on the data collection, storage and analysis.
Special Instructions - Identify here any additional information that would assist the beamline staff in collecting data on your samples.
Check-off boxes - If in agreement check off the boxes
Sign - type in your name as to whom is agreeing to the User Agreement

General Sample Information

Small Sample and Container Size - Please do not send more than 250 mg of each solid (i.e., powdered) sample, and coupons should be between 1 x 1 to 5 x 5 mm. Vials and bottles should be < 2 mL in size, and petri dishes small.
Air-sensitive samples - put a maximum of 5 samples in a sealed pouch so that the integrity of the samples can be maintained, as generally only 5 samples can be put on a SGM sample holder or plate.
Labelling - we request that if possible the label on the sample container be typewritten and not handwritten.
Sample Packaging - put samples in a plastic bag and label it with the project number, principal investigator and the date. The plastic bag will also contain the completed Sample Mail-in Form (sent to your e-mail after it is checked by the beamline staff). The samples can then be packaged for shipping to the CLS. To ensure that the samples arrive safely and on time follow the information in the detailed CLS shipping instructions Shipping Information.

If you have any question or concerns with the completion of the Sample Mail-in Form contact the beamline staff.