Have a question? You're probably not alone. Check out the answers to some of the questions we receive most often. For further inquiries into available fee-for-service processes at the Canadian Light Source, please contact the Industry Services team.

Cost is highly dependent on the nature of the problem that you are trying to solve. Our pricing varies across sectors and synchrotron beamlines. Please contact our team, and we will provide you with a quote and give you a clear idea of the results that you can expect.

General Questions

Cost is highly dependent on the nature of the problem that you are trying to solve. Our pricing varies across sectors and synchrotron beamlines. Please contact our team and we will provide you with a quote and give you a clear idea of the results that you can expect.

If you initiate a Non-Disclosure Agreement before signing our Service Contract, we will work with your organization to come to agreeable terms.

Remote access is available on a portion of our beamlines. Please contact us to discuss which beamline(s) would be right for you and we will let you know of the capabilities for on- and off-site work.

"Full service" means that the Industry Services team will conduct the entirety of your project. 

Our scientists work with you to develop a project scope, and once the samples are shipped we will take care of the sample preparation, data collection, and data analysis. Once the project is complete, we will provide you with a detailed report. 

The Mail-In program is offered for a select number of techniques with quick turnaround times. A Mail-In form is currently available for clients to fill in. Within a week or two after sending samples to the CLS, we will have the collected data delivered to the client.

Please follow the shipping link for basic information on shipping samples to the CLS.

CLS Industry Services works with a wide range of companies from around the world. Unless agreed upon, all clients are covered under our proprietary clause and shall not be named. A number of companies have agreed to release information on the work completed at the CLS, such as Orano, Redefine Meat, Lorax Environmental Services, National Research Council Canada, etc.

There are a wide variety of services available on a fee-for-service basis at the CLS. To learn more about various options, please visit our Services Offered site.

Sample preparation is different for each project and technique. The CLS not only houses general wet chemistry labs, but also state of the art laboratories for battery research, radioactive sample preparation, and an agriculture/environment lab with specialized equipment for plant and other cannabis research. If you are interested in a list of available equipment, check out our Laboratories & Equipment page. 

In the case of Full Service experiments, sample preparation is conducted by experienced CLS staff members and priced accordingly. 

All analytical results, including data, analysis of data, patents, or patentable subject matter relating to the materials subject of the Work generated by CLSI shall be, subject to the payment of the amounts due, the property of the Client and as required shall be assigned to the Client. Any intellectual property, analytical techniques or methodology, process or information generated in the course of the Work that relates to the conduct of the Work or operation of the Facility, regardless of any contribution thereto of the Client or Client personnel, is the property of CLSI.

As a client of Industry Services you are welcome to come visit the facility, but it is not a requirement.

The length of time required for data analysis and reporting is directly correlated to the technique, project, and number of samples. Our Mail-In program has a turnaround time of 1-2 weeks, while other techniques may be closer to 4 weeks upon completion of data collection.

The key advantages of utilizing the Industry Services team at the CLS versus going through the General User Proposal (GUP) process are the saving of time, ability to conduct proprietary work, and easy access to the beamline of choice. Working with the Industry Services group does not require clients to submit a proposal for review nor wait 6 to 9 months for scheduled beamtime. 

The Industry Services team will provide access to knowledgeable scientists with beamtime available at most beamlines in the facility. Options range from purchasing beamtime (for experienced users) to full service projects. 

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Macromolecular Crystallography (MX)

6 minutes on the BM beamline, and 18 seconds on the ID beamline. These times account only for data collection.

Please find more information regarding citations/acknowledgements in the following link: https://cmcf.lightsource.ca/user-guide/acknowledgements/

Data processing is included in the services provided by the Industry Services group.

Data can be accessed or transferred via SSH or MxLive (web).

Typically, turnaround time is less than a week.

While the CLS does not endorse any particular company to ship dewars, many of our clients use the services of Biocair.

Our beamlines support UniPucks only.

Advanced Materials

Industry Services can conduct various in situ and/or operando experiments including those related to batteries, fuel cells, catalysis, corrosion and more.

Industry Services can conduct surface structure characterizations using various spectroscopy and scattering based techniques to access surface, interface, and even buried surface information non-destructively.

Samples packed and shipped under inert gas (argon or nitrogen) can be mounted onto sample holders for measurement inside of one of our glove boxes. The samples are then transported to the beamline in a sealed container and in many cases samples can be transferred to the measurement chamber at the beamline without exposure to air.

Environment

Any information that you can provide regarding your samples is helpful to us. Results from analytical lab work giving the concentration of your element of interest or any other significant elements present in the sample(s) may prove beneficial. Additionally, knowing your sample before receiving it also helps us plan your experiment - be it rock, soil, slurry, etc.

We don't need very much, approximately 1-3 g is sufficient.

We can either return your samples to you after data collection or dispose of them for you, whichever you prefer.

If you ship your samples frozen, it is possible to store them frozen at the CLS until data collection. To prevent any sample changes, we can conduct data collection in cryogenic conditions (~70 K).

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XANES refers to the peaks, shoulders, and features near the absorption edge of the spectra. This technique allows us to determine formal oxidation state and coordination chemistry of the atom of interest. EXAFS refers to the gradual oscillations in the spectra above the absorption edge. This technique helps us determine the distances, coordination number, and speciation of the nearest neighbours of the atom of interest.