XMaS is a materials science research beamline initially dedicated to magnetic materials. It now offers a wide range of techniques and sample environments facilitating studies of soft and hard condensed matter, physical chemistry, and solid and liquid interfaces.

The beamline, situated on the soft end of a bending magnet (BM28) at the ESRF, comprises a unique combination of instrumentation for high resolution and magnetic single crystal diffraction. White beam operation is possible, as well as focussed and unfocussed monochromatic modes. An 11-axis Huber diffractometer facilitates sample operation in both vertical and horizontal scattering geometries. In addition to harmonic rejection mirrors, the beam can be further conditioned by various phase-plates and an in-vacuum polarisation analyser. Avalanche photodiodes, Si drift diodes (Vortex and Ketek), a MAR CCD, a Maxipix and a Pilatus3 300k 2D pixel detectors are regularly used. Sample environment ranges from 1 K to 700 K (1200 K on request). A 1 Tesla electromagnet and a 4 Tesla superconducting magnet can be used in either vertical or horizontal scattering geometry. An in-vacuum 0.1 Tesla electromagnet originally designed for low energy x-ray reflectometry studies is also available.

XMaS is a project administered by the Universities of Warwick and Liverpool and is funded by the UK EPSRC