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Research facility · Didcot · United Kingdom

Diamond Light Source

In research, Diamond Light Source stands highest in Physical Sciences (#841 of 10,670 worldwide), Materials Science (#268 of 2,276 worldwide) and Engineering (#932 of 5,901 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Radiation, Condensed Matter Physics and Inorganic Chemistry (Radiation is 52.0× its share of world research).

diamond.ac.uk/Home.htmlROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#1,493
of 22,385 · #663 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#94
of 862
Research works
2.4k
◆ 1% vs 2018-21
Citations
66k
27.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
11.9%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.08×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
72%
world 40%
International
50%
world 18%
Diamond Light Source

What is Diamond Light Source known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #841 of 10,670 11.9%486 #415
Materials ScienceField #268 of 2,276 10.9%150 #120
EngineeringField #932 of 5,901 11.8%129 #475
Life SciencesDomain #1,134 of 6,403 10.9%82 #725
Materials ChemistrySubfield #338 of 1,473 10.4%99 #140
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #880 of 2,964 10.0%65 #567
Physics and AstronomyField #433 of 1,417 13.2%107 #247

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Diamond Light Source sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#415 #841
  2. Materials Science#120 #268
  3. Engineering#475 #932
  4. Life Sciences#725 #1,134
  5. Materials Chemistry#140 #338
  6. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#567 #880
  7. Physics and Astronomy#247 #433
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Diamond Light Source work in?

In 2022-now, 80% of research at Diamond Light Source is in Physical Sciences, 14% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Materials Science (25%), Engineering (21%), Physics and Astronomy (17%). It does 2.0× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 545 fractional works · 80.0% of its workMaterials Science: 168 fractional works · 24.7% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 111 fractional works · 16.3% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 31 fractional works · 4.6% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 10 fractional works · 1.5% of its workBiomaterials: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workPolymers and Plastics: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workCeramics and Composites: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEngineering: 140 fractional works · 20.6% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 54 fractional works · 8.0% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 32 fractional works · 4.8% of its workMechanical Engineering: 25 fractional works · 3.6% of its workMechanics of Materials: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workComputational Mechanics: 5 fractional works · 0.8% of its workAerospace Engineering: 5 fractional works · 0.8% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workOcean Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 118 fractional works · 17.4% of its workRadiation: 49 fractional works · 7.2% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 32 fractional works · 4.6% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 28 fractional works · 4.1% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 6 fractional works · 0.9% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 49 fractional works · 7.1% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 21 fractional works · 3.1% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 13 fractional works · 1.9% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 7 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSpectroscopy: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workElectrochemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnergy: 19 fractional works · 2.8% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 19 fractional works · 2.8% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 16 fractional works · 2.3% of its workGeophysics: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workAtmospheric Science: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPaleontology: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEnvironmental Science: 13 fractional works · 1.9% of its workEcology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.9% of its workComputer Science: 11 fractional works · 1.7% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemical Engineering: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workCatalysis: 7 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 95 fractional works · 14.0% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 76 fractional works · 11.2% of its workMolecular Biology: 42 fractional works · 6.1% of its workStructural Biology: 19 fractional works · 2.8% of its workBiophysics: 5 fractional works · 0.8% of its workGenetics: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workCell Biology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 8 fractional works · 1.2% of its workPlant Science: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workNeuroscience: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workImmunology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPharmaceutical Science: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 35 fractional works · 5.2% of its workMedicine: 32 fractional works · 4.6% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 7 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInfectious Diseases: 5 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOncology: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workCardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEpidemiology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRheumatology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workDentistry: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNursing: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workVeterinary: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 5 fractional works · 0.8% of its workArts and Humanities: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKDiamond LightSource681fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences14%Physical Sciences80%Health Sciences5%Social Sciences1%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Materials Science16824.7%
    2. Engineering14020.6%
    3. Physics and Astronomy11817.4%
    4. Chemistry497.1%
    5. Energy192.8%
    6. Earth and Planetary Sciences162.3%
    7. Environmental Science131.9%
    8. Computer Science111.7%
    9. Chemical Engineering101.4%
    10. Mathematics10.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7611.2%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences81.2%
    3. Neuroscience40.7%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology40.6%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics20.3%
    1. Medicine324.6%
    2. Dentistry20.3%
    3. Nursing10.2%
    4. Health Professions10.1%
    5. Veterinary00.0%
    1. Arts and Humanities20.3%
    2. Decision Sciences10.2%
    3. Social Sciences10.1%
    4. Business, Management and Accounting10.1%
    5. Psychology00.0%
    6. Economics, Econometrics and Finance00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Diamond Light Source specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Radiation takes 52.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. RadiationSubfield · 48.7 works52×
  2. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 27.7 works25×
  3. Inorganic ChemistrySubfield · 21.2 works13×
  4. Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsSubfield · 31.3 works10×
  5. Materials ChemistrySubfield · 111.2 works8.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.25× its world share, 8 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2.10× its world share, 76 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.62× its world share, 4 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.40× its world share, 4 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.94× its world share, 2 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 3.99× its world share, 10 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 4.55× its world share, 49 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.21× its world share, 11 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.49× its world share, 16 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 3.00× its world share, 19 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.37× its world share, 140 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.39× its world share, 13 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 7.08× its world share, 168 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 7.81× its world share, 118 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.55× its world share, 2 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.24× its world share, 32 worksMedicineNursing: 0.38× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.21× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesPsychology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.01× its world share, 1 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 7.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 25 fields, with their numbers
  1. Physics and Astronomy7.81×118 works
  2. Materials Science7.08×168 works
  3. Chemistry4.55×49 works
  4. Chemical Engineering3.99×10 works
  5. Energy3.00×19 works
  6. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology2.10×76 works
  7. Earth and Planetary Sciences1.49×16 works
  8. Engineering1.37×140 works
  9. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.94×2 works
  10. Immunology and Microbiology0.62×4 works
  11. Dentistry0.55×2 works
  12. Neuroscience0.40×4 works
  13. Environmental Science0.39×13 works
  14. Nursing0.38×1 works
  15. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.25×8 works
  16. Medicine0.24×32 works
  17. Computer Science0.21×11 works
  18. Decision Sciences0.21×1 works
  19. Veterinary0.18×0 works
  20. Arts and Humanities0.10×2 works
  21. Mathematics0.08×1 works
  22. Health Professions0.03×1 works
  23. Business, Management and Accounting0.03×1 works
  24. Psychology0.01×0 works
  25. Social Sciences0.01×1 works

Who are the top researchers at Diamond Light Source?

Ranked on the quality score, David Owen, D. Fearon and R. Skyner lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Diamond Light Source.

  1. 1 David Owen United Kingdom · #40,886 worldwide 2.7k citations · 349 works
  2. 2 D. Fearon United Kingdom · #68,817 worldwide 2.5k citations · 563 works
  3. 3 R. Skyner United Kingdom · #73,526 worldwide 2.5k citations · 469 works
  4. 4 Robert Atwood United Kingdom · #87,540 worldwide 6.9k citations · 194 works
  5. 5 Helen Mary Ginn United Kingdom · #95,481 worldwide 8.3k citations · 117 works
  6. 6 T. K. Kim United Kingdom · #96,314 worldwide 14k citations · 287 works
  7. 7 A. Douangamath United Kingdom · #108,363 worldwide 3.4k citations · 701 works
  8. 8 Petra Lukacik United Kingdom · #113,193 worldwide 3.8k citations · 377 works
  9. 9 Neil G. Paterson United Kingdom · #120,030 worldwide 7.8k citations · 104 works
  10. 10 Ke‐Jin Zhou United Kingdom · #122,162 worldwide 6.9k citations · 211 works
All ranked researchers at Diamond Light Source

What are the most cited papers from Diamond Light Source?

The most cited paper from Diamond Light Source is "Discovery of a Three-Dimensional Topological Dirac Semimetal, Na 3 Bi" (Z. K. Liu, Bo Zhou, Yi Zhang et al., 2014), with 2,342 citations. Next come "General synthesis and definitive structural identification of MN4C4 single-atom catalysts with tunable electrocatalytic activities" (1,987) and "The anatomy of a comprehensive constrained, restrained refinement program for the modern computing environment – Olex2 dissected" (1,911).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Discovery of a Three-Dimensional Topological Dirac Semimetal, Na 3 Bi Z. K. Liu, Bo Zhou, Yi Zhang et al. · Science Open access 16 Jan 2014 2,342
2 General synthesis and definitive structural identification of MN4C4 single-atom catalysts with tunable electrocatalytic activities Huilong Fei et al. · Nature Catalysis Open access 22 Dec 2017 1,987
3 The anatomy of a comprehensive constrained, restrained refinement program for the modern computing environment – Olex2 dissected Luc J. Bourhis, Oleg V. Dolomanov, Richard J. Gildea et al. · Acta Crystallographica Section A Foundations and Advances Open access 5 Dec 2014 1,911
4 xia2 : an expert system for macromolecular crystallography data reduction Graeme Winter · Journal of Applied Crystallography 30 Nov 2009 1,530
5 A stable three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 Zhongkai Liu, Jingwei Jiang, Bo Zhou et al. · Nature Materials 23 May 2014 1,522
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Diamond Light Source?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Tomography, Catalysis, Nanoscale Imaging, X-ray Imaging, Superconductivity, Phase Retrieval, Ptychography and Nanoparticles.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Tomography42▲ 35×5 topics
  2. Nanoparticles40▲ 4.7×36 topics
  3. Catalysis39▲ 8.6×27 topics
  4. Nanoscale Imaging34▲ 61×2 topics
  5. X-ray Imaging34▲ 144×2 topics
  6. Superconductivity34▲ 29×9 topics
  7. Phase Retrieval32▲ 306×1 topic
  8. Ptychography32▲ 306×1 topic
  9. Structure Determination27▲ 134×2 topics
  10. Electronic Structure25▲ 20×8 topics
  11. Image Processing22▲ 7.3×5 topics
  12. Metal-Organic Frameworks20▲ 7.1×6 topics
  13. Mechanical Properties20▲ 3.0×26 topics
  14. Nanostructures19▲ 7.0×16 topics
  15. Cryo-Electron Microscopy19▲ 161×1 topic
  16. Single-Particle Analysis19▲ 161×1 topic
  17. Cathode Materials17▲ 6.5×3 topics
  18. Crystal Engineering17▲ 22×3 topics
  19. Room Temperature17▲ 16×3 topics
  20. Small-Angle Scattering16▲ 47×2 topics
  21. Spectroscopy15▲ 13×9 topics
  22. Water Splitting15▲ 5.8×4 topics
  23. Crystal Growth14▲ 7.8×12 topics
  24. Crystal Structure14▲ 16×7 topics
  25. Lithium-ion Batteries14▲ 5.1×3 topics
  26. Molecular Dynamics14▲ 12×6 topics
  27. Thin Films14▲ 11×10 topics
  28. Enzyme Structure13▲ 74×2 topics
  29. Quantitative Analysis13▲ 9.2×4 topics
  30. Macromolecular Crystallography13▲ 102×1 topic
  31. Structure Solution13▲ 102×1 topic
  32. Perovskite Oxides13▲ 29×2 topics
  33. Synchrotron Radiation13▲ 38×4 topics
  34. X-ray Absorption12▲ 101×2 topics
  35. Heterogeneous Catalysis12▲ 9.6×4 topics
  36. Spintronics12▲ 14×4 topics
  37. High Resolution12▲ 198×1 topic
  38. X-ray Emission12▲ 198×1 topic
  39. Ferroelectricity12▲ 18×4 topics
  40. Spin Dynamics12▲ 42×2 topics

Which research topics does Diamond Light Source publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques, Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications, Enzyme Structure and Function and X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis.

Advanced X-ray Imaging T…32Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques: 32 fractional worksAdvanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications: 19 fractional worksEnzyme Structure and Function: 13 fractional worksX-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis: 12 fractional worksAdvanced Condensed Matter Physics: 11 fractional worksAdvancements in Battery Materials: 9 fractional worksElectron and X-Ray Spect…9Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques: 9 fractional worksMetal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Applications: 9 fractional worksX-ray Diffraction in Crystallography: 8 fractional worksMagnetic properties of thin films: 8 fractional works
RadiationStructural BiologyMaterials ChemistryCondensed Matter Physics4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques Radiation 32 works
  2. 2 Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications Structural Biology 19 works
  3. 3 Enzyme Structure and Function Materials Chemistry 13 works
  4. 4 X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis Radiation 12 works
  5. 5 Advanced Condensed Matter Physics Condensed Matter Physics 11 works
  6. 6 Advancements in Battery Materials Electrical and Electronic Engineering 9 works
  7. 7 Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques Surfaces, Coatings and Films 9 works
  8. 8 Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Applications Inorganic Chemistry 9 works
  9. 9 X-ray Diffraction in Crystallography Materials Chemistry 8 works
  10. 10 Magnetic properties of thin films Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics 8 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available72.1%not open27.9%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors49.5%domestic only50.5%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Diamond Light Source's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Diamond Light Source as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0023% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%Diamond Light Source0.0026% in 2025200020102020

Fractional works of Diamond Light Source over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%Diamond Light Source11.8% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 202520102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 18.8% in 2018.

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Diamond Light Source on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where Diamond Light Source is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

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