Dedicated or partially dedicated GISAXS beamlines exist at most synchrotron light sources (for instance Advanced Light Source (ALS), Australian Synchrotron, APS, ELETTRA (Italy), Diamond (UK), ESRF, National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), Pohang Light Source (South Korea), SOLEIL (France), Shanghai Synchrotron (PR China), SSRL
At neutron research facilities, GISANS is increasingly used, typically on small-angle (SANS) instruments or on reflectometers.
GISAS does not require any specific sample preparation other than thin film deposition techniques. Film thicknesses may range from a few nm to several 100 nm, and such thin films are still fully penetrated by the x-ray beam. The film surface, the film interior, as well as the substrate-film interface are all accessible. By varying the incidence angle the various contributions can be identified.