Beamline Instrumentation
State-of-the-art beamline instrumentation and hardware, including in-house developed goniometers, Sample Mounting Robots, in-situ UV-Vis Micospectrometers and high sensitivity X-ray Detectors, are available for users to carrying out cutting-edge structural biology research.
Additional On-Site Instrumentation is also available for on-site users.
Stanford Auto-Mounter (SAM)
Each beamline is equipped with an in-house developed Stanford Auto-Mounter (SAM) robotic system for automated sample mounting on the X-ray goniometer. The system can mount cryo-cooled samples mounted on cryo-pins from SAM cassettes or uni-pucks (Fig. 1). The robotic mounting system allows the majority of our users to run experiments remotely from their home labs and to automatically screen 100;s of crystals without intervention.
Figure 1. SAM Sample Cassette and Uni-Puck. (Click-on to enlarge)
For a comprehensive instructional guide read the SAM Manual.
For information on the development of the SAM system, see the SAM Development pages.
UV-Vis Microspectrometer
Several beamlines are equipped with an in-house developed automated UV-Vis microspectrometer (Fig. 2). By default, a 50 micron light spot is used to illuminate the sample. With a special setup, a 5 micron light spot in the visible range can be achieved. Spectroscopy data can be collected in various modes including single snapshots, phi-rotation, X-ray dose and time (Fig. 3). Spectra can also be interleaved with data collection.
Figure 2. Uv-Vis microspectrometer objective lenses inserted at the sample position. (Click-on to enlarge)
Figure 3. Time lapsed UV-Vis spectra. (Click-on to enlarge)
For a comprehensive instructional guide on how to use the UV-Vis microspectrometer, read the Microspec Tab Manual.
For information on the development of the microspectrometer system, see the Microspectrometer Development pages.
Axial-Mounted Cryo-Cooling System
Each beamline is equipped with a cryo-cooler which keeps the sample at cryogenic temperature (~100 K). The cryo-nozzle is mounted axially with respect the goniometer Phi axis and a heat shield prevents the goniometer from icing. The axial mount assures quick equilibrium and the entire sample assembly stays at a constant temperature when it is rotated. This feature turns out to be important for keeping small crystals at the center of rotation during data collection.
Detectors
The following high-performance X-ray detectors are currently integrated into the MC beamline control systems:
* Parameter may be extended beyond stated limit. For consultation: