An electric field cell for performing single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction.

With the recent increase in research into ferroelectric, anti-ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials, studying the solid-state properties under applied electric fields is vital in understanding the underlying processes. Where this behaviour is the result of atomic displacements, crystallographic insight has an important role. This work presents a sample environment designed to apply an electric field to single-crystal samples on the small-molecule single-crystal diffraction beamline I19, Diamond Light Source (UK).

VMXi: a fully automated, fully remote, high-flux in situ macromolecular crystallography beamline.

VMXi is a new high-flux microfocus macromolecular crystallography beamline at Diamond Light Source. The beamline, dedicated to fully automated and fully remote data collection of macromolecular crystals in situ, allows rapid screening of hundreds of crystallization plates from multiple user groups. Its main purpose is to give fast feedback at the complex stages of crystallization and crystal optimization, but it also enables data collection of small and delicate samples that are particularly difficult to harvest using conventional cryo-methods, crystals grown in the lipidic cubic phase, and allows for multi-crystal data collections in drug discovery programs.

A water-cooled monochromator for the B16 Test beamline at the Diamond Light Source: capabilities and performance characterization.

Systematic studies of the performance of a water-cooled X-ray monochromator, designed and built for the B16 Test beamline at the Diamond Light Source, UK, are presented. A technical description of the monochromator is given and the results of commissioning measurements are discussed. Overall, the monochromator satisfies the original specifications well and meets all the major requirements of the versatile beamline.