EMBL@PETRA IIIBeamlines
MX2 Beamline
The MX2 beamline will be available for user access starting in April 2012. Operation will begin with unfocussed beam. The first call for proposals has been opened on 9th January 2012 (deadline 31rst January 2012). Please go to smis.embl-hamburg.de to apply for beamtime
At completion, MX2 will offer micro-focussing conditions (1-100 micron beamsizes) and full tunability (7-35 keV, 1.75 to 0.36 Å at very high flux densities (> 1012 photons/sec into < 5 x 5 micron2) to collect data on small and/or inhomogeneously diffracting crystals.
Status of the beamline as of 9th January 2012:
- Beam: MX2 uses the unfocussed beam from the monochromator with a total flux of 1013 photons/sec into a beam size of ca. 2 x 1.5 mm2 (FWHM, horizontal x vertical dimension). With a divergence of smaller than 0.1 mrads in both directions, the beam is essentially parallel.
- Energy tunability: For standard experiments, E=11 keV (1.13 Å) will be used. Wavelength between 11 keV and 6 keV (2.67) Å are accessible by (slow) tuning of the monochromator.. Despite the absence of X-ray mirrors, at these energies, the harmonic contamination is negligible (<< 0.01%).
- Diffractometer: The diffractometer is a prototype of an MD2-type instrument with the spindle axis mounted in a vertical and downward configuration (including a mini-kappa goniostat). This new instrument has a sphere of confusion significantly smaller than 0.5 micron when the mini-kappa goniostat is mounted. Three-click centering is available.
- Available beam sizes: For diffraction experiments, apertures and collimators are used to produce beams of circular shapes of 20 or 150 micron in diameter. Under these conditions, the beam profile is essentially flat. The flux density is on the order of 1012 photons/sec through a 150 x 150 micron2 cross-section resulting in an approximate life-time of a typical macromolecular crystal of 1-2 hours.
- Detector: Rayonix 225 for shuttered oscillation data collection.
- User Interface: The user interacts with the beamline via the Hamburg-version of mxCuBE (ESRF) user interface.
- Sample mounting: A MARVIN-type of automatic sample changer will be installed in late 2012. At present, crystals have to be mounted manually. However, mounting from SPINE-vials is rather convenient due to the vertical/downward orientation of the spindle axis.
- Data processing: An 8 CPU linux-server is available for data-processing with XDS, or MOSFLM.
- Data storage and archival: Data will be stored on local servers for 1 month. At present, there are no facilities for data archival. Users are asked to bring their own back-up media (USB, Firewire) for data archival.
- Structure determination: The autoRickshaw and hkl2map pipelines for structure solution are available.
- Ancillary facilities: A lab specifically designed and equipped for preparing derivativized crystals is accessible upon request.
Typical experiments presently possible:
- Collection of native data on crystals with minimum dimension of 10-20 micron. Maximum resolution achievable: 1.6 Å at detector edge.
- Collection of highly redundant anomalous data at 6 keV using different kappa-settings.
- Crystal characterization with beam sizes between 20 and 150 micron.
- Typical duration of a full data collection: 30 min. to 2 hours.
Next steps:
- 03/12 Begin commissioning Xray mirrors.
- 03/12 Installation control hutches
- 02/12 Installation Beam conditioning unit.
- 05/12 Upgrade detector table
- 10/12 Installation MARVIN crystal mounting robot
Contact
Beamline Scientist
Gleb Bourenkov
Project Leader
Tel: +49 (0) 40 89902-120
Email: gleb@embl-hamburg.de
MX@PETRA3 coordinator
Thomas R. Schneider
Tel.:+49 (0) 40 89902-111
Proposed experimental capabilities
- Tunable beam size 1-100 μm
- MAD/ optimised SAD experiments in the range of 6-18 keV absorption edges form Mn-K to U- LIII
- Fluorescence scan possibilities for the above energy range.
- SAD experiments on sulphur, phosphorous and iodine at lowest possible energy
- Maximum cell axis resolvable (subject to the beam size and crystal mosaicity): 700-1000 Å
- Typical exposure times: ~50 milliseconds/degree