X-ray diffraction facility

About us

The X-ray diffraction facility is located in the Francis Bancroft building, room G.30 at the Mile End campus. The facility is shared with the CMR (Centre for Materials Research) and offers a full diffraction analysis service in materials science, structural chemistry, structural biology and solid state science, please also visit the XDF website.

Our services and equipment

  • Small molecule diffraction: based on the new KAPPA APEX ii DUO diffractometer with dual Cu and Mo sources and APEX ii CCD area detector, which is capable of collecting excellent data  for small molecule and protein single crystals. An Oxford cryostream provides temperature control to –190°C and a diamond anvil cell allows diffraction experiments to be carried out at high pressures (GPa). The molybdenum sealed tube sources with curved monochromator (Triumph) is for high throughput and charge density measurement, while the low powered air-cooled Copper IμS microfocus tube with doubly curved crystal optic is an excellent source for absolute configuration and protein screening.
  • Protein crystallography: catered for by a Rigaku Rotating anode generator with a MAR345 Image Plate detector.
  • Powder diffraction facilities: include a Panalytical Xpert Pro diffractometer operating in θ/θ geometry for both reflection and transmission and equipped with an Anton Paar strip furnace (25 to 1600°C under vacuum or gas) and a texture cradle. The Siemens D5000 X-Ray Powder diffractometer Operates in θ/2θ geometry for both reflection and transmission and has a grazing incidence setup for thin films or surface diffraction. Phase analyses can be rapidly performed using the ICDD PDF4 database and Highscore software, and staff are happy to assist with the many forms of powder diffraction analyses.

Please refer to our service level agreement [PDF 15 KB] and complete an ordering form [DOC 672 KB].

Charging

There are a range of charges for SBCS staff [PDF 40 KB], academic users [PDF 20 KB] other than SBCS staff and commercial users [PDF 36 KB].  Please contact us with regards to cost for your own individual needs.


Further information is available by contacting: Majid Motevalli.