NE-CAT upgrade of the bending magnet beamline 8BM

Steve Ealick's Research Group

Abstract:

Wang, J, Ogata, C, Yang, X, Sukumar, N, Kourinov, I, Capel, M, Lynch, AE, Rajashankar, ., Withrow, J, and Ealick, S. NE-CAT upgrade of the bending magnet beamline 8BM at the APS, AIP Conference Proceedings 879, 832-835 (2007).

NE-CAT, North East Collaborative Access Team, bending magnet beamline (8BM) is a beamline for protein crystallog. Recently, the beamline has undergone upgrades of its x-ray optics, control system, and the addn. of a robot automounter. The first crystal of the double crystal monochromator was replaced by a new design offered by Oxford Danfysik with a micro-finned, direct water-cooled crystal assembly that would provide better cooling and reduced thermal distortion, pressure induced bulge, and residual strain. Gear reduced motors were added to enhance the torque of the bender and obtain better control. For measuring displacement of the bender directly, two linear variable differential transformers (LVDT) were installed to the second crystal assembly. Early optics characterization and anal. has been carried out. Besides the upgrade of the optical components, the Blu-Ice control system originally developed at SSRL has been implemented. The installation of an automated robotic sample mounting system, from the ALS, was carried out in collaboration with the engineering group at LBNL. Preliminary results are presented.