MICRODIFFRACTION DEVELOPMENT

Illinois Institute Of Technology, Chicago IL

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. We continue to be pleased with the performance of the 200 mm long KB mirror system (University of Chicago design) that was installed and commissioned last year. Changing from low resolution to high resolution with these mirrors can be performed on-the[unreadable]fly with minimum staff intervention and time usage. This feature greatly increases the versatility of the instrument. Other recent changes include new adjustable flight tubes (80, 150 and 200mm lengths) that are much more robust and easier to adjust than the ones used previously. Combined with the availability of a larger detector (the rebuilt MAR 165) this allows the instrument to be capable of both medium and small angle diffraction/scattering (range 134 [unreadable]3.5 [unreadable] in the most common configuration, ~ 300 [unreadable] dmin at maximum camera length) We have also rearranged the positioning stages to allow easier access to the sample area by the users. Finally, the components specific to the micro-diffraction setup are now mounted on a dedicated breadboard so that switching from microprobe to microdiffraction only takes a few hours. Further improvements have been made towards shielding parasitic scattering which now enables weak diffraction characteristics to be visualized very rapidly. In order to take full advantage of this progress, we have more recently concentrated on improving cryo-preservation techniques with some appreciable success to date.