At the MX beamlines we are working very hard to give you better beamlines. On this page you can find information about the latest developments underway. They include beamline developments aimed at improving data quality, at making your work here more efficient and productive and to allow you to use techniques unique to our beamlines.

Please feel free to contact us with suggestions or comments about this work.

This new tool has been designed to allow users to transfer pins directly from vials to the Unipuck bases. It avoids the danger of losing or icing samples due to handling. It is now available to users in all MX-beamlines.

For an explanation of how to use it follow this link.

Diamond Light Source has joined a collaboration with the EMBL Grenoble, the MaxLab and the ESRF. The collaboration is intended to push the second phase of development of the HC1b humidifier control device. As part of the agreement, the partners will be installing a device at their beamlines and will work in the future development.

I02 has a fully operational device. Several users have already tested their samples with this device. It is now open to all user within their usual beamline allocation time.

For more information on how this device may help your experiment and on how to use it please follow this link.

This new device has been installed and is in the last stages of commissioning. With it, it will be possible to remove surface ice from samples at the touch of a button. If proven useful it may be fully integrated within the standard sample transfer and rolled out to other beamlines.

For examples of how it works and how it may help your data follow this link.

The design and commission of a new On-axis viewing system is now complete. The new device gives users an enhanced view of their samples. Furthermore, full zoom will is achievable in 1-2 seconds so crystal centring will be much faster.

The improved design will is easier to align to the x-ray beam and the scatter guard is mounted from underneath permitting better alignment of the cryo-stream.

This new design uses a different optical layout that implies that less lenses need to be drilled. This gives a superior image quality.

The device is currently installed in I02 and a very similar device will be installed in the endstation upgrade.