Tape Drive

Drop-on-tape is a sample delivery method for serial crystallography, which can be used at synchrotrons and XFELs. In this approach, droplets (on the order of 10s of picoliters) containing microcrystals are deposited onto a moving Kapton tape which delivers the sample into an X-ray beam.

One of the benefits of drop-on-tape sample delivery is that both X-ray diffraction and X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) can be measured simulataneusly on the same sample by using a von Hamos spectrometer. Room temperature X-ray diffraction using serial crystallography can be used to give the macromolecular structure of a protein at physiological temperature, whilst reducing the radiation dose. If you have a metalloprotein, XES can be used to gain element specific electronic information which can indicate the oxidation state, spin state and information about ligating atoms. We currently have scope to measure the Kα and Kβ emission lines of copper, iron and zinc. 

The tape drive sits within a chamber in which we can control the atmosphere, we are able to adjust the humidity and create anaerobic conditions.