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CONTINUOUS feeding of MICRO-
CRYSTALS into the X-ray beam

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TAPE DRIVE TD-1

Low background serial crystallography & chemical mixing experiment

In serial crystallography with a tape drive, a thin line of a micro-crystal suspension is continuously written onto a thin moving Mylar- or Kapton foil tape. The tape is constantly moving and thereby transporting the microcrystals into the X-ray beam, where diffraction patterns of them are recorded.

Using the serial crystallography approach, diffraction patterns from hundreds to thousands of microcrystals can be merged to yield a complete dataset for structure refinement. 

The tape drive is ideally suited for chemical mixing experiments or laser pump probe experiments where larger amounts of protein crystals are availalbe

TD-1 operating Principle

  • A line of microcrystals is "written" onto a continuously moving Mylar or Kapton tape (yellow) through a capillary (blue)
  • The tape (yellow) is spooled from a passive supply roller through the interaction region onto an active stepper motor driver receiving roller
  • The tape continuously transports the microcrystals into the beam
  • An additional motorized blotting tape (white) allows the efficient removal of mother liquor

low Background scattering

  • Use of ultrathin 6 µm mylar foil minimizes parasitic X-ray scattering from the tape
  • Blotting of the suspension liquid through micropores in the tape reduces liquid scattering
  • Optional local helium path for the direct X-ray beam suppresses air scattering

user-friendly Operation

  • The TD-1 software in combination with our SC-1 controller allows coordinated operation of all devices, including TD-1, AS-1 and TD-1-RTU
  • Touchscreen operated graphical user interface allows selection of experimental parameters such as flow rate, sample tape speed, blotting tape speed, tape drive rotation and alignment of TD-1 with respect to the X-ray beam
  • Ethernet connectivity and REST API allows easy integration with existing control system

DESIGN COncept

  • “Breadboard-like” design allows custom configuration of tape rollers, tape guide pins and tape tensioner
  • Compact dimensions allow easy integration to existing experimental environments
  • Easy exchange of tape rollers due to magnetic mounting
  • Use of industry standard 2-Phase stepper motors allows easy integration into existing control systems
  • Optional controller SC-1 with touchscreen integrates seamlessly into existing control systems via ethernet

Anti-settling device AS-1

  • Using conventional motorized syringe pumps, small differences in the density between the crystals and the crystal growth solution lead to settling of the crystals in the syringe
  • To avoid crystal setting, our AS-1 contains two motorized syringe pumps which are continuously rotated by +/- 150 degrees to prevent settling of the crystals
  • Generates a steady flow of a microcrystal suspension with flow rates from 10 nl/min to 160 µl/min
  • Well suited for sample delivery with liquid jet systems or with our tape drive TD-1
  • Compatible with 250 µl and 500 µl standard glass syringes from commercial vendors

Tape drive rotation and translation unit TD-1-RTU

  • Preferred orientation, in particular of plate-like and needle-shaped crystals, often leads to incomplete diffraction data in serial crystallography experiments with a tape drive
  • Our TD-1-RTU allows motorized rotation of the entire tape drive by +/- 35 degrees in horizontal direction with respect to the incident X-ray beam to yield more complete datasets
  • Motorized xyz-translation allows in-situ alignment of the setup in the X-ray beam and selection of the mixing time by horizontal translation

Integration into the suna ecosystem

  • Ideally used in combination with our motorized syringe pump SP-1 (link) and anti-settling device AS-1 and our controller SC-1
  • Compatible with our on-axis sample viewing microscopes OM-1 and OM-2 for visualization and laser excitation of the sample
  • Easy integration with the roadrunner goniometer