Beamline AR-NW12A: High-throughput beamline for macromolecular crystallography at the Photon Factory

Abstract

AR-NW12A is an in-vacuum undulator beamline optimized for high-throughput macromolecular crystallography experiments as one of the five macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamlines at the Photon Factory. This report provides details of the beamline design, covering its optical specifications, hardware set-up, control software, and the latest developments for MX experiments. The experimental environment presents state-of-the-art instrumentation for high-throughput projects with a high-precision goniometer with an adaptable goniometer head, and a UV-light sample visualization system. Combined with an efficient automounting robot modified from the SSRL SAM system, a remote control system enables fully automated and remote-access X-ray diffraction experiments. © 2012 International Union of Crystallography.