This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
X-ray scattering and diffraction methods are powerful tools for studying the structure of soft materials on length scales ranging from ~ 0.1 to 100 nm. NSF MRI-R2 funds will support acquisition and commissioning of a unique small-, medium- and wide-angle (SAXS/MAXS/WAXS) detector system to be installed at Beamline 5ID-D at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonner National Laboratory. The new detector systems will offer unprecedented capabilities, including: (i) seamless coverage of ?reciprocal space? spanning three orders of magnitude in length scale; (ii) access to full two-dimensional scattering data over the entire accessible range of scattering vector; (iii) substantial upgrades in sensitivity and frame rate over currently available detectors, enabling the full potential afforded by APS undulator radiation to be harnessed; and (iv) significant improvements in operational efficiency, as a single, stable, end-station configuration meets the needs of the vast majority of 5ID-D users, avoiding disruptive layout changes. This consortium effort will be led by investigators from Northwestern in partnership with colleagues from the University of Minnesota who are major ?General Users? of 5ID-D. The new detector capabilities will favorably impact research in diverse areas such as dynamics and processing of polymers and other complex fluids; nano-scale DNA-mediated self-assembly processes; biophysical studies of protein/nucleic acid and protein/lipid complexes; block copolymer physics; polymer deformation; nanomaterials for solar energy conversion and catalysis; polymer membrane characterization; biomimetic self-assembly and biomineralization. Through the General User program of the Advanced Photon Source, this powerful instrumentation will be made available to the entire US x-ray scattering community, and thereby contribute to the nation?s research infrastructure, and to the education and training of a large number of students and post doctoral researchers.
MRI-R2 CONSORTIUM: ACQUISITION OF A SAXS/MAXS/WAXS DETECTOR SYSTEM FOR NANOSCALE STUDIES OF SOFT MATERIALS
Proposal #0960140 Wesley Burghardt, Chad Mirkin, Alfonso Mondragon Northwestern University Frank S. Bates and Timothy P. Lodge University of Minnesota
ABSTRACT (NONTECHNICAL) This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
National ?User Facilities? form a vital infrastructure supporting US competitiveness in science, engineering and technology. By providing researchers access to cutting edge experimental capabilities, such facilities also contribute materially to the education and training of a sophisticated scientific workforce. The premier facility for x-ray science in the western hemisphere is the Advanced Photon Source (APS), located at Argonne National Laboratory. The APS generates extremely intense x-ray beams that may be used in many ways to study fundamental problems in biology, chemistry, physics, materials, and technology. One class of techniques, known as ?x-ray scattering?, involves measuring the way in which a beam of x-rays is deflected or ?scattered? by a sample?s microscopic internal structure. Analysis of scattering images provides deep insights into a sample?s structure over length scales from ~ 0.1 nm (the size of atoms) to ~ 100 nm (the size of very large molecules such as proteins). In this project, MRI-R2 funds will be used for the acquisition and commissioning of a new detector system to be installed at the Advanced Photon Source to greatly enhance capabilities for x-ray scattering research. Detectors are the ?cameras? that collect scattering images, and hence are at the heart of x-ray scattering techniques. The unique system being developed in this project will combine three separate detectors that will enable simultaneous investigation of samples? structure over the entire range of length scales studied using x-ray scattering (by anaology, imagine a camera that can simultaneously take a high quality picture of both a dog and a flea sitting on the dog?s back). The detectors will also operate at much higher speed than currently available systems, allowing ?real time? studies of molecular and nano-scale structural dynamics. Through its installation at the Advance Photon Source, these new capabilities will be made available scientists from all over the US, and used for studies of fundamental problems in biology, nanoscience and chemistry, as well as in technologically-oriented work in the characterization and processing of polymers catalysts, and other engineering materials.
X-ray scattering and diffraction methods are powerful tools for studying the structure of materials on length scales ranging from ~ 0.1 to 100 nm. Beamline 5ID-D of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Lab, operated by Northwestern University, supports a broad user community pursuing small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering studies of diverse materials. This project has supported a major upgrade of the 5ID-D detectors through acquisition and commissioning of a unique small-, medium- and wide-angle (SAXS/MAXS/WAXS) detector system that offers unprecedented capabilities, including: (i) seamless coverage of scattering angle allowing experiments to simultaneously probe material structure over three orders of magnitude in length scale; (ii) access to full two-dimensional scattering data over the entire accessible range of scattering vector; (iii) substantial upgrades in sensitivity and frame rate over currently available detectors, enabling the full potential afforded by high brilliance APS undulator radiation to be harnessed; and (iv) significant improvements in operational efficiency, as a single, stable, end-station configuration meets the needs of the vast majority of 5ID-D users, avoiding disruptive layout changes. Under support of this project, the new CCD detectors have been acquired and integrated with custom designed vacuum systems and electronic controls. The entire system has been commissioned and during the fall of 2013 was made available to the community of APS researchers working at Station 5ID-D. In the coming years, these new detector capabilities will favorably impact diverse research programs in areas such as dynamics and processing of polymers and other complex fluids; nano-scale DNA-mediated self-assembly processes; biophysical studies of protein/nucleic acid and protein/lipid complexes; block copolymer physics; polymer deformation; nanomaterials for solar energy conversion and catalysis; polymer membrane characterization; biomimetic self-assembly and biomineralization. The proposed instrumentation will make major contributions in the areas of research infrastructure and training. Installation of these new detectors in a highly productive beamline at the premier hard x-ray synchrotron research facility in the western hemisphere will assure continued access to state-of-the-art capabilities to the entire US x-ray scattering community. Since their commissioning in the mid 1990s, Northwestern-operated beamlines at APS Sector 5 have hosted over 500 post doctoral scholars, graduate students, and even undergraduate students. With beamline 5ID-D in high demand by APS General Users, the new detector system will play a substantial role in the training of many students in the coming years. In addition, Sector 5 staff (and 5ID-D facilities) regularly participate in APS-sponsored training activities for students and faculty in the fields of x-ray and neutron scattering, broadening the training impact of the proposed instrumentation.
