Next Generation SAXS/WAXS System

A state-of-the-art X-ray system dedicated to characterization of biomaterials.
Institution
UC Santa Barbara
Research Areas
Characterization and Properties
Next Generation SAXS/WAXS System

A state-of-the-art liquid gallium X-ray source and a large-area pixel array detector are the key components of a fully dedicated small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) system. The high brilliance liquid metal jet X-ray source is a newly developed X-ray microfocus source that can increase the X-ray flux by 10X, which is crucial for measurements on weakly scattering biological and polymeric samples. The pixel array detector has single photon counting sensitivity and a large active area (5X larger) which dramatically increases the speed of data collection. The combination of the high flux source and large area detector enables data collection with a 50X increase in speed or sensitivity, thus providing a significant boost in research capability for a diverse array of projects.

SAXS performance comparison

ABC triblock terpolymer synthesized by ring-opening and atom transfer radical polymerization, comparing intensities as measured at the BioPACIFIC MIP and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Data courtesy of Elizabeth Murphy

Contact

Youli Li

Technical Director, X-ray Diffraction Facility
Materials Research Laboratory
UC Santa Barbara

Phillip Kohl

Associate Specialist
NSF BioPACIFIC MIP
UC Santa Barbara