NECAT Home Page

The Northeastern Collaborative Access Team (NE-CAT) facility at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is managed by Cornell University and consists of seven member institutions:

Columbia University

Cornell University

Harvard University

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Rockefeller University

Yale University.

Primary funding for this project comes from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Additional financial support for NE-CAT comes from the member institutions.

Technical Specifications for Sector 8-BM

(Currently out of service -- being moved to Sector 24BM)

Source : Bending Magnet

Energy Range : 6.5 – 14 KeV Edges : Mn 6.539 to Br 13.474

Users control all energy shifts.

Energy Resolution : ~ 2 – 3 eV

Collimator slits (usual settings) : 0.2 x 0.2 mm or

0.3 x 0.3 mm (user selectable)

Detector : ADSC Quantum 315 – 315 x 315 mm ; 6144x6144 pixels – unbinned mode (image size 72Mb) or 3072x3072 pixels - binned mode (18Mb image)

Detector distances : 160 mm – 1100 mm ; detector offset +/-160 mm

Exposure time : 4 – 200 seconds (slowest motor speed - 100 seconds/degree)

Mounting pin type : Hampton, Yale (special arrangement on request)

No kappa or omega goniostat operation.

Computers and software : Three powerful double processors Linux computers for data processing and structure solution. HKL2000, CCP4, SOLVE/RESOLVE, CNS, PHENIX and O.

Data backup : External USB-2 hard disks with linux (ext3) partition

Recent Highlights

7/07/08

June status report now online.

06/24/2008

NE-CAT Hires Three New User Support Staff (More Info)

06/12/2008

May status report is now available.

05/06/2008

NE-CAT organizes a successful workshop titled “Software for Challenging Cases in Macromolecular Crystallography” at APS User Week 2008. A photo of the organizers and speakers is shown. Presentations can be found here.

4/04/2008

Featured Publication

Crystal Structure of a Self-Spliced Group ll Intron

Navtej Toor, Kevin S. Keating, Sean D. Taylor, and Anna Marie Pyle

Science 4 April 2008, Vol. 320. No. 5872, pp. 77-82

Click here for full article

04/02/2008

Agenda now available for NE-CAT workshop "Software for Challenging Cases in Macromolecular Crystallography" to be held May 6 as part of User Week 2008. See agenda.

04/01/2008

With the success users have had using the MD2 Microdiffractometer on 24-ID-E, NE-CAT is acquiring a second MD2 for 24-ID-C, delivery October 2008

2/27/2008

NE-CAT hosting the workshop “WK04, Software for Challenging Cases in Macromolecular Crystallography” to be held May 6, 2008 at APS User Week. See the APS User Meeting Website

1/22/2008

Modified ALS sample placement robotic system installed on 24-ID-C beamline.

11/16/2007

Resource Advisory Committee Meeting Held

NE-CAT Director Steven Ealick Provides Introductory Overview (see additional pic )

10/01/2007

24-ID-E equipped with a MD-2 Microdiffractometer has been declared operational and accepting General User proposals for the 2008-1 run cycle. (See pic)

09/04/2007

The move of the 8-BM Bending Magnet Beamline to 24-BM is in progress. Shown is the installation of the detector support frame.

6/08/2007

16x16x300 micron crystal irradiated at 5 different positions using a 20 micron beam with the MD2 microdiffractometer to obtain a complete data set with a radiation-damage sensitive crystal. (See pic)

4/13/2007

First Data Frames Obtained Using the MD2 Microdiffractometer (see additional pictures)

03/21/2007

MD2 Microdiffractometer Installed on 24-ID-E beamline

02/16/2007

First Data Taken on Phase 2, 24-ID-E Beamline

12/15/2006

MD2 Microdiffractometer being bench tested (shown with covers removed). See December Status update for more details.

11/06/2006

Phase 2 User Control Area Instrumented (rose color panel area). Phase 1 control area in foreground. User common area in background.

10/19/2006

Phase 2 installation nearing completion with installation of ADSC Q315 Detector.

10/01/2006

NECAT ceases 8-BM user operations in preparation for moving the 8-BM Beamline to 24-BM. See September 2006 Report.

8/08/2006

Phase 2 End Station Instrumentation Being Installed. See Status Report August 2006

July 12, 2006

APS verifies that the Phase 2 end station enclosure meets the radiation standards and grants approval for NE-CAT to begin building out the end station.

5/30/2006

Obtained “first light” (monoenergetic X-rays) from Phase 2 Monochromator. See Status Report May 2006

5/22/2006

Phase 2 Horizontal Focusing Mirror and Photon Shutter Installed

5/22/2006

Phase 2 Vertical Focusing Mirror in Place.