ID14 'Quadriga', a Beamline for Protein Crystallography at the ESRF.

Abstract

The ESRF undulator beamline ID14 'Quadriga' is dedicated to monochromatic macromolecular crystallography. Using two undulators with 23 mm and 42 mm periods and a minimum gap of 16 mm installed on a high-beta section, it will provide high-brilliance X-ray beams at around 13.5 keV, as well as a wide tuneability between 6.8 and 40 keV. Based on the Troika concept, this beamline has four simultaneously operating experimental stations: three side stations, EH1, EH2 and EH3, using thin diamond crystals, and an end station, EH4, with a fast-scan double-crystal monochromator. Station EH3 has a kappa-diffractometer, and an off-line Weissenberg camera with a large 80 x 80 cm active area combined with a 2048 x 2048 CCD detector. During data collection the image plates are placed and removed by a robot located inside the hutch using a cassette system. After data collection the image plates are scanned with an off-line drum scanner. Station EH4 is designed for MAD applications, including Xe K-edge anomalous experiments, and is equipped with a 2048 x 2048 CCD detector on a pseudo 2theta arm. A common graphical user interface and a database will be available to cover all aspects of data collection, including strategy optimization. First results on the performance of the optics elements and initial crystallographic results are presented.