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Principal Investigator: Lin Yang
Organization: BROOKHAVEN SCIENCE ASSOC-BROOKHAVEN LAB
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $325,713
Funding agency: National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Abstract – X-ray Scattering Technology Core
The X-ray Scattering Technology Core will provide user access to the Life Science X-ray Scattering (LiX)
beamline. During the current funding period we have refined the scientific focus of the LiX beamline,
concentrating on supporting solution scattering from biological macromolecules in solution and scanning
imaging of biological tissues, while improving our technical capabilities in these two areas. The need to support
mail-in measurements during the COVID pandemic required us to provide reliable automation for data
collection and processing, which we have achieved. To accommodate the influx of users due to the Advanced
Photon Source (APS) upgrade, we have redesigned our solution scattering sample handler to support
measurement based on both flow cells and fixed cells, and to gain more usable beam time by minimizing the
need to reconfigure the experimental setup.
At the same time, under the Department of Energy (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research (BER) support
parallel to this P30 grant, we have developed scanning structural mapping and tomographical imaging using
scattering contrast. We also developed python software that enabled automation in data processing, and GUIs
for data visualization. Under a BNL internal Laboratory Director’s Research and Development (LDRD) grant, we
also explored integrative data analysis. These new capabilities will be rolled out to our users for routine use in
the upcoming funding period.
In this renewal, we will continue to provide reliable access to these capabilities and progressively improve the
underlying technical tools and instrument usability. To support solution scattering, we will optimize data
collection triggering, enhance the integration of the HPLC system into our data collection workflow, and adopt a
co-flow device for in-line liquid chromatography measurements. To support scanning structural mapping, we
will implement fly scans for in-vacuum measurements on thin tissue sections. In addition, we will work on
providing more software tools to help users evaluate data quality and perform data processing and analysis. We
will make these tools readily accessible via the centralized computing resources supported by the National
Synchrotron Light Source-II (NSLS-II), and will provide training opportunities. We will continue to perform
routine maintenance and implement new software tools to improve beam stability and to manage experimental
configuration changes. We also plan to upgrade our scattering detectors to ensure uninterrupted operation of
the beamline, and to install fluorescence detectors to enable simultaneous data collection for elemental mapping.
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