XtaLAB Synergy-ED

The XtaLAB Synergy-ED is the result of an innovative collaboration between Rigaku and JEOL, to synergistically combine our core technologies: Rigaku’s high-speed, high-sensitivity photon-counting detector (HyPix-ED) and state-of-the-art instrument control and single crystal analysis software platform (CrysAlis^Pro for ED), and JEOL’s long-term expertise and market leadership in designing and producing transmission electron microscopes.

The XtaLAB Synergy-ED was designed to address the increasing need to investigate smaller and smaller samples in structural research. With X-ray crystallography, the smallest possible crystal dimension is 1 micron, and only then when utilizing the brightest X-ray sources and noise free detectors. However, there is an increasing need for the structure analysis of substances that only form microcrystals, crystals that are only a few hundred nanometers or less in size. In recent years, a new analytical method, MicroED, also known as 3D ED, has been developed that uses diffraction of electron beams to measure three-dimensional molecular structures from nanocrystalline materials. Researchers developing this technique have relied on general-purpose electron microscopes and a combination of microscopy software for measuring diffraction data, and public domain X-ray crystallography software for data processing and structure determination. Even for researchers skilled in both electron microscopy and crystallography, the resulting collection and processing workflows are often involved and throughput-limiting. Also, instruments mainly optimized for imaging tasks often require time-consuming alignments and calibrations, making the sharing of an instrument sometimes difficult, while still yielding sub-optimal data quality.

The XtaLAB Synergy-ED is a dedicated electron diffractometer that is operated by the same control software that is used to run Rigaku’s X-ray diffractometers and includes a complete integrated pipeline from instrument control, sample selection and diffraction measurement to data processing and structure solution, including powerful automation features. Previous experience with electron microscopes is not required even for advanced usage. An optimized electron optical configuration eliminates the need for frequent alignment and calibrations, while Rigaku’s HyPix-ED detector ensures ultimate data quality even at vanishingly low radiation doses. This instrument can easily be installed in an existing X-ray crystallography facility, where researchers and students will be able to easily master the MicroED/3D ED technique since the software workflow is the same as for an X-ray diffractometer. Having such an instrument installed in an X-ray facility immediately provides structure determination for materials that only form nanocrystals.