Testimonial: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - XtaLAB Synergy-R
The SCXRD Lab at SIdI-UAM is part of the central scientific facility (SIdI) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and analyzes samples from different scientists, not only from our campus, but also from other institutions in Spain and Europe, as well as private firms and even the general public.
We receive hundreds of crystals per year from diverse fields (Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science, Physics, Geology, Biology or Pharma). Many of these samples are aggregates of small domains that contain mostly light elements and, consequently, diffract weakly. Our old devices could not get enough signal from these crystals to achieve the complete structure solution with publishable quality indicators, and that was very frustrating.
Rotating anodes had quite a bad reputation in Spain due to some bad experiences with these sources in the past, and many of my colleagues advised me against purchasing a device with it. However we decided to go for it and it is really brilliant! (in all of the meanings of the word). The combination of source and detector can obtain diffraction data from the smallest crystals and there are no practical disadvantages compared to other sources. We value particularly the easy maintenance with very little downtime, and also the fact that there is only a small loss of performance before the yearly change.
It has certainly made a difference to our workflow: most of the crystals that are brought to our lab can now be fully characterized, and we have increased our success rate more than 30%. This device is so fast and reliable that, even with the great amount of samples received, we have lowered the response time to a few days. Besides, the quick data collection also allows for multiple datasets in case of problematic samples to ensure the best structure solution.
We are now able to achieve a complete structure solution from the smallest crystals. We are lucky to have experienced and skilled staff at our lab, who can separate and mount small fragments from crystalline samples and, with the Cu XtaLAB Synergy-R diffractometer we are now measuring and fully solving the structure from almost everything we can mount!
The software is robust and quite user-friendly, with a single interface (CryAlisPro) to control the different parts of the instrument, to launch the experiments and to analyse the collected data.
The technical service response is fast and appropriate and I particularly like the quick and efficient response from them. We had to contact them few times during these two years (mostly due to some issues with the external chiller and the Oxford Cryosystems CS1K device) and the response was great: our questions were answered and the issues were solved in a short time. Also the post-sales relationship with Jürgen Grässlin has been great.
We are truly happy with our Synergy-R diffractometer. It has allowed us to solve many structures from difficult crystals that we believe are contributing to advanced science, as proven by the results from our lab included in articles from high impact journals.
I would definitively advise anyone to try a Cu Synergy-R diffractometer! I have already invited some colleagues in Spain to come to our lab with their own samples, because it can be difficult to believe unless you can see yourself the amazing data that can be obtained from weakly diffracting samples.