The first is the Bruker D8 Venture Duo single crystal diffractometer equipped with a Photon III detector, both Mo and Cu micro-focus X-ray tubes, and an Oxford Cryostream 800 series N2 gas stream sample cooler/heater (100 K to 400 K). This instrument is ideal for determining the solid-state structure of new organic molecules, cocrystals, polyoxometalate clusters, or any other material that forms well-ordered single-crystal material with a minimum dimension of 10 µm. For most users, their crystalline material will have dimensions on the order of 100 µm. While most structures are determined using the instrument’s Mo source, having access to the Cu source on the instrument allows for the determination of the absolute configuration of chiral molecules without the need to synthetically add heavy atoms to your molecule.
Another possible use of the Bruker D8-Venture Duo instrument is its ability to also collect variable temperature powder diffraction patterns. Even though the resolution is lower for powder diffraction patterns collected on a single crystal instrument, the possible combination with the Cryostream system allows for materials to be studied over a variety of temperatures ranging from 100 K to 400 K.
The MATFab facility also hosts the Cambridge Database and associated software from the CCDC, which allows for quick determination of known structures and access to structures with similar molecule structures or intermolecular interactions.
The instrument is located in IATL 196 and is managed by Dr. Daniel Unruh. He is available to train users on the equipment or provide structural determination on submitted samples.