June Status Update

As stated in the previous status update, moving to the new piece of software to control the MD2 hardware is a necessary step in implementing shutter-less vector scans (kinematic scans) and taking full advantage of the speed of the PILATUS-6MF.  As a first step, during the May shutdown, shutter-less continuous vector scans became a reality.  It is now possible to perform continuous vector scans on 24-ID-C beamline without closing the shutter while the MD2 moves the crystal to a new position.  This is achieved with synchronous movement of four axes (x,y,z and omega) from the starting point of the vector to the end-point. Such a motion was not possible with the previous software controlling the MD2 hardware. A quick test using 180 frames of 0.5 second exposure, 0.5 degree of rotation per frame, along the same vector (A) shows a five-fold decrease in time between shuttered collection and shutter-less collection. (B).  It is simple to perform a shutter-less data collection.  Simply select the 'On' button for the "Shutterless Ops" control in the data collection dialogue window (C).