A high-flux insertion device and beamline for macromolecular crystallography has been built at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) that employs a mini-gap undulator source developed by the NSLS. The mini-gap undulator at beamline X29 is a hybrid-magnet device of period 12.5 mm operating at proven gaps of 3.3-10 mm. The beamline provides hard X-rays for macromolecular crystallography experiments from the second and third harmonics over an energy range of 5-15 keV. The X-ray optics is designed to deliver intense and highly collimated X-rays. Horizontal focusing is achieved by a cryogenically cooled sagittally focusing double-crystal monochromator with approximately 4.1:1 demagnification. A vertical focusing mirror downstream of the monochromator is used for harmonic rejection and vertical focusing. The experimental station hosts an Area Detector Systems Quantum 315 CCD detector with 2.2 s readout time between exposures and Crystal Logic goniostat for crystal rotation and detector positioning. An auto-mounter crystal changer has been installed to facilitate the high-throughput data collection required by the major users, which includes structural genomics projects and the Macromolecular Crystallography Research Resource mail-in program. X29 is 10(3) times brighter than any existing bending-magnet beamline at NSLS with an actual flux of 2.5 x 10(11) photons s(-1) through a 0.12 mm square aperture at 11.271 keV.

Beam line X29 of the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) has been operating for a year for macromolecular crystallography (PX) research, employing a mini-gap, in-vacuum undulator as its X-ray source. Development of this facility involved a close collaboration among the groups of Mark Chance (Case Proteomics Center, Case Western Reserve Univ. [CWR]), Erik Johnson [NSLS], and Robert Sweet (Macromolecular Crystallography Research Resource [PXRR] of BNL's Biology Dept.). There were several joint objectives and complexities to this project. Firstly, we hoped to provide an undulator-based beam line with the attractive features of high collimation and high flux for macromolecular crystallography at the NSLS.

A portable and stable source, the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Quality Monitor, has been developed for use as a field instrument. The source can be used with either radiance- or irradiance-measuring sensors to transfer the laboratory calibration to the field so that the stability of the sensors can be monitored during the experiment. Temperature-controlled silicon photodiodes with colored glass filters are used to monitor the stability of the SeaWiFS Quality Monitor.