Single crystal diffractometers for bio-macromolecules using neutrons at steady-state reactor sources

Kurihara, Kazuo; Tamada, Taro

In order to overcome low flux of neutron sources as well as weak diffraction intensity from bio-macromolecule crystals, several devices have been developed in neutron biological crystallography. Elastically bent Si monochromator has contributed the increase of incident beam intensity, and neutron imaging plate (NIP) has provided large detecting area. In particular, the successful development of the NIP made a breakthrough in this research field. Additionally, recent advances in techniques for cryogenic temperature measurement, growth of large crystal and sample deuteration have made a contribution to efficient measurement performance. Currently, a total of six diffractometers for bio-macromolecule are available at research reactors in the world. Neutron crystallography is on the verge of becoming a prevalent method for structural study on bio-macromolecules.