The Macromolecular Femtosecond Crystallography Instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source

J Synchrotron Radiat. 2019 Mar 1;26(Pt 2):346-357. doi: 10.1107/S1600577519001577. Epub 2019 Feb 22.

Abstract

The Macromolecular Femtosecond Crystallography (MFX) instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is the seventh and newest instrument at the world's first hard X-ray free-electron laser. It was designed with a primary focus on structural biology, employing the ultrafast pulses of X-rays from LCLS at atmospheric conditions to overcome radiation damage limitations in biological measurements. It is also capable of performing various time-resolved measurements. The MFX design consists of a versatile base system capable of supporting multiple methods, techniques and experimental endstations. The primary techniques supported are forward scattering and crystallography, with capabilities for various spectroscopic methods and time-resolved measurements. The location of the MFX instrument allows for utilization of multiplexing methods, increasing user access to LCLS by running multiple experiments simultaneously.

Keywords: X-ray FEL; X-ray free-electron laser; protein crystallography; room-temperature crystallography; serial femtosecond crystallography; time-resolved crystallography.