New Dual Wavelength X-ray Diffractometer from Oxford Diffraction, now a part of Varian, Inc., Allows Increased Throughput for Challenging Single Crystal Analyses

Oxford, UK - Oxford Diffraction, Now a part of Varian, Inc. (NasdaqGS: VARI) introduced its new dual wavelength X-ray diffractometer for the analysis of small molecules and proteins. The SuperNova is the first dual wavelength diffraction system to use entirely high intensity micro-source X-ray technology. It includes innovations in both X-ray technology and data analysis, enabling faster results even for the most challenging crystals.

Single crystal X-ray diffraction is used to determine the structure of small molecules and proteins at high resolution. Applications include chemistry, geology, physics, structural biology and pharmaceutical research. The trend in crystallography is towards the ability to analyze smaller, poorer crystal samples and to increase the speed of sample throughput. The significant improvement in the intensity of X-ray radiation placed on the sample from the dual Nova and Mova X-ray micro-sources makes both higher resolution and higher throughput possible.

The system is ideal for the study of challenging samples in small molecule and protein crystallography. It includes co-mounted, dual wavelength and high intensity X-ray micro-sources of both molybdenum and copper wavelength. It is the first dual wavelength system incorporating purely high intensity Mo and Cu micro-source X-ray technology.

The system improves throughput in several ways. The high intensity X-ray radiation allows for shorter X-ray exposure, as does the high sensitivity, large area Atlas CCD (charge-coupled device). In addition, the duty cycle (the dead time required for the CCD detector to transfer data to the computer), has been substantially reduced. As important, the AutoChem software automates crystal structure solution, refinement and report generation. Data analysis is concurrent with data collection, significantly reducing the time spent by the user to solve and refine the crystal structure.

"The SuperNova allows for high-throughput, information-rich, X-ray analysis of proteins and small molecules," said Martin O'Donoghue, Senior Vice President, Scientific Instruments, Varian, Inc. "This solution complements our NMR products, strengthening our strategy of giving our customers ease of use while gathering extremely detailed structural information on large numbers of samples."