Use of fixed targets for serial crystallography

Abstract

In serial crystallography, large numbers of microcrystals are sequentially delivered to an X-ray beam and a diffraction pattern is obtained from each crystal. This serial approach was developed primarily for X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) where crystals are destroyed by the beam but is increasingly used in synchrotron experiments. The combination of XFEL and synchrotron-based serial crystallography enables time-resolved experiments over an extremely wide range of time domains - from femtoseconds to seconds - and allows intact or pristine structures free of the effects of radiation damage to be obtained. Several approaches have been developed for sample delivery with varying levels of sample efficiency and ease of use. In the fixed target approach, microcrystals are loaded onto a solid support which is then rastered through the X-ray beam. The key advantages of fixed targets are that every crystal loaded can be used for data collection, and that precise control of when crystals are moved into the beam allows for time-resolved experiments over a very wide range of time domains as well as multi-shot experiments characterising the effects of the X-ray beam on the sample. We describe the application of fixed targets for serial crystallography as implemented at beamline I24 at Diamond Light Source and at the SACLA XFEL. We discuss methodologies for time-resolved serial crystallography in fixed targets and describe best practices for obtaining high-quality structures covering sample preparation, data collection strategies and data analysis pipelines.

Keywords: Fixed target; Radiation damage; Serial femtosecond crystallography; Serial synchrotron crystallography; Time-resolved structural biology; X-ray diffraction.