Monday, February 9, 2009, Joint Physics Colloquium, 4:30 PM, Wean 7500, CMU

Tom Irving

Departments of Physics and Biology, Illinois Institute of Technology

Director, Center for Synchrotron Radiation Research & Instrumentation (CSRII)

Director, Biophysics Collaborative Access Team (BioCAT)

"Biologically Inspired Research at the APS BioCAT Synchrotron Beamline"

Abstract:

The Biophysics Collaborative Access Team (BioCAT) is organized as a NIH Biotechnology Resource dedicated to, and optimized for, structural studies of partially ordered biological materials.  Supported techniques include static and time resolved small-angle X-ray solution scattering (SAXS), conventional and micro-beam small and wide angle fiber diffraction, and scanning x-ray emission and absorption microscopy (microprobe).  The heart of the facility is the BioCAT Undulator Beamline 18ID located at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL USA.  In this talk, I will briefly describe beamline and facility followed by some recent experimental results from time-resolved scattering from macromolecules in solution and time resolved fiber diffraction of insect muscle.  I will end with a description of the capabilities of our new micro-diffraction instrument, in the context of recent preliminary results, and offer some perspectives for the future.