2013 Volume 23 Issue 4 Pages 288-293
Neutron crystallography for biomacromolecules was reborn in 1990’s, because a new neutron detector Neutron Imaging Plate (NIP) was successfully developed and installed at diffractoeters ; BIX-3, BIX-4 and others at reactor neutron sources in Japan and France, and it was found that NIP is so effective to collect Bragg diffraction spots from biological macromolecules with high efficiency. Furthermore, since the end of 2008, a new diffractometer, IBARAKI Biological Crystal Diffractometer (iBIX) in J-PARC has started to operate and it has been producing interesting results. It is expected to have about 50 times better efficiency in measurement after J-PARC accelerator arrives 1MW in power, compared to BIX-3 and BIX-4. In this report, we explain how to use neutron diffractometers in Japan from sample preparation, diffractometer’s characteristic, measurement, data reduction and finally to proposal submit.
