Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)

Today, the most exciting advances in new industrial materials and processes are based on key technologies in the nanoscale-domain (10^-9m). Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, functional food, smart polymers, intelligent surface coatings, sensorics and diagnostics greatly benefit from the tremendous process in nanoscience.

The ability to visualize structures being formed is the critical success factor in nanoscience and nanotechnology, in particular since visible light microscopy fails to provide information in this scale. SAXS and GISAXS are the most powerful ‘nanoscopical’ tools in this pursuit, yielding information in the range from 1 nm to above 0.1. µm, not only on nanoparticle sizes, shape and size distributions, but also on structural dynamics from a large variety of materials, such as liquid crystals, surface characteristics, powders, bulk samples, and thin films.

SAXS in combination with protein crystallography (PX) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) play an important role in offering a more complete view on complex biological nanosystems. For instance, most of today’s studies on proteins, membranes or large bio-functional complexes already use this powerful ‘hybrid analytical approach’, whereby SAXS provides essential constraints on particle shape and size for high-resolution modeling of NMR and PX data.

Bruker offers the most comprehensive series of solutions for SAXS and GISAXS featuring the two most successful experimental designs. All our solutions benefit from the latest developments in detector technology and high-flux microfocus X-ray sources, fulfilling the needs for precision, speed and reliability.

Researchers value the high-quality information on structure-function relationship as it is the key for more successful research.

• The NANOSTAR laboratory beam-line series can be tailored to the individual needs of varying users’ applications. It offers a wide range of powerful microfocus X-ray sources ranging from the IµS via the TXS, to the recently introduced METALJET.
• Our new N8 HORIZON is the ideal solution for the characterization of solid-state nanomaterials. It possesses a revolutionary vertical beam path with an impressively small footprint.
• The compact MICROpix and MICROcaliX series features the renowned Kratky-design, with a particular focus on highest measurement speed, precision and user convenience. The MICROcaliX uniquely combines microcalorimetry and SAXS in a single instrument and is designed in particular for the characterization of temperature sensitive materials, such as liquid crystals, fats, polymers, protein gels and pharmaceuticals.

Bruker’s in-house systems provide a level of data quality so far only achievable with much stronger synchrotron radiation source, making the in-house method a more attractive solution than ever.