The CD1 beam line on ASTRID
Note that the CD beam line was transferred to ASTRID2 in 2014. You can read more about the beamline and current activities here.
The CD1 beam line, dedicated to Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism (SRCD) experiments, was commissioned in 2007 and remained in operation on ASTRID until the end of 2013. The beam line was transferred to the new ring ASTRID2 in 2014 and was renamed AU-CD .
The ASTRID SRCD facility was formerly based on the UV1 beam line which hosts many other UV and VUV experiments, therefore time for SRCD experiments was limited. The success of the UV1 beam line and SRCD was clear from the number of applications received from scientists worldwide and it was not possible to accommodate everyone who applied. Also, it was difficult to schedule experiments with short notice, where the advantages of this technique of fast data acquisition (approximately 1 hour for a sample) and simple sample preparation, could be exploited to allow immediate characterisation of newly prepared samples. The aim of the CD1 beam line was therefore to establish a dedicated SRCD facility on ASTRID, offering year round access and the possibility for experiments on short notice.
The CD1 beam line operates in the 110-700 nm wavelength region and is optimised for 110-350 nm, which is the biologically most relevant region in SRCD.
The technical details of the beam line can be found on the CD1 optical specification page.
The CD1 beam line on ASTRID.
Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism.
SRCD spectroscopy offers significant improvements to the well-established method of conventional circular dichroism (cCD) spectroscopy. SRCD takes advantage of the high photon flux available from synchrotron sources over a wide range of wavelengths, which results in higher signal-to-noise ratios and also enables the collection of data at lower wavelengths than is possible with cCD spectrometers.
The wavelength range of CD1 (115 to 350 nm) is a biologically important wavelength region and the high degree of linear polarisation of the radiation and low level of scattered light from CD1 makes the beam line well suited for Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism (SRCD) spectroscopy of optically active macromolecules.
A description of the SRCD technique can be found here
Contact information:
For further information on and access to the CD1 beamline please contact:
Beamline Scientists and
Last Modified 25 October 2022