“All we have discovered is that it starts with a single individual – always a child – and then spreads explosively, like the formation of crystals round the first nucleus in a saturated solution.” Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood’s End, 1953)

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Our X-ray facility is equipped with two single-crystal X-ray diffractometers:

1. Rigaku Oxford Diffraction SuperNova Diffractometer combining two high-flux micro-focus sources (Mo and Cu) with a large-area CCD Atlas detector.
2. Rigaku Oxford Diffraction XtaLab Synergy-R diffractometer equipped with a  PhotonJet-R microfocus rotating anode X-ray source (Cu) and a state-of-the-art hybrid photon counting (HPC) detector.

The SuperNova diffractometer is equipped with an Oxford Instruments CryoJet XL device, enabling routine low-temperature data collection at 110 K and variable-temperature experiments in the 100–300 K range (e.g., for monitoring destructive and non-destructive phase transitions, unit cell dimensions vs. T studies). The Rigaku XtaLab Synergy-R is fitted with an Oxford Cryosystems Cryostream 1000 unit, which extends the accessible temperature range to 80–400 K, providing additional flexibility for specialized studies. Operating at low temperature provides significant advantages, including reduced thermal motion, enhanced data resolution, and improved stability for crystals that are sensitive to air, moisture, or temperature.

Data collection and reduction are carried out using CrystAlisPRO software on a dedicated PC workstation (Windows), with software updates typically installed every six months. In addition, the laboratory maintains two supplementary PC workstations for Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) searches as well as structure solution and refinement.