Mar345 IMAGE PLATE DETECTOR SYSTEM

At the forefront of modern X-ray structure work, the Mar345 Image Plate Detector System offers you the best choice for recording diffraction patterns of small molecules as well as protein crystals.

With its innovations in hardware design and software support it is the ideal detector for single crystal diffraction measurements of large and small molecules. Furthermore, it is a powerful tool for use in the fields of powder diffraction, texture analysis, small angle scattering and fiber diffraction.

Since its introduction in early 1997 as the successor of the extremely popular Mar scanners with 300mm and 180mm plates, the impact in the scientific community has been extraordinary. Close to 300 instruments have been installed by the end of 2004. Many of our detectors went to protein crystallography beamlines at synchrotrons around the world (Hamburg, Daresbury, Grenoble, Paris, Trieste, Brookhaven, Stanford, Brazil, China, etc.). As a consequence, most of the published high resolution protein structures are based on data collected with a Mar scanner and our customer list reads like a "who's who" in crystallography.

What makes the Mar345 Image Plate Detector so outstanding?

The answer is a sum of superlatives (for details, please download the Mar345 Spec Sheet (PDF) ):

Shortest read-out times

Read-out cycles range from 108 to 34 seconds, depending on pixel size and scanned plate diameter. This is about 3 times faster than other IP scanners and actually comes close to the performance of CCD-detectors. Please, look up the details!

Most efficient read-out system

The read-out system of the Mar345 Image Plate Detector is unique in its use of a single high performance 85mW laser which delivers more than 0.8µJ/pixel at the plate. This ensures that an extremely high percentage (>95%) of trapped F-centers are transformed into photostimulated luminescence.

Lowest noise electronics

The heart of the electronics is a 16-bit ADC. Raw data are digitized in approx. 7 µsec per pixel. The intrinsic noise of the system is 1 photon equivalent only! The sensitivity corresponds to 1 X-ray photon per ADC-unit at 8 keV.

The only Image Plate Detector using double sampling

Due to highly improved optics and electronics raw data can be double-sampled: each pixel in the output image consists of 2 digital data. The dynamic range thus is effectively increased by 2 yielding real 17 bits (0:131071). Double sampling is applied only in the scan modes with 150 µm pixel size, reducing the size of a raw spiral pixel to 75 x 150 µm.

Largest active area

With its diameter of 345mm the Mar345 Image Plate Detector offers the largest detection area of popular detectors around.

Most compact design

WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get. You may have heard that when talking about software. What we mean when talking about hardware is: all you get is a scanner on top of the X-ray generator, no bulky controllers, no noisy compressors or alike stuffed in some dark corner of your lab. All the scanner needs is inside the scanner. The one and only connection to the outside world is an Ethernet cable to your computer. Could an Image Plate Detector be more compact?

Careful calibration

Before being shipped, the scanners are carefully calibrated in our lab. In the course of the calibration a correction table is generated that will remain valid for the lifetime of the scanner and that will compensate for all material inhomogeneties and any geometrical deviations. During that entire process we strictly apply a no-compromises policy. This ensures that instruments go to the customer in perfect shape and thoroughly tested for all functions. We are proud of having thus a long history of quick and successful installations.

Best dependability

After many years of heavy-duty operation at many synchrotrons we are confident to say: there is nothing around that compares to the reliability of the Mar scanners.

Easy-to-use software

Our data collection software has had very strong input from synchrotron needs: software that does not require reading of manuals and can be operated by anybody. This goal has been achieved without sacrificing functionality. Even non-standard applications like MAD experiments can be programmed as simple as setting up typical data collection runs. For special applications we do supply software that can be tailored to any needs—including source code.

Easiest alignment with the X-ray beam:

The detector is mounted on a cardanic cradle system with motor-driven adjustments, built-in ionization chambers and collimation system with continuously variable slits. These unique features allow the complete system to be easily integrated with any existing X-ray source equipped with any X-ray optics. Thanks to motorization and using the X-ray intensity monitors of the ionization chambers optimal alignment with the primary beam from scratch can be done in just 5 minutes! We even provide a remote control for performing the whole operation safely from outside the radiation enclosure.

Most advanced goniometer setup

Since late 2000 we offer a new goniometer setup for our detectors. We call it Desktop Beamline (DTB)® since it provides all those nice tools for use at home that crystallographers used to find only at synchrotron beamlines, in particular fully automatic beam search and optimization. Virtually all movements are motorized and can be operated by the Mar data collection software.

Goniometer options & Spec Sheets

Mar345DTB Detector System

The 345mm diameter Image Plate Detector is mounted on the Desktop Beamline ® featuring a cardanic cradle system, a 2-Theta axis, a PHI axis, fully automatic beam alignment and built-in X-ray beam intensity monitors (ionization chambers).

View MarDTB product page