Most macromolecular X-ray structures are determined from cryocooled crystals, but it is unclear whether cryocooling distorts functionally relevant flexibility. Here we compare independently acquired pairs of high-resolution data sets of a model Michaelis complex of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), collected by separate groups at both room and cryogenic temperatures. These data sets allow us to i...

Pressure generation at cryogenic temperatures presents a problem for a wide array of experimental techniques, particularly neutron studies due to the volume of sample required. We present a novel, compact pressure cell with a large sample volume in which load is generated by a bellow. Using a supply of helium gas up to a pressure of 350 bar, a load of up to 78 kN is generated with leak-free ope...

We present two simple cryogenic rf ion trap systems in which cryogenic temperatures and ultra high vacuum pressures can be reached in as little as 12 h. The ion traps are operated either in a liquid helium bath cryostat or in a low vibration closed cycle cryostat. The fast turn around time and availability of buffer gas cooling made the systems ideal for testing surface-electrode ion traps. The...

X-shooter, the first 2nd generation VLT instrument, is a new high-efficiency echelle spectrograph. X-shooter operates at the Cassegrain focus and covers an exceptionally wide spectral range from 300 to 2500 nm in a single exposure, with an intermediate spectral resolving power R~5000. The instrument consists of a central structure and three prism cross­ dispersed echelle spectrographs optimized...

Future space vehicles will require the use of non-toxic, cryogenic propellants, because of the performance advantages over the toxic hypergolic propellants and also because of the environmental and handling concerns. A prototypical capillary flow liquid acquisition device (LAD) for cryogenic propellants was fabricated with a mesh screen, covering a rectangular flow channel with a cylindrical ou...

Future generations of gravitational wave interferometers are likely to be operated at cryogenic temperatures because one of the sensitivity limiting factors of the present generation is the thermal noise of end mirrors and beam splitters that occurs in the optical substrates as well as in the dielectric coatings. A possible method for minimizing thermal noise is cooling to cryogenic temperature...

Spectroscopically resolved emission from single nanocrystals at cryogenic temperatures provides unique insight into physical processes that occur within these materials. At low temperatures, the emission spectra collapse to narrow lines, revealing a rich spectroscopic landscape and unexpected properties, completely hidden at the ensemble level. Since these techniques were first used, the techno...

This contribution presents distributed and multipoint fiber-optic monitoring of cryogenic temperatures along a superconducting power transmission line down to 30 K and over 20 m distance. Multipoint measurements were conducted using fiber Bragg gratings sensors coated with two different functional overlays (epoxy and poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA)) demonstrating cryogenic operation in the rang...

A single-element, windowless InGaAs photodetector has been calibrated against a cryogenic radiometer using a diode-laser source of wavelength 1296.9 nm (standard uncertainty = 0.4 nm). This source differs from the gas lasers usually used with cryogenic radiometers in that the beam has an elliptical profile, is invisible to the naked eye, is not polarized, and is less spatially coherent. We desc...

To expand CERN testing capability to superconducting devices that cannot be installed in existing test facilities because of their size and/or mass, CERN is building a new cryogenic test facility for large and heavy devices. The first devices to be tested in the facility will be the S-FRS superconducting magnets for the FAIR project that is currently under construction at the GSI Research Cente...