About the Single crystal X-ray diffraction facility
The University of Southampton is host to the National Crystallography Service (NCS), which is a unique world leading facility funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to provide UK academics with access to single crystal X-ray diffraction facilities and expertise beyond those normally available.
It provides a structure characterisation service and conducts research in chemical crystallography. It is the home to four extremely high powered rotating anode diffractometers, with two copper source and two molybdenum source instruments. These allow us to study a wide range of chemical systems from small molecule organics and pharmaceuticals to anaerobic inorganic complexes and metal organic frameworks (MOFs). These instruments enable study of poorly diffracting or extremely small crystals, down to 10 microns (µ) in each dimension. We also have in-house facilities providing advanced technique studies such as gas cell, high pressure and variable temperature experiments.
