Development of 6-axis robotic arm based systems for protein crystallography automation is now expending rapidly. From the seminal work accomplished on beamline FIP-BM30A (ESRF) in 2000' to the present developments, robot based systems significantly changed the crystallography experiment strategy. They open possibilities for new strategies, give a high flexibility to the experimental setup, and make automation and remote control much easier. The robotized platform on which are based our present developments, named G-Rob, plays as a fully integrated, multi-purpose automated and remotely controlled diffractometer for beamlines and laboratories. G-Rob integrates several functions: classical sample changer; goniometer for frozen samples or capillaries [1], including frozen sample transfer from a storage Dewar; crystallization trays handling for in situ screening and data collection on crystallization plates and microchips [2]; powder diffraction; beam monitoring; on line crystal fluorescence/absorption; crystal harvesting; Etc. Thanks to its tool changer, the robot arm can go automatically from one application to another. G-Rob can be easily upgraded with new functions. Several G-Rob systems, both at synchrotrons (ESRF, LNLS, BNL) or as laboratory in-house systems (EPFL, CBS) are now available for the crystallography community. Among the last results obtained with G-Rob are: (i) Automated structure resolution at room temperature, for the analysis of protein dynamic; (ii) Automated structural screening for the fragment based drug design strategy. New functions are also under development, such as the remote controlled robotized crystal harvesting [3]. Such manipulations of individual crystals with the robot closes the gap for fully remote, and in the future fully automated, operation of crystallography pipeline.
The Structural, Electronic, and Optical Properties of Ge/Si Quantum Wells: Lasing at a Wavelength of 1550 nm