Variable Temperature on MX1 and MX2

1. Non-standard set temperature experiments

If you want to do data collection at a temperature other than the standard 100 K, change the “Setpoint” on the lefthand side (shown with red box). Hit enter and the “Readback” value should start to change. Wait until it has reached and stabilised on your Setpoint temperature before collecting via the normal Dataset tab of the MX collect tab.

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MX2 controls GUI

Don’t forget to change the Setpoint back to 100 K when you finish!

2. Ramping experiments

This allows you to do a series of collections at different temperatures. The dataset collections settings in the MX collect tab will be used for each collection.

To set up a ramping experiment, there are a few settings to change:

1. End temp: The last temperature at which a collection will be triggered.

2. Interval: The temperature interval between data collections.

The experiment will start at whatever temperature the cryo is already set at, so please set the current temperature to your desired starting temperature, using the “Setpoint” box on the left. Wait for it to reach that temperature before you click “Start VT collection”.

When you click “Start VT collection” a terminal window will pop up that follows the temperature change, and will notify you when a collection is triggered. Your file prefix will automatically contain the temperature of that data collection.

Closing the pop-up window will end the collection. An initial dataset will be collected at the starting temperature before the the temperature starts changing. At each temperature point, the temperature will remain steady while your dataset is collected before increasing for the next data point. After the experiment is finished, you will need to change the setpoint back to 100 K, or any other temperature you want for your next collection.

If you tick the option “Select to ramp back down to start temp”, it will cool the sample back down to the setpoint, collecting at the given interval.

Example:

If I wanted to run a sample collecting at 20 K intervals, up to 200 K, the window would look like this. Currently the setpoint is 1000 K. So this would trigger collections at 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, and 200 K. Each is processed as normal and will come up in the processing webpage.

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