Charge-coupled imagers for time-resolved macromolecular crystallography

There exists considerable promise for the use of charge-coupled device (CCD) imagers in the fast recording of parts of macromolecular crystal Laue diffraction patterns. As part of this development CCD tests have been made with direct detection of Laue patterns from a small molecule test crystal and a protein crystal. Merging R factors (on intensity), for strong reflections, of 3% have been obtained. A time-slicing scheme for a CCD camera is discussed based on the stacking of slices held in storage in the CCD in the submillisecond time resolution range.