Making the most of difficult crystals — beamline and detector optimization

The geometry of the crystallographic instrumentation is described with an emphasis on synchrotron radiation beamline setups in the hutch. The measurement principles of ‘signal to noise’ as well as random and systematic errors are described. The special case of microcrystals is described in detail including a short history of key developments. A brief resume of data for phasing is given and references to particular example apparatus is given. There is a growing number of opportunities for robotics, telepresence and automation and readers are referred to Facility websites. More specialized applications involving time‐resolved Laue, freeze trapping and neutron macromolecular crystallography are summarized. This chapter has had to be more indicative than detailed as the topic is large. The consultation of the example references given and wider literature is obviously important. Nevertheless, in the context of macromolecular crystallization and crystal perfection the chapter connects directly with the data collection requirements for structure determination and offers useful pointers in that direction in the various categories.