X-ray lens of monolithic polycapillaries for macromolecular crystallography

The monolithic polycapillary X-ray Lens is a fast developing optics that has many applications in different fields, one of them, described in this paper, is a successful application in the X-ray diffraction for macromolecular crystallography. The direct beam intensity irradiating on crystal with usage of the monolithic X-ray lens was increased 1 to 2 order of magnitude more than the traditional method with the double focusing mirrors. the diffracted X-ray intensity was increased more than about 8 times, the resolution was improved by 0.2–0.6Å, and the signal to noise ratio was also improved. The measuring time became shorter. The crystal samples which had to be analyzed by synchrotron before are able to be investigated in routine laboratory now.