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| Newsletter Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this issue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Several weeks ago we sent out a customer survey by e-mail with the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the needs of our customers as well as determining how we could improve overall customer satisfaction. We like to think of ourselves as partners with our customers, and as the needs and workflow issues change within our different markets we want to continue to change our organization to provide better products and services.
Oh well, I can ensure you that our intentions were good. Just to show I have a sense of humor I will include my photo with my head in a Mona Lisa cutout. To the best of my knowledge I also have not undergone a sex change operation. Paul N. Swepston |
Rigaku at ACA 2007 |
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Rigaku will be attending the following conferences in
the coming months:
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Drop by booth #303 at the 2007 meeting
of the American Crystallographic Association in Salt Lake
City on July 21-25 to see what Rigaku has on display. We will be
demonstrating automation products (Alchemist™ II,
BirdFeeder™, Desktop Minstrel™,
Gallery™ 160 Plate Hotel, ACTOR™ accessories), X-ray generators
(MicroMax™-002+,
FR-E+ SuperBright™), detectors
(SCXmini™,
R-AXIS IV++,
Saturn A200), X-ray optics and
accessories such as the
Free
Mounting™ System.
Rigaku employees will also be available to conduct software demos, including MIFit. On the first day of the exhibition, Sunday, July 22, Rigaku will hold a luncheon at noon at the convention center that will feature presentations by Vick Nienaber from ActiveSight ("Turning structures into leads through fragment-based screening) and Joe Ferrara: ("Homelabs vs. Synchrotrons: The Truth Will Surprise You"). Our annual Fun Run will be held on Monday morning at 7:00 at Memory Grove Park. Rigaku employees are involved in the following presentations or posters during the conference:
We hope to see you in Salt Lake City! |
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ACTOR
SM
is
the
world's
first
commercial
robotic
system
for
automated
handling
of
crystals
for
small
molecule
structure
determination.
The
system,
offering
fully
automated
sample
handling
of
up
to
60
crystals,
provides
automatic
crystal
transport,
centering,
and
retrieval,
offering
the
user
complete
lights-out
operation.
ACTOR SM will let you perform more experiments and produce more structures. When coupled with Rigaku diffractometers and Rigaku's turnkey automated structure solution software, ACTOR SM offers fully automated crystal screening and complete structure solution capabilities. |
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Rigaku at DXC 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Rigaku" is a name and not actually a word, but it means something like "learning
science." Aya Takase of Rigaku Corporation explains: "RI" of Rigaku means
science or logic, and is used in words like "ri-ka"
(science), "ri-yu" (reason), "ri-kutsu"
(logic), and "ri-ron" (theory).
"GAKU" of Rigaku is analogous to the English suffix
"-ology," meaning study or learning. It is used in words like
"gak-kou" (school), "gaku-mon" (learning, scholarship,
wisdom), and "gaku-jutsu-teki" (academic).
"Rigaku" was originally spelled in Kanji (Chinese characters)
and is written like this: |
This year Rigaku will again prove that there truly is a small solution to many
of your big problems. Come by the booth (#45) and see the new WDXRF Primini®. Your
benchtop has never been more powerful, your job has never been so easy, your
budget has never felt more at ease. We will also be demonstrating
the SCXmini
benchtop single crystal diffractometer, the MicroMax-002+
microfocus sealed tube generator and X-ray optics. Rigaku will be hosting a free lunch time seminar on Tuesday, July 31 at 12:30. Invitations can be picked up at the Rigaku booth during exhibition hours all day Monday and Tuesday morning. We are also sponsoring two technical sessions: "Diffraction from Biopolymers and Biological systems" and "Polymers and Composites." Rigaku employees will be making the following presentations during the conference:
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X-ray crystallography takes center stage at Fragment-Based Drug Discovery Conference |
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Rigaku is pleased to announce the
following training sessions:
All classes are held at the Rigaku applications laboratory in The Woodlands, TX.
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ActiveSight® participated in the recent Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD)
conference, part of CHI's Drug Discovery Chemistry 2007 Conference, held in San Diego May
13-15.
ActiveSight's Chief Scientific Officer, Vicki Nienaber, co-organized a
pre-conference FBDD workshop with Rod Hubbard of Vernalis that covered the
basic principles and lessons learned over the past 10 years of FBDD. Vicki
pioneered X-ray structural methods and automation for FBDD during her time
at Abbott Labs, and has continued to lead successful FBDD programs at SGX
Pharmaceuticals and at ActiveSight. Through the years, Vicki has
successfully paired X-ray methods with NMR, surface plasmon resonance (SPR),
high concentration biochemical assays and most recently, calorimetry. At the
conference, Vicki served on a panel of experts who discussed the future of
FBDD.
FBDD is gaining popularity due to its ability to generate novel leads quickly or to "scaffold hop" from existing lead or drug compounds. Harren Jhoti of Astex discussed that it is possible to go from initial studies of a drug target to putting a compound into clinical trials in only two years, which by all accounts is much faster than the industry average. Dr. Jhoti's presentation also highlighted the importance of Astex's Rigaku system for their FBDD programs, including the ACTOR robot crystal-mounting system. ActiveSight has screened multiple target classes by X-ray using the Rigaku Ultimate HomeLab™, featuring the FR-E+ SuperBright™ microfocus generator and the ACTOR™ robot. Via collaborations with the Scripps Institute and PARC, ActiveSight is working to expand the field to develop nanocalorimetry for fragment screening and the incorporation of SPR and biochemical assays for routine fragment characterization. ActiveSight is also collaborating with a well-known private parallel synthesis organization to improve fragment optimization processes and develop lead compounds against well-known drug targets. To identify robust crystallization conditions and produce crystals for screening, ActiveSight uses the Rigaku CrystalMation™ system. Automatic conversion of X-ray data to maps in a readily viewable format is accomplished with Rigaku's MIFit, originally developed by ActiveSight CEO Duncan McRee. Want to learn how your structural research can take center stage? FBDD can be leveraged by X-ray crystallography groups in both industry and academia, providing value to any disease-related research project. ActiveSight regularly holds regional FBDD workshops in the major biotechnology hubs, and is hosting a FBDD conference in sunny San Diego in February of 2008. Vicki Nienaber will also be discussing FBDD at the lunch sponsored by Rigaku at the 2007 ACA meeting in July. For more information, contact Mary Canady. |
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| Rigaku Americas Corporation will award summer travel bursaries in the amount of U.S. $500 each to the five (5) post-doctoral fellows who provide the most compelling explanation as to how they intend to pursue a career in structural biology. Applications must be received by July 8, 2007. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On June 1, 2007, Rigaku Corporation announced the signing of an agreement with SMI, Inc. of Los Gatos, California as their exclusive sales representatives in the United States for Semiconductor Fab Metrology products. Sales Management Innovations (SMI) has put together a solid team of experienced manufacturers' representatives to provide excellent regional sales coverage throughout the U.S. After a productive sales meeting at Rigaku Americas Corporation in May, the team is already busy contacting customers and following up leads for wafer analyzers, TXRF tools, and the MFM65 wafer metrology tool. SMI is also offering the NitroGen series of liquid nitrogen generators on behalf of
RAC. Primary SMI contacts can now be reached via the Rigaku website. |
 Coating is an important and common technology
used in various industrial fields. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) enables easy and
high-precision analysis for coating thickness without destruction or
consumption of sample. XRF also requires little or no simple sample
preparation to analyze coating thickness.
Designed to enhance corrosion protection or to create a special surface appearance, conversion coatings are critical to the aluminum beverage can industry. Trending towards environmental safety, chromium-free conversion coatings—such as Zr—are becoming more commonplace. WDXRF has been found to be an ideal analysis tool for determining coating thicknesses in applications such as this. A Rigaku Mini-Z Zr analyzer was used to demonstrate the ability of XRF in this application. Mini-Z analyzers are also available to satisfy other coating needs, such as Si on paper or films or Ni on metals. The Rigaku Mini-Z series consists of easy-to-operate benchtop wavelength-dispersive XRF (WDXRF) instruments that analyze for a single element. The optics are specifically designed for the particular element of interest, allowing these instruments to deliver high-precision analysis unexpected from such a compact benchtop unit. |
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"We're sold on Rigaku. We have purchased two Rigaku XRFs. The instrument is the core our lab. We can not afford downtime or inaccurate data. The applications department at Rigaku is very knowledgeable and helpful when developing and updating curves. The service department is quick to respond to our service needs and very competent. Their user classes are also very good." —Susan Grierson "We have been extremely pleased with the user-friendly software and the exceptionally helpful technical support team; so pleased, in fact that we recently purchased our second unit. On the few occasions when we have experienced technical difficulties, Rigaku's friendly and knowledgeable technical support team has worked diligently and in a timely manner to help us fix the problem either over the phone or by service call visit. From sale to service, the staff at Rigaku is top notch." —Stephanie Green |
The growth dynamics, and the ultimate electronic band structure—hence the physical properties—of self-assembled epitaxial semiconductor nanowires and dots depends on the strain states of epitaxial thin films, which are functions of composition, morphology, and relaxation. High-resolution X-ray reciprocal space mapping (RSM) provides a nondestructive, yet quantitative, technique for the characterization of the strain, composition, and morphology of multi-dimensional nanowire or nanodot arrays. Rigaku's new Smartlab® automated diffractometer makes reciprocal space mapping at medium, high, and very high resolution much easier and faster with minimal user interference. The SmartLab is designed for multi-purpose applications, with a computer-guided, user-friendly optics system to achieve variable resolutions for RSM measurements for single crystals and epitaxial thin films. Rigaku's Cross Beam Optics (CBO) mirror—together with a Ge(220)x2 or Ge(220)x4 or Ge(440)x4 monochromator—conditions the incident X-ray beam into monochromatic radiation, with divergence down to a few arc seconds. The automatically aligned Ge(220)x2 analyzer crystal on the detector arm completes a triple-axis configuration for high-resolution RSM measurements. The built-in Eulerian cradle and in-plane arm permits RSM measurements to be carried out in regions usually not accessible by conventional RSM methods. In addition, SmartLab Guidance's macro measurement capability allows multiple RSMs and other measurements, such as rocking curves, to be completed in a single run. |
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What else are our customers saying? |
Introducing: NANOHUNTER | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"I have found the Rigaku XRF staff to be remarkably concerned about the function of the ZSX in my lab, as well as extremely responsive to my needs. On issues as simple as the location of a certain function in the software and as complex as the inevitable hardware problem, the staff is very willing to work with me. I fully expected to receive a lower level of support from Rigaku when my service contract expired. I am pleased that this didn't happen; they have responded to my questions and helped with every situation that has arisen. One XRF staff member, Al Martin, has even solved problems for me via telephone in airports between flights. I truly appreciate this quality of service." —Nancy J. McMillan, Ph.D., AOJN |
 NANOHUNTER
is the world's first benchtop total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF)
spectrometer that provides both trace-level elemental analysis and
evaluation of the physical nature of the sample. Using patented switchable
wavelength and automated variable X-ray incidence angle excitation, this
instrument analyzes the full range of elements—from Al to U—in
solids, liquids, and powders. It also provides chemical information as a
function of analysis depth.
NANOHUNTER provides part-per-billion level detection limits in a fully automated tool suitable for use by the nonspecialist. Direct measurement of solids and powders provides freedom from complex sample digestion or preparation, and makes this spectrometer suitable for replacing or supplementing traditional atomic spectroscopy methods. Compared to other trace-level atomic spectroscopy techniques, the revolutionary aspect of the NANOHUNTER is the minimal level of sample preparation required. It liberates the operator from ancillary equipment—like fume hoods and microwave digesters—associated with a wet laboratory environment. The Rigaku NANOHUNTER's innovation is not limited to extraordinary sensitivity for elemental analysis. The ability to measure samples with an excitation beam that has a variable grazing incidence angle allows the determination of additional physical and chemical information. For the materials scientist involved in nanotechnology research, this ability allows the nature of surface layers to be characterized as particles on a substrate, a homogenous thin film, or as something in between. While designed for the analysis of contamination on—or diffusion into—advanced materials and thin films, the system is also designed to be used for routine quantitative trace elemental analysis of liquids, solids, or powders. With this power and flexibility, the Rigaku NANOHUNTER opens a new chapter in atomic spectroscopy. |
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| Over 26,000 Ovonyx™ multilayer analyzers delivered | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rigaku proudly announces over 26,000 Ovonyx analyzer products have been built, tested and delivered.
Ovonyx multilayer analyzers are synthetic analyzers made using thin-film sputtering, a nanotechnology process. These innovative analyzers are used for light-element analysis in laboratory wavelength dispersive spectrometers and WDXRF attachments for SEMs and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) instruments. Many different Ovoynx multilayers exist, each optimized for performance over a specific elemental range; some are designed to achieve the best possible analysis of a single key element. First offered in 1984, this product line represents the original product developed by the optics group of Rigaku, formerly known as Osmic. Multilayer analyzers are used by Rigaku and all other instrument makers, for analysis of Si through Be. >>> Click here for more information about Rigaku optics products |
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What's new at www. Rigaku.com:
Take our new survey to express your opinion about the Rigaku web site |
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| To subscribe to this newsletter or cancel your subscription, e-mail the webmaster. | Rigaku Americas Corporation: | Rigaku Europe: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9009 New Trails Drive The Woodlands, Texas 77381-5209 U.S.A. e-mail: info@Rigaku.com Tel: (281) 362-2300 FAX: (281) 364-3628 | Unit B6, Chaucer Business Park Watery Lane, Kemsing Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 6QY, England e-mail: info@Rigaku.com Tel: +44 1732 763 367 FAX: +44 1732 763 757 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The marketing firm we engaged to help us with this
project insisted that the e-mail come directly from me so customers
would take it seriously. Unfortunately they didn't do a very good
job of translating our database and quite a few customers were
addressed by the wrong first name. Some thought it was funny; some
didn't. At least one person thought we were questioning their
gender!
