From too good to impossible experiments on large scale facilities

Michael Bodensteiner

University of Regensburg, Universitaetsstr. 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany

e-mail: michael.bodensteiner@ur.de

In many aspects, large-scale facilities represent the gold standard of structure determination. The intensity of synchrotrons or free-electron lasers is unprecedented and the exact positions of atomic nuclei are referenced against data obtained from neutron sources. However, there has been significant progress in both the home lab instruments and the methods for modelling. As a result, many experiments that would have required a large-scale facility just a few years ago can now be carried out at home. With electron diffraction also coming into play, which makes invisible crystals measurable, one might think that the trip to the synchrotron can be saved. However, so much more information can be obtained from large-scale facilities. A colleague recently put it in a nutshell: “Now that the small, poorly scattering crystals are staying at home, we can get back to the exciting stuff.” With ever better data and more sophisticated models, effects are coming to light that were previously overshadowed by the deficiencies in data quality and structural models. This is where the large-scale facilities are needed again. The combination of different methods at these facilities opens up even more insights.