A modified capillary-growth method is described that has substantial advantages for standard and high-throughput protein crystal growth. Protein-containing drops are injected into vapor-permeable flexible X-ray-transparent polyester tubing. The protein concentration in the drop increases over time by water transport through the tubing wall at a rate controlled by the wall thickness and ambient relative humidity.

A new method for mounting protein crystals and other environmentally sensitive samples for room-temperature diffraction measurements is described. A crystal is retrieved using a microfabricated sample mount as recently reported, and the mount is inserted into a modified goniometer-compatible base. A transparent thin-wall polyester tube sealed at one end and filled with stabilizing liquid is then drawn over the crystal and sealed to the goniometer base.

The present experiments have established the potential of X-ray fluorescence to reveal traces of letters on abraded surfaces of ancient inscriptions, and to provide information about how the inscriptions were created. The small number of inscriptions examined here is not sufficient to establish this method's overall effectiveness and the factors relevant to its successful application. A proof-of-concept study on an inscription with unrecovered text is required.

The growth processes and defect structures of protein and virus crystals have been studied in situ by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction topography, and high-resolution reciprocal space scanning. Molecular mechanisms of macromolecular crystallization were visualized and fundamental kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, which govern the crystallization process of a number of macromolecular crystals, have been determined.

The shear plasticity of charge density waves (CDW) in NbSe3 single crystals with cross sections having a single microfabricated thickness step was investigated. Thickness-dependent CDW pinning was found to be responsible for the origin of shear stresses along the step. The CDW depinned elastically at the volume average depinning field for small thickness differences, whereas the weak pinned side depinned first through plastic shear, for large thickness differences. Shear plasticity contributed substantial dissipation above the depinning field in large thickness differences.

The motion of Charge-Density Waves (CDWs) shows many similarities with transport in superconductors with the role of voltage and current reversed. Submicron superconducting devices are very important in both fundamental studies and applications of superconductivity. For CDWs, reliable fabrication methods for making similar devices are not as advanced and are still being developed. In search for new mesoscopic CDW physics, we have fabricated insulating longitudinal point contacts and weak links in the CDW conductor NbSe 3.