To meet the needs of customers and to continuously improve customer satisfaction, even at the highest level, is the main goal of quality management and the essence of the ISO 9000 family of standards. A high level of quality and quality management is not only important to DECTRIS, but also to all of our customers.

DECTRIS has been using effective quality management processes for many years. Over the last year, we have further refined our processes to meet the specific requirements of ISO 9001:2015.

A successful audit in October 2016 has confirmed that DECTRIS’ processes meet the international standard. With efficient and well-integrated processes, DECTRIS will keep focusing on its primary mission - technological leadership in X-ray detectors for scientific, industrial, and medical applications - while incessantly improving the customer experience.
“In our 10-year history, we have always taken pride in the high quality of our detectors and customer service. At DECTRIS we are very pleased to achieve ISO 9001 certification. It shows that our commitment to quality meets and exceeds an internationally recognized and highly regarded standard,” comments Christian Brönnimann, CEO of DECTRIS, and adds: “Adhering to the ISO 9001 standard will also ensure the highest level of quality during the future growth of DECTRIS.”

Our diffractometer. Data collection with an EIGER R 1M in the DECTRIS application laboratory.

The DECTRIS application and training laboratory officially opened today after commissioning of the first instrument. This is a milestone in DECTRIS history and manifests our commitment towards delivering the best performing detectors for our customers, especially the growing number of laboratory users. If you are interested in testing our detectors with your crystals, please contact us to schedule a visit.

DECTRIS operates a Rigaku Oxford Diffraction XtalLAB MicroMax-003 single-crystal X-ray diffractometer with a microfocus sealed tube for standard macromolecular crystallography and small-molecule crystallography. Thanks to a partial-chi goniometer, we can collect high-multiplicity data for experimental phasing based on the anomalous signal of sulfur inherent in most proteins. The two-theta angle of up to 90° will allow us to collect small-molecule data at IUCr resolution.

We have demonstrated the performance of the instrument by quickly solving the structure of lysozyme, a common test protein, by single-wavelength anomalous dispersion. One hour of data acquisition was sufficient to obtain enough anomalous data to determine phases and autotrace the Cα backbone.

Experimental map. Strong difference density for disulfides and clear maps obtained from S-SAD phasing of lysozyme with one hour of diffraction data.

In our application laboratory we will characterize our detectors in low-flux conditions and review data collection methods. We will strive to optimize data quality and provide the basis for the faster determination of higher-quality structures. The data acquisition software supports data collection with PILATUS3 R 100K, 200K and 300K and EIGER R 1M and 4M detectors.

To mark the tenth anniversary of DECTRIS, employees and their families celebrated with friends, users and partners. Below are some impressions from a memorable day.

The newly introduced PILATUS3 R CdTe series combines the advantages of noise-free single-photon counting with the benefits of direct detection of hard X-rays in large cadmium telluride (CdTe) sensors.

CdTe provides close to 100% absorption efficiency for hard radiation from Mo, Ag, and In. Combined with noise-free single-photon counting, this brings the direct detection of photons from these sources to a new level of sensitivity and accuracy. The absence of readout noise and dark current is of particular advantage when collecting data with a home source: X-ray sources in the laboratory, particularly for hard X-rays, are much weaker than at the synchrotron, requiring longer exposure times and resulting in weaker signals. Thanks to the absence of dark current and readout noise, all PILATUS3 R CdTe detectors outperform every other technology in the laboratory.

Challenging laboratory applications such as charge density studies and pair distribution function analysis rely on hard radiation and on data with outstanding signal-to-noise ratios. The PILATUS3 R CdTe detectors series offers a unique combination of high-efficiency direct detection with noise-free single-photon counting and is the best match for these requirements in the laboratory.