DAWN is a generic data analysis software platform that has been developed for use at synchrotron beamlines for data visualization and analysis. Its generic design makes it suitable for use in a range of scientific and engineering applications.

For its first release in 2004, CRANK was shown to effectively detect and phase anomalous scatterers from single‐wavelength anomalous diffraction data. Since then, CRANK has been significantly improved and many more structures can be built automatically with single‐ or multiple‐wavelength anomalous diffraction or single isomorphous replacement with anomalous scattering data. Here, the new algorithms that have been developed that have led to these substantial improvements are discussed and CRANK's performance on over 100 real data sets is shown. The latest version of CRANK is freely available for download at http://www.bfsc.leidenuniv.nl/software/crank/ and from CCP4 (http://www.ccp4.ac.uk/).

The dynamics of the layer-displacement fluctuations in smectic membranes have been studied by x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS). We report transitions from an oscillatory damping regime to simple exponential decay of the fluctuations, both as a function of membrane thickness and upon changing from specular to off-specular scattering. This behavior is in agreement with recent theories. Employing avalanche photodiode detectors and the uniform filling mode of the synchrotron storage ring, the fast limits of XPCS have been explored down to 50 ns.

Sikharulidze, I.; Farago, B.; Dolbnya, I.P.; Madsen, A.; de Jeu, W.H.

Micrometre long nanoribbons have been grown from solutions of functionalized poly(para-phenyleneethynylene)s (PPE)s on noncrystalline insulating substrates including glass and carbon coated copper grids. Tapping mode scanning force microscopy (SFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that these nanostructures possess a molecular cross section with a typical thickness of 2-3 molecular layers and a width which reflects the distribution of macromolecular lengths. The ribbons are therefore quite similar to the ones found on the crystalline mica substrate except that they are not oriented within the surface plane. This indicates that the growth of these architectures from solution is mainly governed by intermolecular interactions between the π-conjugated macromolecules. The possibility to self-assemble these nanoribbons also on amorphous silica opens a prospect for their application as molecular nanowires bridging gold nanoelectrodes grown on oxidized silicon wafers.