ELDICO ED-1: THE ELECTRON DIFFRACTOMETER

Proven horizontal design for diffraction purposes

Highly accurate nano-structural information
Reliable results within minutes

The ELDICO ED-1, the first dedicated electron
diffractometer, combines an electron beam of
radically simplified design with a goniometer,
precise down to the sub-micrometer level.
Building on proven approaches from X-ray
diffraction and electron microscopy, the new
tool combines the best of these worlds, enab-
ling diffraction experiments at the nano-scale
in an easy-to-install, user-friendly device.
The ELDICO ED-1 is a smart combination of a fi-
ve-axis, 360° rotation, submicrometer-precise
goniometer and a 160 keV electron beam with
specifically designed optics. ELDICO’s ED-1 has
Dectris inside: the powerful QUADRO is the
most proven detector that is well suited for
electrons. The cryo function provides cooling
by conduction to achieve temperatures
close to liquid nitrogen. With its superior
features, the device outperforms any other
can claim ELDICO ED-1 is made by crystallographers,
method used for nano-sized samples.
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Swchno r
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ELDICO Scientific AG (The Electron Diffrac-
tion Company) is a Swiss technology and
service company that was founded in 2019.
Our clients are industrial and academic
researchers in large and fast-growing areas
such as the pharmaceutical industry, the
electro-mobility and the advanced materi-
als/MOFs sector. The company partners with
leading engineering companies and com-
ponent suppliers such as the Swedish Excil-
lum or the Swiss Dectris to deliver superior
performance.
ELDICO operates world‘s first Experience
Centre for electron diffraction in Basel (Switzer-
land).
„We have tailored our system to strictly adhere to
the most essential specifications – this is why we
for crystallographers”.

Shaping the Future of Crystallography, for us, means

supporting academic and industrial scientists
in obtaining relevant structural information faster,
with better quality and at lower cost.
Images ELDICO Scientific, side 1: www.shutterstock.com / side 4, 10: www.borisadolf.net | Version 5 (Product) 3
 What the future of electron
diffraction looks like
„Organic chemists will be among the first users to learn about
and appreciate the advantages of this disruptive technology“
Dr. Eric Hovestreydt, Founder of ELDICO Scientific
In an article on crystallography and electron
diffraction[1], the innovative potential of new
crystallographic methods such as electron,
neutron and synchrotron radiation has clearly
been recognized. These techniques are now
making it possible to study atomic structures
of previously inaccessible crystalline solids.
In addition to the performance of new detec-
tor systems, the benefit from increased com-
puting power and the Cambridge Structural
Database (CSD), which contains one million
crystal structures allowing data to be used in
ways that would have been unimaginable in
the past, the article emphasizes the role of
electron diffraction.
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Addressing the availability of sufficiently large
crystals as one of the main (and best-known)
bottlenecks, the author sees electron diffrac-
tion and quantum crystallography to have
enormous potential: one current development
is the structure elucidation of nanocrystalline
molecular compounds by electron diffraction.
Thanks to a combination of a hybrid pixel
detector with a transmission electron micros-
cope, it is now possible to determine the
structure of single crystals as small as a few
tens of nanometres.
We believe that the need for a microED device,
which is mainly an electron microscope that
is very expensive (and, in our view, not very
suitable), will be causing the next bottleneck
further down the road towards a swift and
accurate analysis of nanocrystalline samples.
Moreover, these experiments are not within
reach for the majority of crystallographers,
forcing scientists around the world to rely on
data from alternative sources.
ELDICO‘s dedicated electron diffractometer
is a highly advanced instrument concept that
will enable the analysis of nano-sized solid
compounds. Organic chemists will be among
the first users to learn about and appreciate
the advantages of this disruptive technology.
We are currently in dialogue with many user
groups and are finding a keen awareness of
the methodology itself as well as great inter-
est in our instrument concept, which will
beat the „retrofitted“ electron microscopes in
terms of usability, quality, time to obtain data
and – last but not least – in cost.
Dr. Eric Hovestreydt
References:
[1] Trendbericht Analytische Chemie, Nachrichten
aus der Chemie, 68, April 2020, 56-57 and references
therein
Voice of the
Customer
„ ... an interesting opportunity (...) for
detailed 3D structure analysis on compounds
presenty impossible to measure, e.g. nano-
sized zeolites.“
Jamie Yang, Huub Kooijman and Ralph Haswell,
Shell, Global Solutions International B.V.,
Amsterdam/NL
„ELDICO Scientific has found a way to
address the most pressing problems of
using conventional TEMs for electron
crystallography.“
Professor Christian W. Lehmann, FRSC, MPI für
Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr/DE
„With a dedicated device for electron
diffraction, a lot of new possibilities would
open. I see new possibilities in pharmacology,
in organic chemistry. I see incredible possibilities
where the size of the crystal is critical.“
Professor Mauro Gemmi, Director at the Center
for Nanotechnology Innovation@NEST of Istituto
Italiano di Tecnologia, PISA, Italy
„The continued development and
application of electron diffraction enables
structural analysis of individual crystals
that are too small to be measured by X-ray
diffraction.“
Professor Jeroen van Bokhoven, Head
of Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable
Chemistry (LSK), Paul Scherrer Institute
 Product & technology Specifications
Electron Diffraction (3D ED) is gaining momen- Unlike transmission electron micro-scopes THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF:
tum in science and industry. The application (TEM), the ELDICO de vice is de dicated An electron source with HV supply
of ED for performing nano-crystallography solely to ED, making it possible to outperform
Emitter LaB₆
is a disruptive innovation that will open up TEM in diffraction by delivering results Acceleration 160kV
fascinating new perspectives, in particular with better quality and greater reliability Beam size 40 nm in STEM imaging
for organic compounds required in the fields and – by making preparative chemistry 700 nm in diffraction
of chemical, pharmaceutical and advanced (i.e. crystallization) obsolete – much faster Electron-Optical System
materials research. at significantly lower investment levels. STEM imaging
Mode single image scanning
Resolution 20 nm
Diffraction
Mode continuous rotation
ELDICO ED-1 Improved goniometer
Resolution 0.82 Å
the golden standard for 3D ED applications fast continuous rotation precision < 1 µm
4 translation and 1 rotation axis Sample handling

Electron beam
Load-lock system for sample insertion
Goniometer
160 kV, low dose
Type 5-axis goniostat
Cryo option for beam-sensitive Rotation full 360°
To measure materials Speed 2°/s
sensitive samples Accuracy 0.02°
Sphere of confusion <0.5 μm
Detection system
Hybrid-pixel detector
Sensor Si
Hybrid-pixel detector Number of pixels 512 x 512
Low-noise and Energy range 30 – 200 keV
high dynamic range Distance to sample fixed
Cryo function (optional)
Octagon
Cooling by conduction to achieve temperatures
for custom attachments
close to liquid nitrogen
Vacuum system
Contains all necessary items like pumps,
The ELDICO Electron Diffractometer sensors and valves
Shaping the future of crystallography with and is targeted to achieve in most cases a Housing
better quality, faster and at lower cost: elec- resolution of up to 0.84 Å with at least 60 -70% Contains integrated safety looks for operation
tron diffraction eliminates the crystal size complete datasets having a Rint of <20%. of the device
problem by entering the sub-μm regime. The Those data typically allow for structure so- Eldico control PC
ELDICO Scientific Electron Diffractometer is lution and refinement down to R1 values of
Personal computer including software
designed to measure samples in the nanome- <10% in 75% of cases. Unit cell determination
ter range of organic and inorganic compounds can be accurate to 1: 1,000.

6 7
 Experimental results Product and service offering
1. Scientific Applications Services
Paracetamol From diffraction data collection (and pre-processing), structure determination (and refinement)
to advanced structural analyses such as determination of the absolute configuration, we offer
C8H9NO2 tailor-made service packages demonstrating good practices, reproducible results and timely
delivery.

Goal: Crystal structure determination

Confirm ability to measure organic compounds Electron Diffraction measurement on a single, stable, solid, crystalline
sample down to 10 nm.
Approach:
A single crystal was measured in continuous rotation mode for a total measurement time of 100 Crystal mapping
sec over 100° rotation – all at room temperature. Identification by determining the cell parameters of the different crystals
on a measurement grid through electron diffraction.
Challenge:
Confirm that the ED-1 can measure fast enough to even keep sensitive organic samples alive, yet
Absolute configuration determination
enabling ab-initio structure solution.
In addition to crystal structure determination, the absolute configuration
will be determined for cases where the crystal structure consists of
Solution:
either enantiopure chiral molecule(s), group(s) or chiral centre(s).
An ED data set was successfully collected at room temperature on a nanocrystal of approximately
am is
660 × 350 nm2. The data set obtained was integrated to a resolution of 0.8 Å. The structure was ntific te
Determination of micro-crystallinity in amorphous solids Our scie rate wit
h
solved with direct methods in the monoclinic space group P21/n with a = 7.0603(9) Å, b = 9.496(2) collabo
Å, c = 11.648(2) Å; β = 96.86(1) °. Electron Diffraction measurement on all crystals on the eager to allen g e s ,
o u o n yo ur c h a t
measurement grid to identify if there is local y a c t us
se cont
so plea

»
micro-crystallinity present in one of the crystals. o.ch
SELECTED RESULTS FROM EXPERIMENTS PIPELINE s@eldic
project

2. Customer-friendly leasing solutions

We offer CAPEX-friendly solutions, including for those who do not want to run the system them-
selves. By teaming up with experienced partners, we provide you with neutral subscription solu-
tions, ranging from a basic leasing option to sophisticated performance-based contracts.

Metaxalone, C12H15NO3 Tyrosine, C 9H11NO3 Histidine, C6H9N3O2

3. System Purchase
Our product is a turn-key instrument that directly produces high-quality structural information
in the nanocrystal regime and delivers reliable results within a few hours, with a clear per-measu-
rement cost advantage. Please contact us to learn more about our superior solution.
More details:

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 ELDICO‘s Customer Experience Center
Since 2022 ELDICO‘s Customer Experience Center opened it‘s doors in Basel, Switzerland.

Here, in the very center of the global pharmaceutical industry we welcome partners for advanced
analytical services and joint projects. The Experience Center‘s customers include a broad
community of academic and industrial users among Hoffmann-LaRoche, Idorsia, Boehringer-
Ingelheim and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI).

The center is dedicated to bring 3D ED applications forward. We offer a broad range of services,
from measurement-as-a-service to advanced scientific applications services and joint R&D
projects. Since early 2022 we have successfully served dozens of clients among leading phar-
maceutical companies with their challenging samples and helped them to accelerated their
R&D operations.

Our team of experienced application scientists are looking forward to discuss your projects
with you.

Please contact us at projects@eldico.ch

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FROM OUR TRUSTED CLIENTS‘ LIST

ELDICO Scientific AG
HEADQUARTERS: PARK INNOVAARE:deliveryLA · 5234 Villigen, Switzerland
www.eldico-scientific.com · info@eldico.ch · Phone +41 44 554 80 48
Electron Diffraction Innovation Platform Basel: c/o Switzerland Innovation
Park Basel Area AG; Gewerbestrasse 244123 Allschwil, Switzerland