| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Pedersoli, E., et al.
(author)
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Mesoscale morphology of airborne core-shell nanoparticle clusters : x-ray laser coherent diffraction imaging
- 2013
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In: Journal of Physics B. - : IOP Publishing. - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 46:16 SI, s. 164033-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Unraveling the complex morphology of functional materials like core-shell nanoparticles and its evolution in different environments is still a challenge. Only recently has the single-particle coherent diffraction imaging (CDI), enabled by the ultrabright femtosecond free-electron laser pulses, provided breakthroughs in understanding mesoscopic morphology of nanoparticulate matter. Here, we report the first CDI results for Co@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles randomly clustered in large airborne aggregates, obtained using the x-ray free-electron laser at the Linac Coherent Light Source. Our experimental results compare favourably with simulated diffraction patterns for clustered Co@SiO2 nanoparticles with similar to 10 nm core diameter and similar to 30 nm shell outer diameter, which confirms the ability to resolve the mesoscale morphology of complex metastable structures. The findings in this first morphological study of core-shell nanomaterials are a solid base for future time-resolved studies of dynamic phenomena in complex nanoparticulate matter using x-ray lasers.
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| 3. |
- Duane Loh, N., et al.
(author)
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Profiling structured beams using injected aerosols
- 2012
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In: Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. - 9780819492210 ; , s. 850403-
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Profiling structured beams produced by X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) is crucial to both maximizing signal intensity for weakly scattering targets and interpreting their scattering patterns. Earlier ablative imprint studies describe how to infer the X-ray beam profile from the damage that an attenuated beam inflicts on a substrate. However, the beams in-situ profile is not directly accessible with imprint studies because the damage profile could be different from the actual beam profile. On the other hand, although a Shack-Hartmann sensor is capable of in-situ profiling, its lenses may be quickly damaged at the intense focus of hard X-ray FEL beams. We describe a new approach that probes the in-situ morphology of the intense FEL focus. By studying the translations in diffraction patterns from an ensemble of randomly injected sub-micron latex spheres, we were able to determine the non-Gaussian nature of the intense FEL beam at the Linac Coherent Light Source (SLAC National Laboratory) near the FEL focus. We discuss an experimental application of such a beam-profiling technique, and the limitations we need to overcome before it can be widely applied.
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| 4. |
- Loh, N. D., et al.
(author)
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Fractal morphology, imaging and mass spectrometry of single aerosol particles in flight
- 2012
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 486:7404, s. 513-517
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The morphology of micrometre-size particulate matter is of critical importance in fields ranging from toxicology(1) to climate science(2), yet these properties are surprisingly difficult to measure in the particles' native environment. Electron microscopy requires collection of particles on a substrate(3); visible light scattering provides insufficient resolution(4); and X-ray synchrotron studies have been limited to ensembles of particles(5). Here we demonstrate an in situ method for imaging individual sub-micrometre particles to nanometre resolution in their native environment, using intense, coherent X-ray pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source(6) free-electron laser. We introduced individual aerosol particles into the pulsed X-ray beam, which is sufficiently intense that diffraction from individual particles can be measured for morphological analysis. At the same time, ion fragments ejected from the beam were analysed using mass spectrometry, to determine the composition of single aerosol particles. Our results show the extent of internal dilation symmetry of individual soot particles subject to non-equilibrium aggregation, and the surprisingly large variability in their fractal dimensions. More broadly, our methods can be extended to resolve both static and dynamic morphology of general ensembles of disordered particles. Such general morphology has implications in topics such as solvent accessibilities in proteins(7), vibrational energy transfer by the hydrodynamic interaction of amino acids(8), and large-scale production of nanoscale structures by flame synthesis(9).
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| 5. |
- Martin, A. V., et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond dark-field imaging with an X-ray free electron laser
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:12, s. 13501-13512
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The emergence of femtosecond diffractive imaging with X-ray lasers has enabled pioneering structural studies of isolated particles, such as viruses, at nanometer length scales. However, the issue of missing low frequency data significantly limits the potential of X-ray lasers to reveal sub-nanometer details of micrometer-sized samples. We have developed a new technique of dark-field coherent diffractive imaging to simultaneously overcome the missing data issue and enable us to harness the unique contrast mechanisms available in dark-field microscopy. Images of airborne particulate matter (soot) up to two microns in length were obtained using single-shot diffraction patterns obtained at the Linac Coherent Light Source, four times the size of objects previously imaged in similar experiments. This technique opens the door to femtosecond diffractive imaging of a wide range of micrometer-sized materials that exhibit irreproducible complexity down to the nanoscale, including airborne particulate matter, small cells, bacteria and gold-labeled biological samples.
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| 6. |
- Martin, A. V., et al.
(author)
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Noise-robust coherent diffractive imaging with a single diffraction pattern
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:15, s. 16650-16661
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The resolution of single-shot coherent diffractive imaging at X-ray free-electron laser facilities is limited by the low signal-to-noise level of diffraction data at high scattering angles. The iterative reconstruction methods, which phase a continuous diffraction pattern to produce an image, must be able to extract information from these weak signals to obtain the best quality images. Here we show how to modify iterative reconstruction methods to improve tolerance to noise. The method is demonstrated with the hybrid input-output method on both simulated data and single-shot diffraction patterns taken at the Linac Coherent Light Source. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America
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| 7. |
- Stern, S., et al.
(author)
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Toward atomic resolution diffractive imaging of isolated molecules with X-ray free-electron lasers
- 2014
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In: Faraday Discussions. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1364-5498. ; 171, s. 393-418
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We give a detailed account of the theoretical analysis and the experimental results of an X-ray-diffraction experiment on quantum-state selected and strongly laser-aligned gasphase ensembles of the prototypical large asymmetric rotor molecule 2,5-diiodobenzonitrile, performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 083002 (2014)]. This experiment is the first step toward coherent diffractive imaging of structures and structural dynamics of isolated molecules at atomic resolution, i.e., picometers and femtoseconds, using X-ray free-electron lasers.
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| 8. |
- Sellberg, Jonas A., et al.
(author)
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Ultrafast X-ray probing of water structure below the homogeneous ice nucleation temperature
- 2014
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 510:7505, s. 381-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Water has a number of anomalous physical properties, and some of these become drastically enhanced on supercooling below the freezing point. Particular interest has focused on thermodynamic response functions that can be described using a normal component and an anomalous component that seems to diverge at about 228 kelvin (refs 1-3). This has prompted debate about conflicting theories(4-12) that aim to explain many of the anomalous thermodynamic properties of water. One popular theory attributes the divergence to a phase transition between two forms of liquid water occurring in the 'no man's land' that lies below the homogeneous ice nucleation temperature (T-H) at approximately 232 kelvin(13) and above about 160 kelvin(14), and where rapid ice crystallization has prevented any measurements of the bulk liquid phase. In fact, the reliable determination of the structure of liquid water typically requires temperatures above about 250 kelvin(2,15). Water crystallization has been inhibited by using nanoconfinement(16), nanodroplets(17) and association with biomolecules(16) to give liquid samples at temperatures below T-H, but such measurements rely on nanoscopic volumes of water where the interaction with the confining surfaces makes the relevance to bulk water unclear(18). Here we demonstrate that femtosecond X-ray laser pulses can be used to probe the structure of liquid water in micrometre-sized droplets that have been evaporatively cooled(19-21) below TH. We find experimental evidence for the existence of metastable bulk liquid water down to temperatures of 227(-1)(+2) kelvin in the previously largely unexplored no man's land. We observe a continuous and accelerating increase in structural ordering on supercooling to approximately 229 kelvin, where the number of droplets containing ice crystals increases rapidly. But a few droplets remain liquid for about a millisecond even at this temperature. The hope now is that these observations and our detailed structural data will help identify those theories that best describe and explain the behaviour of water.
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| 9. |
- Aquila, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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Time-resolved protein nanocrystallography using an X-ray free-electron laser
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:3, s. 2706-2716
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We demonstrate the use of an X-ray free electron laser synchronized with an optical pump laser to obtain X-ray diffraction snapshots from the photoactivated states of large membrane protein complexes in the form of nanocrystals flowing in a liquid jet. Light-induced changes of Photosystem I-Ferredoxin co-crystals were observed at time delays of 5 to 10 µs after excitation. The result correlates with the microsecond kinetics of electron transfer from Photosystem I to ferredoxin. The undocking process that follows the electron transfer leads to large rearrangements in the crystals that will terminally lead to the disintegration of the crystals. We describe the experimental setup and obtain the first time-resolved femtosecond serial X-ray crystallography results from an irreversible photo-chemical reaction at the Linac Coherent Light Source. This technique opens the door to time-resolved structural studies of reaction dynamics in biological systems.
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| 10. |
- Chapman, Henry N, et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond X-ray protein nanocrystallography.
- 2011
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 470:7332, s. 73-7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray crystallography provides the vast majority of macromolecular structures, but the success of the method relies on growing crystals of sufficient size. In conventional measurements, the necessary increase in X-ray dose to record data from crystals that are too small leads to extensive damage before a diffraction signal can be recorded. It is particularly challenging to obtain large, well-diffracting crystals of membrane proteins, for which fewer than 300 unique structures have been determined despite their importance in all living cells. Here we present a method for structure determination where single-crystal X-ray diffraction 'snapshots' are collected from a fully hydrated stream of nanocrystals using femtosecond pulses from a hard-X-ray free-electron laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source. We prove this concept with nanocrystals of photosystem I, one of the largest membrane protein complexes. More than 3,000,000 diffraction patterns were collected in this study, and a three-dimensional data set was assembled from individual photosystem I nanocrystals (∼200nm to 2μm in size). We mitigate the problem of radiation damage in crystallography by using pulses briefer than the timescale of most damage processes. This offers a new approach to structure determination of macromolecules that do not yield crystals of sufficient size for studies using conventional radiation sources or are particularly sensitive to radiation damage.
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| 11. |
- Johansson, Linda C, 1983, et al.
(author)
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Lipidic phase membrane protein serial femtosecond crystallography.
- 2012
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In: Nature methods. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1548-7105 .- 1548-7091. ; 9:3, s. 263-265
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray free electron laser (X-FEL)-based serial femtosecond crystallography is an emerging method with potential to rapidly advance the challenging field of membrane protein structural biology. Here we recorded interpretable diffraction data from micrometer-sized lipidic sponge phase crystals of the Blastochloris viridis photosynthetic reaction center delivered into an X-FEL beam using a sponge phase micro-jet.
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| 12. |
- Seibert, M. Marvin, et al.
(author)
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Single mimivirus particles intercepted and imaged with an X-ray laser
- 2011
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 470:7332, s. 78-81
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray lasers offer new capabilities in understanding the structure of biological systems, complex materials and matter under extreme conditions(1-4). Very short and extremely bright, coherent X-ray pulses can be used to outrun key damage processes and obtain a single diffraction pattern from a large macromolecule, a virus or a cell before the sample explodes and turns into plasma(1). The continuous diffraction pattern of non-crystalline objects permits oversampling and direct phase retrieval(2). Here we show that high-quality diffraction data can be obtained with a single X-ray pulse from a noncrystalline biological sample, a single mimivirus particle, which was injected into the pulsed beam of a hard-X-ray free-electron laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source(5). Calculations indicate that the energy deposited into the virus by the pulse heated the particle to over 100,000 K after the pulse had left the sample. The reconstructed exit wavefront (image) yielded 32-nm full-period resolution in a single exposure and showed no measurable damage. The reconstruction indicates inhomogeneous arrangement of dense material inside the virion. We expect that significantly higher resolutions will be achieved in such experiments with shorter and brighter photon pulses focused to a smaller area. The resolution in such experiments can be further extended for samples available in multiple identical copies.
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| 13. |
- Bogan, M. J., et al.
(author)
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Single-shot femtosecond x-ray diffraction from randomly oriented ellipsoidal nanoparticles
- 2010
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In: Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams. - 1098-4402. ; 13:9, s. 094701-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Coherent diffractive imaging of single particles using the single-shot "diffract and destroy" approach with an x-ray free electron laser (FEL) was recently demonstrated. A high-resolution low-noise coherent diffraction pattern, representative of the object before it turns into a plasma and explodes, results from the interaction of the FEL with the particle. Iterative phase retrieval algorithms are used to reconstruct two-dimensional projection images of the object from the recorded intensities alone. Here we describe the first single-shot diffraction data set that mimics the data proposed for obtaining 3D structure from identical particles. Ellipsoidal iron oxide nanoparticles (250 nm x 50 nm) were aerosolized and injected through an aerodynamic lens stack into a soft x-ray FEL. Particle orientation was not controlled with this injection method. We observed that, at the instant the x-ray pulse interacts with the particle, a snapshot of the particle's orientation is encoded in the diffraction pattern. The results give credence to one of the technical concepts of imaging individual nanometer and subnanometer-sized objects such as single molecules or larger clusters of molecules using hard x-ray FELs and will be used to help develop robust algorithms for determining particle orientations and 3D structure.
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| 14. |
- Kassemeyer, Stephan, et al.
(author)
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Femtosecond free-electron laser x-ray diffraction data sets for algorithm development
- 2012
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 20:4, s. 4149-4158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe femtosecond X-ray diffraction data sets of viruses and nanoparticles collected at the Linac Coherent Light Source. The data establish the first large benchmark data sets for coherent diffraction methods freely available to the public, to bolster the development of algorithms that are essential for developing this novel approach as a useful imaging technique. Applications are 2D reconstructions, orientation classification and finally 3D imaging by assembling 2D patterns into a 3D diffraction volume.
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| 15. |
- Kuepper, Jochen, et al.
(author)
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X-Ray Diffraction from Isolated and Strongly Aligned Gas-Phase Molecules with a Free-Electron Laser
- 2014
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 112:8, s. 083002-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report experimental results on x-ray diffraction of quantum-state-selected and strongly aligned ensembles of the prototypical asymmetric rotor molecule 2,5-diiodobenzonitrile using the Linac Coherent Light Source. The experiments demonstrate first steps toward a new approach to diffractive imaging of distinct structures of individual, isolated gas-phase molecules. We confirm several key ingredients of single molecule diffraction experiments: the abilities to detect and count individual scattered x-ray photons in single shot diffraction data, to deliver state-selected, e.g., structural-isomer-selected, ensembles of molecules to the x-ray interaction volume, and to strongly align the scattering molecules. Our approach, using ultrashort x-ray pulses, is suitable to study ultrafast dynamics of isolated molecules.
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| 16. |
- Loh, N. Duane, et al.
(author)
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Sensing the wavefront of x-ray free-electron lasers using aerosol spheres
- 2013
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 21:10, s. 12385-12394
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Characterizing intense, focused x-ray free electron laser (FEL) pulses is crucial for their use in diffractive imaging. We describe how the distribution of average phase tilts and intensities on hard x-ray pulses with peak intensities of 1021 W/m(2) can be retrieved from an ensemble of diffraction patterns produced by 70 nm-radius polystyrene spheres, in a manner that mimics wavefront sensors. Besides showing that an adaptive geometric correction may be necessary for diffraction data from randomly injected sample sources, our paper demonstrates the possibility of collecting statistics on structured pulses using only the diffraction patterns they generate and highlights the imperative to study its impact on single-particle diffractive imaging.
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Sierra, Raymond G., et al.
(author)
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Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography
- 2012
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In: Acta Crystallographica Section D. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0907-4449 .- 1399-0047. ; 68, s. 1584-1587
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An electrospun liquid microjet has been developed that delivers protein microcrystal suspensions at flow rates of 0.14-3.1 mu l min(-1) to perform serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) studies with X-ray lasers. Thermolysin microcrystals flowed at 0.17 mu l min(-1) and diffracted to beyond 4 angstrom resolution, producing 14 000 indexable diffraction patterns, or four per second, from 140 mu g of protein. Nanoflow electrospinning extends SFX to biological samples that necessitate minimal sample consumption.
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| 19. |
- Yoon, Chun Hong, et al.
(author)
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Unsupervised classification of single-particle X-ray diffraction snapshots by spectral clustering
- 2011
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 19:17, s. 16542-16549
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Single-particle experiments using X-ray Free Electron Lasers produce more than 10(5) snapshots per hour, consisting of an admixture of blank shots (no particle intercepted), and exposures of one or more particles. Experimental data sets also often contain unintentional contamination with different species. We present an unsupervised method able to sort experimental snapshots without recourse to templates, specific noise models, or user-directed learning. The results show 90% agreement with manual classification.
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