| 1. |
- Beye, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Chemical Bond Activation Observed with an X-ray Laser
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185 .- 1948-7185. ; 7:18, s. 3647-3651
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of bonding and antibonding orbitals is fundamental in chemistry. The population of those orbitals and the energetic difference between the two reflect the strength of the bonding interaction. Weakening the bond is expected to reduce this energetic splitting, but the transient character of bond-activation has so far prohibited direct experimental access. Here we apply time-resolved soft X-ray spectroscopy at a free electron laser to directly observe the decreased bonding antibonding splitting following bond-activation using an ultrashort optical laser pulse.
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| 2. |
- Bielecki, Johan, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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Electrospray sample injection for single-particle imaging with x-ray lasers
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 5:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The possibility of imaging single proteins constitutes an exciting challenge for x-ray lasers. Despite encouraging results on large particles, imaging small particles has proven to be difficult for two reasons: not quite high enough pulse intensity from currently available x-ray lasers and, as we demonstrate here, contamination of the aerosolized molecules by nonvolatile contaminants in the solution. The amount of contamination on the sample depends on the initial droplet size during aerosolization. Here, we show that, with our electrospray injector, we can decrease the size of aerosol droplets and demonstrate virtually contaminant-free sample delivery of organelles, small virions, and proteins. The results presented here, together with the increased performance of next-generation x-ray lasers, constitute an important stepping stone toward the ultimate goal of protein structure determination from imaging at room temperature and high temporal resolution.
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| 3. |
- Curbis, F., et al.
(författare)
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Status of the soft X-ray laser (SXL) project at the Max IV laboratory
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 39th International Free-Electron Laser Conference, FEL 2019. - : JACoW Publishing. - 9783954502103 ; , s. 749-752
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A Soft X-ray Laser project (the SXL) aiming to produce FEL radiation in the range of 1 to 5 nm is currently in a conceptual design phase and a report on the design is expected to be delivered by March 2021. The FEL will be driven by the existing 3 GeV linac at MAX IV laboratory, which also serves as injector for the two storage rings. The science case has been pushed by a large group of mainly Swedish users and consists of experiments ranging from AMO physics to condensed matter, chemistry and imaging in life science. In this contribution, we will present the current conceptual design of the accelerator and the FEL operation modes together with a general overview of the beamline and experimental station. In particular design options for the FEL will be discussed in conjunction with the features of the electron beam from the MAX IV linac and the connection with the proposed experiments.
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| 4. |
- Daurer, Benedikt J., et al.
(författare)
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Experimental strategies for imaging bioparticles with femtosecond hard X-ray pulses
- 2017
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Ingår i: IUCrJ. - : INT UNION CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. - 2052-2525. ; 4, s. 251-262
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study explores the capabilities of the Coherent X-ray Imaging Instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source to image small biological samples. The weak signal from small samples puts a significant demand on the experiment. Aerosolized Omono River virus particles of similar to 40 nm in diameter were injected into the submicrometre X-ray focus at a reduced pressure. Diffraction patterns were recorded on two area detectors. The statistical nature of the measurements from many individual particles provided information about the intensity profile of the X-ray beam, phase variations in the wavefront and the size distribution of the injected particles. The results point to a wider than expected size distribution (from similar to 35 to similar to 300 nm in diameter). This is likely to be owing to nonvolatile contaminants from larger droplets during aerosolization and droplet evaporation. The results suggest that the concentration of nonvolatile contaminants and the ratio between the volumes of the initial droplet and the sample particles is critical in such studies. The maximum beam intensity in the focus was found to be 1.9 * 10(12) photons per mu m(2) per pulse. The full-width of the focus at half-maximum was estimated to be 500 nm (assuming 20% beamline transmission), and this width is larger than expected. Under these conditions, the diffraction signal from a sample-sized particle remained above the average background to a resolution of 4.25 nm. The results suggest that reducing the size of the initial droplets during aerosolization is necessary to bring small particles into the scope of detailed structural studies with X-ray lasers.
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| 5. |
- Dell'Angela, M., et al.
(författare)
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Vacuum space charge effects in sub-picosecond soft X-ray photoemission on a molecular adsorbate layer
- 2015
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Ingår i: Structural Dynamics. - : AIP Publishing. - 2329-7778. ; 2:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vacuum space charge induced kinetic energy shifts of O 1s and Ru 3d core levels in femtosecond soft X-ray photoemission spectra (PES) have been studied at a free electron laser (FEL) for an oxygen layer on Ru(0001). We fully reproduced the measurements by simulating the in-vacuum expansion of the photoelectrons and demonstrate the space charge contribution of the high-order harmonics in the FEL beam. Employing the same analysis for 400 nm pump-X-ray probe PES, we can disentangle the delay dependent Ru 3d energy shifts into effects induced by space charge and by lattice heating from the femtosecond pump pulse.
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| 6. |
- Gallo, Paola, et al.
(författare)
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Water : A Tale of Two Liquids
- 2016
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Ingår i: Chemical Reviews. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0009-2665 .- 1520-6890. ; 116:13, s. 7463-7500
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Water is the most abundant liquid on earth and also the substance with the largest number of anomalies in its properties. It is a prerequisite for life and as such a most important subject of current research in chemical physics and physical chemistry. In spite of its simplicity as a liquid, it has an enormously rich phase diagram where different types of ices, amorphous phases, and anomalies disclose a path that points to unique thermodynamics of its supercooled liquid state that still hides many unraveled secrets. In this review we describe the behavior of water in the regime from ambient conditions to the deeply supercooled region. The review describes simulations and experiments on this anomalous liquid. Several scenarios have been proposed to explain the anomalous properties that become strongly enhanced in the supercooled region. Among those, the second critical-point scenario has been investigated extensively, and at present most experimental evidence point to this scenario. Starting from very low temperatures, a coexistence line between a high-density amorphous phase and a low-density amorphous phase would continue in a coexistence line between a high-density and a low-density liquid phase terminating in a liquid liquid critical point, LLCP. On approaching this LLCP from the one-phase region, a crossover in thermodynamics and dynamics can be found. This is discussed based on a picture of a temperature-dependent balance between a high-density liquid and a low-density liquid favored by, respectively, entropy and enthalpy, leading to a consistent picture of the thermodynamics of bulk water. Ice nucleation is also discussed, since this is what severely impedes experimental investigation of the vicinity of the proposed LLCP. Experimental investigation of stretched water, i.e., water at negative pressure, gives access to a different regime of the complex water diagram. Different ways to inhibit crystallization through confinement and aqueous solutions are discussed through results from experiments and simulations using the most sophisticated and advanced techniques. These findings represent tiles of a global picture that still needs to be completed. Some of the possible experimental lines of research that are essential to complete this picture are explored.
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| 7. |
- Gorkhover, Tais, et al.
(författare)
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Femtosecond X-ray Fourier holography imaging of free-flying nanoparticles
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Photonics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1749-4885 .- 1749-4893. ; 12:3, s. 150-153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ultrafast X-ray imaging on individual fragile specimens such as aerosols 1 , metastable particles 2 , superfluid quantum systems 3 and live biospecimens 4 provides high-resolution information that is inaccessible with conventional imaging techniques. Coherent X-ray diffractive imaging, however, suffers from intrinsic loss of phase, and therefore structure recovery is often complicated and not always uniquely defined 4,5 . Here, we introduce the method of in-flight holography, where we use nanoclusters as reference X-ray scatterers to encode relative phase information into diffraction patterns of a virus. The resulting hologram contains an unambiguous three-dimensional map of a virus and two nanoclusters with the highest lateral resolution so far achieved via single shot X-ray holography. Our approach unlocks the benefits of holography for ultrafast X-ray imaging of nanoscale, non-periodic systems and paves the way to direct observation of complex electron dynamics down to the attosecond timescale.
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| 8. |
- Kim, Kyung Hwan, et al.
(författare)
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Maxima in the thermodynamic response and correlation functions of deeply supercooled water
- 2017
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 358:6370, s. 1589-1593
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Femtosecond x-ray laser pulses were used to probe micrometer-sized water droplets that were cooled down to 227 kelvin in vacuum. Isothermal compressibility and correlation length were extracted from x-ray scattering at the low-momentum transfer region. The temperature dependence of these thermodynamic response and correlation functions shows maxima at 229 kelvin for water and 233 kelvin for heavy water. In addition, we observed that the liquids undergo the fastest growth of tetrahedral structures at similar temperatures. These observations point to the existence of a Widom line, defined as the locus of maximum correlation length emanating from a critical point at positive pressures in the deeply supercooled regime. The difference in the maximum value of the isothermal compressibility between the two isotopes shows the importance of nuclear quantum effects.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Kim, Kyung Hwan, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature-Independent Nuclear Quantum Effects on the Structure of Water
- 2017
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 119:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nuclear quantum effects (NQEs) have a significant influence on the hydrogen bonds in water and aqueous solutions and have thus been the topic of extensive studies. However, the microscopic origin and the corresponding temperature dependence of NQEs have been elusive and still remain the subject of ongoing discussion. Previous x-ray scattering investigations indicate that NQEs on the structure of water exhibit significant temperature dependence [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 047801 (2005)]. Here, by performing wide-angle x-ray scattering of H2O and D2O droplets at temperatures from 275 K down to 240 K, we determine the temperature dependence of NQEs on the structure of water down to the deeply supercooled regime. The data reveal that the magnitude of NQEs on the structure of water is temperature independent, as the structure factor of D2O is similar to H2O if the temperature is shifted by a constant 5 K, valid from ambient conditions to the deeply supercooled regime. Analysis of the accelerated growth of tetrahedral structures in supercooled H2O and D2O also shows similar behavior with a clear 5 K shift. The results indicate a constant compensation between NQEs delocalizing the proton in the librational motion away from the bond and in the OH stretch vibrational modes along the bond. This is consistent with the fact that only the vibrational ground state is populated at ambient and supercooled conditions.
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