| 1. |
- André, Tomas, et al.
(author)
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Macromolecule classification using X-ray laser induced fragmentation simulated with hybrid Monte Carlo/Molecular Dynamics
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We have developed a hybrid Monte Carlo and classical molecular dynamics code to follow the ultrafast atomic dynamics in biological macromolecules induced by a femtosecond X-ray laser. Our model for fragmentation shows good qualitative agreement with ab-initio simulations of small molecules, while being computationally faster. We applied the code for macromolecules and simulated the Coulomb explosion dynamics due to the fast ionization in six proteins with different physical properties. The trajectories of the ions are followed and projected onto a detector, where the particular pattern depends on the protein, providing a unique footprint. We utilize algorithms such as principal component analysis and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding to classify the fragmentation pattern. The results show that the classification algorithms are able to separate the explosion patterns into distinct groups. We envision that this method could be used to provide additional class information, like particle mass or shape, in structural determination experiments using X-ray lasers.
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| 2. |
- Andreasson, Jakob, et al.
(author)
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Automated identification and classification of single particle serial femtosecond X-ray diffraction data
- 2014
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 22:3, s. 2497-2510
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The first hard X-ray laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), produces 120 shots per second. Particles injected into the X-ray beam are hit randomly and in unknown orientations by the extremely intense X-ray pulses, where the femtosecond-duration X-ray pulses diffract from the sample before the particle structure is significantly changed even though the sample is ultimately destroyed by the deposited X-ray energy. Single particle X-ray diffraction experiments generate data at the FEL repetition rate, resulting in more than 400,000 detector readouts in an hour, the data stream during an experiment contains blank frames mixed with hits on single particles, clusters and contaminants. The diffraction signal is generally weak and it is superimposed on a low but continually fluctuating background signal, originating from photon noise in the beam line and electronic noise from the detector. Meanwhile, explosion of the sample creates fragments with a characteristic signature. Here, we describe methods based on rapid image analysis combined with ion Time-of-Flight (ToF) spectroscopy of the fragments to achieve an efficient, automated and unsupervised sorting of diffraction data. The studies described here form a basis for the development of real-time frame rejection methods, e. g. for the European XFEL, which is expected to produce 100 million pulses per hour. (C)2014 Optical Society of America
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| 3. |
- Andreasson, Jakob, et al.
(author)
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Saturated ablation in metal hydrides and acceleration of protons and deuterons to keV energies with a soft-x-ray laser
- 2011
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In: Physical Review E. Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. - 1539-3755 .- 1550-2376. ; 83:1, s. 016403-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies of materials under extreme conditions have relevance to a broad area of research, including planetary physics, fusion research, materials science, and structural biology with x-ray lasers. We study such extreme conditions and experimentally probe the interaction between ultrashort soft x-ray pulses and solid targets (metals and their deuterides) at the FLASH free-electron laser where power densities exceeding 1017 W/cm2 were reached. Time-of-flight ion spectrometry and crater analysis were used to characterize the interaction. The results show the onset of saturation in the ablation process at power densities above 1016 W/cm2. This effect can be linked to a transiently induced x-ray transparency in the solid by the femtosecond x-ray pulse at high power densities. The measured kinetic energies of protons and deuterons ejected from the surface reach several keV and concur with predictions from plasma-expansion models. Simulations of the interactions were performed with a nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium code with radiation transfer. These calculations return critical depths similar to the observed crater depths and capture the transient surface transparency at higher power densities.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- 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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| 6. |
- Barty, A., et al.
(author)
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Self-terminating diffraction gates femtosecond X-ray nanocrystallography measurements
- 2012
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In: Nature Photonics. - 1749-4885 .- 1749-4893. ; 6:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray free-electron lasers have enabled new approaches to the structural determination of protein crystals that are too small or radiation-sensitive for conventional analysis1. For sufficiently short pulses, diffraction is collected before significant changes occur to the sample, and it has been predicted that pulses as short as 10 fs may be required to acquire atomic-resolution structural information1, 2, 3, 4. Here, we describe a mechanism unique to ultrafast, ultra-intense X-ray experiments that allows structural information to be collected from crystalline samples using high radiation doses without the requirement for the pulse to terminate before the onset of sample damage. Instead, the diffracted X-rays are gated by a rapid loss of crystalline periodicity, producing apparent pulse lengths significantly shorter than the duration of the incident pulse. The shortest apparent pulse lengths occur at the highest resolution, and our measurements indicate that current X-ray free-electron laser technology5 should enable structural determination from submicrometre protein crystals with atomic resolution.
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| 7. |
- Bergh, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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Feasibility of imaging living cells at subnanometer resolutions by ultrafast X-ray diffraction
- 2008
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In: Quarterly reviews of biophysics (Print). - 0033-5835 .- 1469-8994. ; 41:3-4, s. 181-204
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detailed structural investigations on living cells are problematic because existing structural methods cannot reach high resolutions on non-reproducible objects. Illumination with an ultrashort and extremely bright X-ray pulse can outrun key damage processes over a very short period. This can be exploited to extend the diffraction signal to the highest possible resolution in flash diffraction experiments. Here we present an analysis or the interaction of a very intense and very short X-ray pulse with a living cell, using a non-equilibrium population kinetics plasma code with radiation transfer. Each element in the evolving plasma is modeled by numerous states to monitor changes in the atomic populations as a function of pulse length, wavelength, and fluence. The model treats photoionization, impact ionization, Auger decay, recombination, and inverse bremsstrahlung by solving rate equations in a self-consistent manner and describes hydrodynamic expansion through the ion sound speed, The results show that subnanometer resolutions could be reached on micron-sized cells in a diffraction-limited geometry at wavelengths between 0.75 and 1.5 nm and at fluences of 10(11)-10(12) photonS mu M (2) in less than 10 fs. Subnanometer resolutions could also be achieved with harder X-rays at higher fluences. We discuss experimental and computational strategies to obtain depth information about the object in flash diffraction experiments.
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| 8. |
- Bergh, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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Interaction of Ultrashort X-ray Pulses with B4C, SiC and Si
- 2008
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In: Physical Review E. Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. - 1063-651X .- 1095-3787. ; 77:2, s. 026404-1-026404-8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The interaction of 32.5 and 6 nm ultrashort x-ray pulses with the solid materials B4C, SiC, and Si is simulated with a nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium radiation transfer code. We study the ionization dynamics as a function of depth in the material and modifications of the opacity during irradiation, and estimate the crater depth. Furthermore, we compare the estimated crater depth with experimental data, for fluences up to 2.2 J/cm(2). Our results show that, at 32.5 nm irradiation, the opacity changes by less than a factor of 2 for B4C and Si and by a factor of 3 for SiC, for fluences up to 200 J/cm(2). At a laser wavelength of 6 nm, the model predicts a dramatic decrease in opacity due to the weak inverse bremsstrahlung, increasing the crater depth for high fluences.
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| 9. |
- Bergh, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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Model for the Dynamics of a Water Cluster in an X-ray Free Electron Laser Beam
- 2004
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In: Physical Review E. Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. - 1539-3755 .- 1550-2376. ; 70:5:1, s. 051904-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A microscopic sample placed into a focused x-ray free electron laser beam will explode due to strong ionization on a femtosecond time scale. The dynamics of this Coulomb explosion has been modeled by Neutze et al. [Nature (London) 406, 752 (2000)] for a protein, using computer simulations. The results suggest that by using ultrashort exposures, structural information may be collected before the sample is destroyed due to radiation damage. In this paper a method is presented to include the effect of screening by free electrons in the sample in a molecular dynamics simulation. The electrons are approximated by a classical gas, and the electron distribution is calculated iteratively from the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. Test simulations of water clusters reveal the details of the explosion dynamics, as well as the evolution of the free electron gas during the beam exposure. We find that inclusion of the electron gas in the model slows down the Coulomb explosion. The hydrogen atoms leave the sample faster than the oxygen atoms, leading to a double layer of positive ions. A considerable electron density is located between these two layers. The fact that the hydrogens are found to explode much faster than the oxygens means that the diffracting part of the sample stays intact somewhat longer than the sample as a whole.
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| 10. |
- Beyerlein, Kenneth, et al.
(author)
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Ultrafast non-thermal heating of water initiated by an X-ray laser
- 2018
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 115:22, s. 5652-5657
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray Free-Electron Lasers have opened the door to a new era in structural biology, enabling imaging of biomolecules and dynamics that were impossible to access with conventional methods. A vast majority of imaging experiments, including Serial Femtosecond Crystallography, use a liquid jet to deliver the sample into the interaction region. We have observed structural changes in the carrying water during X-ray exposure, showing how it transforms from the liquid phase to a plasma. This ultrafast phase transition observed in water provides evidence that any biological structure exposed to these X-ray pulses is destroyed during the X-ray exposure.The bright ultrafast pulses of X-ray Free-Electron Lasers allow investigation into the structure of matter under extreme conditions. We have used single pulses to ionize and probe water as it undergoes a phase transition from liquid to plasma. We report changes in the structure of liquid water on a femtosecond time scale when irradiated by single 6.86 keV X-ray pulses of more than 106 J/cm2. These observations are supported by simulations based on molecular dynamics and plasma dynamics of a water system that is rapidly ionized and driven out of equilibrium. This exotic ionic and disordered state with the density of a liquid is suggested to be structurally different from a neutral thermally disordered state.
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