1. |
- Ayyer, Kartik, et al.
(author)
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3D diffractive imaging of nanoparticle ensembles using an x-ray laser
- 2021
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In: Optica. - : Optical Society of America. - 2334-2536. ; 8:1, s. 15-23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Single particle imaging at x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) has the potential to determine the structure and dynamics of single biomolecules at room temperature. Two major hurdles have prevented this potential from being reached, namely, the collection of sufficient high-quality diffraction patterns and robust computational purification to overcome structural heterogeneity. We report the breaking of both of these barriers using gold nanoparticle test samples, recording around 10 million diffraction patterns at the European XFEL and structurally and orientationally sorting the patterns to obtain better than 3-nm-resolution 3D reconstructions for each of four samples. With these new developments, integrating advancements in x-ray sources, fast-framing detectors, efficient sample delivery, and data analysis algorithms, we illuminate the path towards sub-nano meter biomolecular imaging. The methods developed here can also be extended to characterize ensembles that are inherently diverse to obtain their full structural landscape. Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
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2. |
- Birnsteinova, Sarlota, et al.
(author)
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Online dynamic flat-field correction for MHz microscopy data at European XFEL
- 2023
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In: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation. - 1600-5775. ; 30:6, s. 1030-1037
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The high pulse intensity and repetition rate of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL) provide superior temporal resolution compared with other X-ray sources. In combination with MHz X-ray microscopy techniques, it offers a unique opportunity to achieve superior contrast and spatial resolution in applications demanding high temporal resolution. In both live visualization and offline data analysis for microscopy experiments, baseline normalization is essential for further processing steps such as phase retrieval and modal decomposition. In addition, access to normalized projections during data acquisition can play an important role in decision-making and improve the quality of the data. However, the stochastic nature of X-ray free-electron laser sources hinders the use of standard flat-field normalization methods during MHz X-ray microscopy experiments. Here, an online (i.e. near real-time) dynamic flat-field correction method based on principal component analysis of dynamically evolving flat-field images is presented. The method is used for the normalization of individual X-ray projections and has been implemented as a near real-time analysis tool at the Single Particles, Clusters, and Biomolecules and Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SPB/SFX) instrument of EuXFEL.
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3. |
- Ekeberg, Tomas, 1983-, et al.
(author)
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Observation of a single protein by ultrafast X-ray diffraction
- 2024
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In: Light. - : Springer Nature. - 2095-5545 .- 2047-7538. ; 13:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The idea of using ultrashort X-ray pulses to obtain images of single proteins frozen in time has fascinated and inspired many. It was one of the arguments for building X-ray free-electron lasers. According to theory, the extremely intense pulses provide sufficient signal to dispense with using crystals as an amplifier, and the ultrashort pulse duration permits capturing the diffraction data before the sample inevitably explodes. This was first demonstrated on biological samples a decade ago on the giant mimivirus. Since then, a large collaboration has been pushing the limit of the smallest sample that can be imaged. The ability to capture snapshots on the timescale of atomic vibrations, while keeping the sample at room temperature, may allow probing the entire conformational phase space of macromolecules. Here we show the first observation of an X-ray diffraction pattern from a single protein, that of Escherichia coli GroEL which at 14 nm in diameter is the smallest biological sample ever imaged by X-rays, and demonstrate that the concept of diffraction before destruction extends to single proteins. From the pattern, it is possible to determine the approximate orientation of the protein. Our experiment demonstrates the feasibility of ultrafast imaging of single proteins, opening the way to single-molecule time-resolved studies on the femtosecond timescale.
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4. |
- Esmaeildoost, Niloofar, et al.
(author)
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Anomalous temperature dependence of the experimental x-ray structure factor of supercooled water
- 2021
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In: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 155:21, s. 214501-214501
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The structural changes of water upon deep supercooling were studied through wide-angle x-ray scattering at SwissFEL. The experimental setup had a momentum transfer range of 4.5 Å-1, which covered the principal doublet of the x-ray structure factor of water. The oxygen-oxygen structure factor was obtained for temperatures down to 228.5 ± 0.6 K. Similar to previous studies, the second diffraction peak increased strongly in amplitude as the structural change accelerated toward a local tetrahedral structure upon deep supercooling. We also observed an anomalous trend for the second peak position of the oxygen-oxygen structure factor (q2). We found that q2 exhibits an unprecedented positive partial derivative with respect to temperature for temperatures below 236 K. Based on Fourier inversion of our experimental data combined with reference data, we propose that the anomalous q2 shift originates from that a repeat spacing in the tetrahedral network, associated with all peaks in the oxygen-oxygen pair-correlation function, gives rise to a less dense local ordering that resembles that of low-density amorphous ice. The findings are consistent with that liquid water consists of a pentamer-based hydrogen-bonded network with low density upon deep supercooling.
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5. |
- Konold, Patrick E., et al.
(author)
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Microsecond time-resolved X-ray scattering by utilizing MHz repetition rate at second-generation XFELs
- 2024
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In: NATURE METHODS. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 1548-7091 .- 1548-7105.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detecting microsecond structural perturbations in biomolecules has wide relevance in biology, chemistry and medicine. Here we show how MHz repetition rates at X-ray free-electron lasers can be used to produce microsecond time-series of protein scattering with exceptionally low noise levels of 0.001%. We demonstrate the approach by examining J alpha helix unfolding of a light-oxygen-voltage photosensory domain. This time-resolved acquisition strategy is easy to implement and widely applicable for direct observation of structural dynamics of many biochemical processes. The MHz repetition rates available at second-generation X-ray free-electron lasers enable the collection of microsecond time-resolved X-ray scattering data with exceptionally low noise, providing insights into protein structural dynamics.
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6. |
- Pathak, Harshad, et al.
(author)
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Enhancement and maximum in the isobaric specific-heat capacity measurements of deeply supercooled water using ultrafast calorimetry
- 2021
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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. ; 118:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Knowledge of the temperature dependence of the isobaric specific heat (Cp) upon deep supercooling can give insights regarding the anomalous properties of water. If a maximum in Cp exists at a specific temperature, as in the isothermal compressibility, it would further validate the liquid–liquid critical point model that can explain the anomalous increase in thermodynamic response functions. The challenge is that the relevant temperature range falls in the region where ice crystallization becomes rapid, which has previously excluded experiments. Here, we have utilized a methodology of ultrafast calorimetry by determining the temperature jump from femtosecond X-ray pulses after heating with an infrared laser pulse and with a sufficiently long time delay between the pulses to allow measurements at constant pressure. Evaporative cooling of ∼15-µm diameter droplets in vacuum enabled us to reach a temperature down to ∼228 K with a small fraction of the droplets remaining unfrozen. We observed a sharp increase in Cp, from 88 J/mol/K at 244 K to about 218 J/mol/K at 229 K where a maximum is seen. The Cp maximum is at a similar temperature as the maxima of the isothermal compressibility and correlation length. From the Cp measurement, we estimated the excess entropy and self-diffusion coefficient of water and these properties decrease rapidly below 235 K.
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7. |
- Reuter, Fabian, et al.
(author)
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Laser-induced, single droplet fragmentation dynamics revealed through megahertz x-ray microscopy
- 2023
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In: Physics of Fluids. - 1070-6631. ; 35:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The fragmentation dynamics of single water droplets from laser irradiation is studied with megahertz frame rate x-ray microscopy. Owed to the nearly refraction-free and penetrating imaging technique, we could look into the interior of the droplet and reveal that two mechanisms are responsible for the initial explosive fragmentation of the droplet. First, reflection and diffraction of the laser beam at the droplet interface result in the formation of laser ray caustics that lead to non-homogeneous heating of the droplet, locally above the critical temperature. Second, homogeneous cavitation in the droplet that is likely caused from shockwaves reflected as tension waves at the acoustic soft boundaries of the droplet. Further atomization occurs in three stages, first a fine sub-micrometer sized mist forms on the side of the droplet posterior to laser incidence, then micrometer sized droplets are expelled from the rim of an expanding liquid sheet, and finally into droplets of larger size through hole and ligament formation in the thinning liquid sheet where ligaments pinch off.
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8. |
- Soyama, Hitoshi, et al.
(author)
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Revealing the origins of vortex cavitation in a Venturi tube by high speed X-ray imaging
- 2023
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In: Ultrasonics Sonochemistry. - 1350-4177. ; 101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hydrodynamic cavitation is useful in many processing applications, for example, in chemical reactors, water treatment and biochemical engineering. An important type of hydrodynamic cavitation that occurs in a Venturi tube is vortex cavitation known to cause luminescence whose intensity is closely related to the size and number of cavitation events. However, the mechanistic origins of bubbles constituting vortex cavitation remains unclear, although it has been concluded that the pressure fields generated by the cavitation collapse strongly depends on the bubble geometry. The common view is that vortex cavitation consists of numerous small spherical bubbles. In the present paper, aspects of vortex cavitation arising in a Venturi tube were visualized using high-speed X-ray imaging at SPring-8 and European XFEL. It was discovered that vortex cavitation in a Venturi tube consisted of angulated rather than spherical bubbles. The tangential velocity of the surface of vortex cavitation was assessed considering the Rankine vortex model.
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9. |
- Villanueva Perez, Pablo, et al.
(author)
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Megahertz X-ray Multi-projection imaging
- 2023
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In: arXiv.org. - 2331-8422.
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- X-ray time-resolved tomography is one of the most popular X-raytechniques to probe dynamics in three dimensions (3D). Recent developments in time-resolved tomography opened the possibility of recordingkilohertz-rate 3D movies. However, tomography requires rotating thesample with respect to the X-ray beam, which prevents characterization of faster structural dynamics. Here, we present megahertz (MHz)X-ray multi-projection imaging (MHz-XMPI), a technique capable ofrecording volumetric information at MHz rates and micrometer resolution without scanning the sample. We achieved this by harnessing theunique megahertz pulse structure and intensity of the European X-rayFree-electron Laser with a combination of novel detection and reconstruction approaches that do not require sample rotations. Our approachenables generating multiple X-ray probes that simultaneously record several angular projections for each pulse in the megahertz pulse burst.We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of the MHz-XMPI technique’s capability to probe 4D (3D+time) information on stochasticphenomena and non-reproducible processes three orders of magnitudefaster than state-of-the-art time-resolved X-ray tomography, by generating 3D movies of binary droplet collisions. We anticipate that MHz-XMPIwill enable in-situ and operando studies that were impossible before,either due to the lack of temporal resolution or because the systemswere opaque (such as for MHz imaging based on optical microscopy).
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10. |
- Wodzinski, Thomas, et al.
(author)
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High-harmonic generation wave front dependence on a driving infrared wave front
- 2020
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In: Applied Optics. - : Optical Society of America. - 1559-128X .- 2155-3165. ; 59:5, s. 1363-1370
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With high-harmonic generation (HHG), spatially and temporally coherent XUV to soft x-ray (100 nm to 10 nm) table-top sources can be realized by focusing a driving infrared (IR) laser on a gas target. For applications such as coherent diffraction imaging, holography, plasma diagnostics, or pump-probe experiments, it is desirable to have control over the wave front (WF) of the HHs to maximize the number of XUV photons on target or to tailor the WF. Here, we demonstrate control of the XUV WF by tailoring the driving IR WF with a deformable mirror. The WFs of both IR and XUV beams are monitored with WF sensors. We present a systematic study of the dependence of the aberrations of the HHs on the aberrations of the driving IR laser and explain the observations with propagation simulations. We show that we can control the astigmatism of the HHs by changing the astigmatism of the driving IR laser without compromising the HH generation efficiency with a WF quality from lambda/8 to lambda/13.3. This allows us to shape the XUV beam without changing any XUV optical element.
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