1. |
- Allum, Felix, et al.
(author)
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Coulomb explosion imaging of CH3I and CH2CII photodissociation dynamics
- 2018
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In: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 149:20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The photodissociation dynamics of CH3I and CH2CII at 272 nm were investigated by time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging, with an intense non-resonant 815nmprobe pulse. Fragment ion momenta over a widem/z range were recorded simultaneously by coupling a velocity map imaging spectrometer with a pixel imaging mass spectrometry camera. For both molecules, delay-dependent pump-probe features were assigned to ultraviolet-induced carbon-iodine bond cleavage followed by Coulomb explosion. Multi-mass imaging also allowed the sequential cleavage of both carbon-halogen bonds in CH2ClI to be investigated. Furthermore, delay-dependent relative fragment momenta of a pair of ions were directly determined using recoil-frame covariance analysis. These results are complementary to conventional velocity map imaging experiments and demonstrate the application of time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging to photoinduced real-time molecular motion.
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2. |
- Bari, Sadia, et al.
(author)
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Soft X-ray Spectroscopy as a Probe for Gas-Phase Protein Structure : Electron Impact Ionization from Within
- 2018
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In: Chemistry - A European Journal. - : Wiley. - 0947-6539. ; 24:30, s. 7631-7636
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Preservation of protein conformation upon transfer into the gas phase is key for structure determination of free single molecules, for example using X-ray free-electron lasers. In the gas phase, the helicity of melittin decreases strongly as the protein's protonation state increases. We demonstrate the sensitivity of soft X-ray spectroscopy to the gas-phase structure of melittin cations ([melittin+qH]q+, q=2-4) in a cryogenic linear radiofrequency ion trap. With increasing helicity, we observe a decrease of the dominating carbon 1s-π* transition in the amide C=O bonds for non-dissociative single ionization and an increase for non-dissociative double ionization. As the underlying mechanism we identify inelastic electron scattering. Using an independent atom model, we show that the more compact nature of the helical protein conformation substantially increases the probability for off-site intramolecular ionization by inelastic Auger electron scattering.
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3. |
- Boll, Rebecca, et al.
(author)
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Imaging molecular structure through femtosecond photoelectron diffraction on aligned and oriented gas-phase molecules
- 2014
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In: Faraday Discussions. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1364-5498. ; 171, s. 57-80
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper gives an account of our progress towards performing femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules in a pump-probe setup combining optical lasers and an X-ray free-electron laser. We present results of two experiments aimed at measuring photoelectron angular distributions of laser-aligned 1-ethynyl-4-fluorobenzene (C8H5F) and dissociating, laser-aligned 1,4-dibromobenzene (C6H4Br2) molecules and discuss them in the larger context of photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules. We also show how the strong nanosecond laser pulse used for adiabatically laser-aligning the molecules influences the measured electron and ion spectra and angular distributions, and discuss how this may affect the outcome of future time-resolved photoelectron diffraction experiments.
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4. |
- Brasse, Felix, et al.
(author)
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Time-resolved inner-shell photoelectron spectroscopy : From a bound molecule to an isolated atom
- 2018
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In: Physical Review A: covering atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information. - 2469-9926 .- 2469-9934. ; 97:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Due to its element and site specificity, inner-shell photoelectron spectroscopy is a widely used technique to probe the chemical structure of matter. Here, we show that time-resolved inner-shell photoelectron spectroscopy can be employed to observe ultrafast chemical reactions and the electronic response to the nuclear motion with high sensitivity. The ultraviolet dissociation of iodomethane (CH3I) is investigated by ionization above the iodine 4d edge, using time-resolved inner-shell photoelectron and photoion spectroscopy. The dynamics observed in the photoelectron spectra appear earlier and are faster than those seen in the iodine fragments. The experimental results are interpreted using crystal-field and spin-orbit configuration interaction calculations, and demonstrate that time-resolved inner-shell photoelectron spectroscopy is a powerful tool to directly track ultrafast structural and electronic transformations in gas-phase molecules.
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5. |
- Burt, Michael, et al.
(author)
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Coulomb-explosion imaging of concurrent CH2BrI photodissociation dynamics
- 2017
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In: Physical Review A: covering atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information. - 2469-9926 .- 2469-9934. ; 96:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The dynamics following laser-induced molecular photodissociation of gas-phase CH2BrI at 271.6 nm were investigated by time-resolved Coulomb-explosion imaging using intense near-IR femtosecond laser pulses. The observed delay-dependent photofragment momenta reveal that CH2BrI undergoes C-I cleavage, depositing 65.6% of the available energy into internal product states, and that absorption of a second UV photon breaks the C-Br bond of C(H)2Br. Simulations confirm that this mechanism is consistent with previous data recorded at 248 nm, demonstrating the sensitivity of Coulomb-explosion imaging as a real-time probe of chemical dynamics.
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6. |
- Egorov, Dmitrii, et al.
(author)
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Near-Edge Soft X-ray Absorption Mass Spectrometry of Protonated Melittin
- 2018
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In: Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1044-0305. ; 29:11, s. 2138-2151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have investigated the photoionization and photofragmentation yields of gas-phase multiply protonated melittin cations for photon energies at the K-shell absorption edges of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Two similar experimental approaches were employed. In both experiments, mass selected [melittin+qH]q+ (q=2–4) ions were accumulated in radiofrequency ion traps. The trap content was exposed to intense beams of monochromatic soft X-ray photons from synchrotron beamlines and photoproducts were analyzed by means of time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Mass spectra were recorded for fixed photon energies, and partial ion yield spectra were recorded as a function of photon energy. The combination of mass spectrometry and soft X-ray spectroscopy allows for a direct correlation of protein electronic structure with various photoionization channels. Non-dissociative single and double ionization are used as a reference. The contribution of both channels to various backbone scission channels is quantified and related to activation energies and protonation sites. Soft X-ray absorption mass spectrometry combines fast energy deposition with single and double ionization and could complement established activation techniques. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
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7. |
- Forbes, Ruaridh, et al.
(author)
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Time-resolved site-selective imaging of predissociation and charge transfer dynamics : The CH3I B-band
- 2020
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In: Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 53:22
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The predissociation dynamics of the 6s (B2E) Rydberg state of gas-phase CH3I were investigated by time-resolved Coulomb-explosion imaging using extreme ultraviolet (XUV) free-electron laser pulses. Inner-shell ionization at the iodine 4d edge was utilized to provide a site-specific probe of the ensuing dynamics. The combination of a velocity-map imaging (VMI) spectrometer coupled with the pixel imaging mass spectrometry (PImMS) camera permitted three-dimensional ionic fragment momenta to be recorded simultaneously for a wide range of iodine charge states. In accord with previous studies, initial excitation at 201.2 nm results in internal conversion and subsequent dissociation on the lower-lying A-state surface on a picosecond time scale. Examination of the time-dependent yield of low kinetic energy iodine fragments yields mechanistic insights into the predissociation and subsequent charge transfer following multiple ionization of the iodine products. The effect of charge transfer was observed through differing delay-dependencies of the various iodine charge states, from which critical internuclear distances for charge transfer could be inferred and compared to a classical over-the-barrier model. Time-dependent photofragment angular anisotropy parameters were extracted from the central slice of the Newton sphere, without Abel inversion, and highlight the effect of rotation of the parent molecule before dissociation, as observed in previous
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8. |
- Hantke, Max F., et al.
(author)
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A data set from flash X-ray imaging of carboxysomes
- 2016
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In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ultra-intense femtosecond X-ray pulses from X-ray lasers permit structural studies on single particles and biomolecules without crystals. We present a large data set on inherently heterogeneous, polyhedral carboxysome particles. Carboxysomes are cell organelles that vary in size and facilitate up to 40% of Earth’s carbon fixation by cyanobacteria and certain proteobacteria. Variation in size hinders crystallization. Carboxysomes appear icosahedral in the electron microscope. A protein shell encapsulates a large number of Rubisco molecules in paracrystalline arrays inside the organelle. We used carboxysomes with a mean diameter of 115±26 nm from Halothiobacillus neapolitanus. A new aerosol sample-injector allowed us to record 70,000 low-noise diffraction patterns in 12 min. Every diffraction pattern is a unique structure measurement and high-throughput imaging allows sampling the space of structural variability. The different structures can be separated and phased directly from the diffraction data and open a way for accurate, high-throughput studies on structures and structural heterogeneity in biology and elsewhere.
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9. |
- Kockert, Hansjochen, et al.
(author)
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UV-induced dissociation of CH2BrI probed by intense femtosecond XUV pulses
- 2022
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In: JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS. - : IOP Publishing. - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 55:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ultraviolet (UV)-induced dissociation and photofragmentation of gas-phase CH2BrI molecules induced by intense femtosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses at three different photon energies are studied by multi-mass ion imaging. Using a UV-pump-XUV-probe scheme, charge transfer between highly charged iodine ions and neutral CH2Br radicals produced by C-I bond cleavage is investigated. In earlier charge-transfer studies, the center of mass of the molecules was located along the axis of the bond cleaved by the pump pulse. In the present case of CH2BrI, this is not the case, thus inducing a rotation of the fragment. We discuss the influence of the rotation on the charge transfer process using a classical over-the-barrier model. Our modeling suggests that, despite the fact that the dissociation is slower due to the rotational excitation, the critical interatomic distance for charge transfer is reached faster. Furthermore, we suggest that charge transfer during molecular fragmentation may be modulated in a complex way.
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10. |
- Kupitz, Christopher, et al.
(author)
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Serial time-resolved crystallography of photosystem II using a femtosecond X-ray laser
- 2014
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 513:7517, s. 261-265
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Photosynthesis, a process catalysed by plants, algae and cyanobacteria converts sunlight to energy thus sustaining all higher life on Earth. Two large membrane protein complexes, photosystem I and II (PSI and PSII), act in series to catalyse the light-driven reactions in photosynthesis. PSII catalyses the light-driven water splitting process, which maintains the Earth's oxygenic atmosphere. In this process, the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of PSII cycles through five states, S0 to S4, in which four electrons are sequentially extracted from the OEC in four light-driven charge-separation events. Here we describe time resolved experiments on PSII nano/microcrystals from Thermosynechococcus elongatus performed with the recently developed technique of serial femtosecond crystallography. Structures have been determined from PSII in the dark S1 state and after double laser excitation (putative S3 state) at 5 and 5.5 Å resolution, respectively. The results provide evidence that PSII undergoes significant conformational changes at the electron acceptor side and at the Mn4CaO5 core of the OEC. These include an elongation of the metal cluster, accompanied by changes in the protein environment, which could allow for binding of the second substrate water molecule between the more distant protruding Mn (referred to as the 'dangler' Mn) and the Mn3CaOx cubane in the S2 to S3 transition, as predicted by spectroscopic and computational studies. This work shows the great potential for time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography for investigation of catalytic processes in biomolecules.
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11. |
- Lee, Jason W.l., et al.
(author)
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The Kinetic Energy of PAH Dication and Trication Dissociation Determined by Recoil-Frame Covariance Map Imaging
- 2022
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In: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. - 1463-9084. ; 24:38, s. 23096-23105
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigated the dissociation of dications and trications of three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fluorene, phenanthrene, and pyrene. PAHs are a family of molecules ubiquitous in space and involved in much of the chemistry of the interstellar medium. In our experiments, ions are formed by interaction with 30.3 nm extreme ultraviolet (XUV) photons, and their velocity map images are recorded using a PImMS2 multi-mass imaging sensor. Application of recoil-frame covariance analysis allows the total kinetic energy release (TKER) associated with multiple fragmentation channels to be determined to high precision, ranging 1.94-2.60 eV and 2.95-5.29 eV for the dications and trications, respectively. Experimental measurements are supported by Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations.
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12. |
- Leroux, Juliette, et al.
(author)
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Mapping the electronic transitions of protonation sites in peptides using soft X-ray action spectroscopy
- 2023
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In: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 25:37, s. 25603-25618
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Near-edge X-ray absorption mass spectrometry (NEXAMS) around the nitrogen and oxygen K-edges was employed on gas-phase peptides to probe the electronic transitions related to their protonation sites, namely at basic side chains, the N-terminus and the amide oxygen. The experimental results are supported by replica exchange molecular dynamics and density-functional theory and restricted open-shell configuration with single calculations to attribute the transitions responsible for the experimentally observed resonances. We studied five tailor-made glycine-based pentapeptides, where we identified the signature of the protonation site of N-terminal proline, histidine, lysine and arginine, at 406 eV, corresponding to N 1s & RARR; & sigma;*(NHx+) (x = 2 or 3) transitions, depending on the peptides. We compared the spectra of pentaglycine and triglycine to evaluate the sensitivity of NEXAMS to protomers. Separate resonances have been identified to distinguish two protomers in triglycine, the protonation site at the N-terminus at 406 eV and the protonation site at the amide oxygen characterized by a transition at 403.1 eV.
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13. |
- Schubert, Kaja, et al.
(author)
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The electronic structure and deexcitation pathways of an isolated metalloporphyrin ion resolved by metal L-edge spectroscopy
- 2021
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In: Chemical Science. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2041-6520 .- 2041-6539. ; 12:11, s. 3966-3976
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The local electronic structure of the metal-active site and the deexcitation pathways of metalloporphyrins are crucial for numerous applications but difficult to access by commonly employed techniques. Here, we applied near-edge X-ray absorption mass spectrometry and quantum-mechanical restricted active space calculations to investigate the electronic structure of the metal-active site of the isolated cobalt(iii) protoporphyrin IX cation (CoPPIX+) and its deexcitation pathways upon resonant absorption at the cobalt L-edge. The experiments were carried out in the gas phase, thus allowing for control over the chemical state and molecular environment of the metalloporphyrin. The obtained mass spectra reveal that resonant excitations of CoPPIX+at the cobalt L3-edge lead predominantly to the formation of the intact radical dication and doubly charged fragments through losses of charged and neutral side chains from the macrocycle. The comparison between experiment and theory shows that CoPPIX+is in a3A2gtriplet ground state and that competing excitations to metal-centred non-bonding and antibonding σ* molecular orbitals lead to distinct deexcitation pathways.
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14. |
- Sobolev, Egor, et al.
(author)
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Megahertz single-particle imaging at the European XFEL
- 2020
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In: Communications Physics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3650. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The emergence of high repetition-rate X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) powered by superconducting accelerator technology enables the measurement of significantly more experimental data per day than was previously possible. The European XFEL is expected to provide 27,000 pulses per second, over two orders of magnitude more than any other XFEL. The increased pulse rate is a key enabling factor for single-particle X-ray diffractive imaging, which relies on averaging the weak diffraction signal from single biological particles. Taking full advantage of this new capability requires that all experimental steps, from sample preparation and delivery to the acquisition of diffraction patterns, are compatible with the increased pulse repetition rate. Here, we show that single-particle imaging can be performed using X-ray pulses at megahertz repetition rates. The results obtained pave the way towards exploiting high repetition-rate X-ray free-electron lasers for single-particle imaging at their full repetition rate.
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15. |
- van der Schot, Gijs, et al.
(author)
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Open data set of live cyanobacterial cells imaged using an X-ray laser
- 2016
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In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Structural studies on living cells by conventional methods are limited to low resolution because radiation damage kills cells long before the necessary dose for high resolution can be delivered. X-ray free-electron lasers circumvent this problem by outrunning key damage processes with an ultra-short and extremely bright coherent X-ray pulse. Diffraction-before-destruction experiments provide high-resolution data from cells that are alive when the femtosecond X-ray pulse traverses the sample. This paper presents two data sets from micron-sized cyanobacteria obtained at the Linac Coherent Light Source, containing a total of 199,000 diffraction patterns. Utilizing this type of diffraction data will require the development of new analysis methods and algorithms for studying structure and structural variability in large populations of cells and to create abstract models. Such studies will allow us to understand living cells and populations of cells in new ways. New X-ray lasers, like the European XFEL, will produce billions of pulses per day, and could open new areas in structural sciences.
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16. |
- Wiedorn, Max O., et al.
(author)
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Megahertz serial crystallography
- 2018
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In: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The new European X-ray Free-Electron Laser is the first X-ray free-electron laser capable of delivering X-ray pulses with a megahertz inter-pulse spacing, more than four orders of magnitude higher than previously possible. However, to date, it has been unclear whether it would indeed be possible to measure high-quality diffraction data at megahertz pulse repetition rates. Here, we show that high-quality structures can indeed be obtained using currently available operating conditions at the European XFEL. We present two complete data sets, one from the well-known model system lysozyme and the other from a so far unknown complex of a beta-lactamase from K. pneumoniae involved in antibiotic resistance. This result opens up megahertz serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) as a tool for reliable structure determination, substrate screening and the efficient measurement of the evolution and dynamics of molecular structures using megahertz repetition rate pulses available at this new class of X-ray laser source.
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