Femtosecond response of polyatomic molecules to ultra-intense hard X-rays

The study of molecules with X-rays is of particular interest for biological and potentially pharmaceutical sciences. X-rays are here being used to resolve the shape or structure of a molecule. But when the X-rays interact with the molecules, the ionize the atoms the molecule consists of and the molecule is transformed into a nanoplasma. Such radiation damage is of particular interest, as a solid understanding of the underlying damaging processes is required to lead to high-res imaging. In the linked study that has been published in Nature, we investigate molecules using intense hard X-rays from the CXI instrument at LCLS reaching a never before seen level of ionization. The insights of this study help developing high-resolution imaging of bio molecules.

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Image from: DESY/Science Communication Lab

Coherent diffraction of Rice Dwarf virus at the Linac Coherent Light Source

In this study, we've applied coherent diffractive imaging to study the structure of a single Rice dwarf virus. The CXI instrument at the Linac coherent light source focuses 10¹² photons into a nanometer-sized area. Here the X-rays scatter of a single virus particle and create a snapshot of the virus. The acquired dataset of this study has been published in Nature scientific data, that allows access to the actual dataset. The publication yields information on how to access the data and background information as well. This result comes out of a large collaboration, the Single particle initiative, where scientists from around the world have united to pull on one string and push the method of Single particle imaging to the next level.

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