Single-Shot Femtosecond X-ray Diffraction from Randomly Oriented Ellipsoidal Nanoparticles
Coherent diffractive imaging of single particles using the single-shot 'diffract and destroy' approach with an x-ray free electron laser (FEL) was recently demonstrated. A high-resolution low-noise coherent diffraction pattern, representative of the object before it turns into a plasma and explodes, results from the interaction of the FEL with the particle. Iterative phase retrieval algorithms are used to reconstruct two-dimensional projection images of the object from the recorded intensities alone. Here we describe the first single-shot diffraction data set that mimics the data proposed for obtaining 3D structure from identical particles. Ellipsoidal iron oxide nanoparticles (250 nm x 50 nm) were aerosolized and injected through an aerodynamic lens stack into a soft x-ray FEL. Particle orientation was not controlled with this injection method. We observed that, at the instant the x-ray pulse interacts with the particle, a snapshot of the particle's orientation is encoded in the diffraction pattern. The results give credence to one of the technical concepts of imaging individual nanometer and subnanometer-sized objects such as single molecules or larger clusters of molecules using hard x-ray FELs and will be used to help develop robust algorithms for determining particle orientations and 3D structure.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1039551
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-REPRINT-2012-035; TRN: US1202174
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 13, Issue 9; ISSN 1098-4402
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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