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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Synchrotron X-ray Microdiffraction and Fluorescence Imaging of Mineral and Rock Samples
Published on: June 19, 2018
Single particle X-ray diffractive imaging
Michael J Bogan1, W Henry Benner, Sébastien Boutet
1Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, USA. bogan2@llnl.gov
Abstract:
In nanotechnology, strategies for the creation and manipulation of nanoparticles in the gas phase are critically important for surface modification and substrate-free characterization. Recent coherent diffractive imaging with intense femtosecond X-ray pulses has verified the capability of single-shot imaging of nanoscale objects at suboptical resolutions beyond the radiation-induced damage threshold. By intercepting electrospray-generated particles with a single 15 femtosecond soft-X-ray pulse, we demonstrate diffractive imaging of a nanoscale specimen in free flight for the first time, an important step toward imaging uncrystallized biomolecules.
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