Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Determination of Crystal Structures

Determination of Crystal Structures

In the late 1800s, the revelation that light extended beyond visible wavelengths led to the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen. Recognized as high-energy electromagnetic radiation with short wavelengths, X-rays prompted exploration into their interaction with crystals. Max von Laue proposed in 1912 that the periodic arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in crystals would cause them to diffract X-rays, a hypothesis confirmed through experiments with copper sulfate and zinc sulfide...

X-ray Crystallography

X-ray Crystallography

The size of the unit cell and the arrangement of atoms in a crystal may be determined from measurements of the diffraction of X-rays by the crystal, termed X-ray crystallography.
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...

$X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples$ 01:10

X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples

X-ray diffraction or XRD is an analytical tool that utilizes X-rays to study ordered structures such as crystalline organic and inorganic samples, polycrystalline materials, proteins, carbohydrates, and drugs.
According to Bragg's law, when X-rays strike the sample positioned on a stage, the rays are scattered by the electron clouds around the sample atoms. The X-ray diffraction or scattering is caused by constructive interference of the X-ray waves that reflect off the internal...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Analysis of crystallographic phase retrieval using iterative projection algorithms.

Acta crystallographica. Section D, Structural biology·2024

Same author

The vertebrate muscle superlattice: discovery, consequences, and link to geometric frustration.

Journal of muscle research and cell motility·2023

Same author

A general method for directly phasing diffraction data from high-solvent-content protein crystals.

IUCrJ·2022

Same author

Ab initio reconstruction from one-dimensional crystal diffraction data.

Acta crystallographica. Section A, Foundations and advances·2022

Same author

Geometric frustration in the myosin superlattice of vertebrate muscle.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2021

Same author

Macromolecular phasing using diffraction from multiple crystal forms.

Acta crystallographica. Section A, Foundations and advances·2021

Same journal

Multi-module collaborative optimization-driven fast speckle correlation imaging in variable environments.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2026

Same journal

Secrecy performance analysis of NOMA-UWOC systems over a vertically stratified WGG oceanic turbulence channel.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2026

Same journal

Backscattering of plane waves in a composite system containing a rough surface and anisotropic scatterers.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2026

Same journal

Aspherical surface construction methods based on extended Jacobi polynomials.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2026

Same journal

OCT sidelobe suppression method based on dual-path phase sinusoidal modulation and minimum value fusion.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2026

Same journal

Optical design concepts using wavelength-selective diffractive optics to enable miniaturized multimodal endoscopic imaging across separated spectral ranges.

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 5, 2026

$Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene$

Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene

Published on: August 22, 2017

Diffraction by nanocrystals.

Joe P J Chen, Rick P Millane

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, Image Science, and Vision

|December 11, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

X-ray femtosecond nanocrystallography offers a novel method for imaging biological macromolecules using X-ray free-electron laser pulses. This technique analyzes diffraction patterns from nanocrystals, revealing insights into their unique structural properties for molecular imaging.

More Related Videos

$Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction$

Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction

Published on: April 1, 2017

Growing Protein Crystals with Distinct Dimensions Using Automated Crystallization Coupled with In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering

Growing Protein Crystals with Distinct Dimensions Using Automated Crystallization Coupled with In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering

Published on: August 14, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 5, 2026

$Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene$

Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene

Published on: August 22, 2017

$Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction$

Characterization of Ultra-fine Grained and Nanocrystalline Materials Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction

Published on: April 1, 2017

Growing Protein Crystals with Distinct Dimensions Using Automated Crystallization Coupled with In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering

Growing Protein Crystals with Distinct Dimensions Using Automated Crystallization Coupled with In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering

Published on: August 14, 2018

Area of Science:

Structural biology
Biophysics
Crystallography

Background:

X-ray crystallography is a powerful technique for determining molecular structures.
Nanocrystals present unique diffraction characteristics compared to macroscopic crystals.
Understanding these characteristics is crucial for advancing molecular imaging techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

To derive expressions for X-ray diffraction by nanocrystals with variable and incomplete unit cells.
To analyze the impact of crystal size and shape distribution on diffraction patterns.
To explore the implications of these findings for molecular imaging.

Main Methods:

Derivation of mathematical expressions for nanocrystal diffraction.
Ensemble-averaged measurements of X-ray free-electron laser pulse diffraction.
Two-dimensional simulations to illustrate diffraction phenomena.
Analysis of interference effects within and between unit cells.

Main Results:

Expressions derived for diffraction by nanocrystals with variable and incomplete unit cells.
Diffraction patterns show differently modulated Bragg components due to interference.
Estimates of the relative magnitudes of these components were obtained.
Simulations visualized the nature of the diffraction.

Conclusions:

X-ray femtosecond nanocrystallography is a promising technique for molecular imaging.
The derived expressions and simulations provide a framework for interpreting nanocrystal diffraction data.
This work advances the understanding of diffraction from finite and imperfect crystalline samples.