A new effect of ionizing irradiation: anisotropic expansion of a peptide crystal

Expansion of crystals resulting from X irradiation was studied in the case of a peptide, N-acetyl-D, L-alanine. This expansion was discovered by examining several irradiated organic solids for possible expansion, which was suggested by the recent observation of crystal imperfections in another peptide. The expansion, which occurred anisotropically along the c axis, was found to depend on dose, the maximum being as large as 20% when assisted by heat treatment.