X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) make it possible to image biological particles, such as viruses and macromolecules with extremely intense bursts of X-rays. Any sample exposed to a single pulse of such high energy will be strongly ionized and thus severely damaged. The key to obtaining a clear picture or diffraction pattern is to outrun radiation damage, by using shorter bursts of x-ray light than the time needed for these damage processes to evolve. The aim of this research is to understand the relationship between structural damage of biological samples induced by short intense pulses from XFELs, and the possibilities of solving a structure from a perturbed diffraction pattern.

Resources used

CFEL from https://cid.cfel.de/research/intense_x_ray_interactions/