Femtosecond X-ray diffraction from an aerosolized beam of protein nanocrystals

Salah Awel; Richard A Kirian; Max O Wiedorn; Kenneth R Beyerlein; Nils Roth; Daniel A Horke; Dominik Oberthür; Juraj Knoska; Valerio Mariani; Andrew Morgan; Luigi Adriano; Alexandra Tolstikova; P Lourdu Xavier; Oleksandr Yefanov; Andrew Aquila; Anton Barty; Shatabdi Roy-Chowdhury; Mark S Hunter; Daniel James; Joseph S Robinson; Uwe Weierstall; Andrei V Rode; Saša Bajt; Jochen Küpper; Henry N Chapman

doi:10.1107/S1600576717018131

Femtosecond X-ray diffraction from an aerosolized beam of protein nanocrystals

J Appl Crystallogr. 2018 Feb 1;51(Pt 1):133-139. doi: 10.1107/S1600576717018131.

Authors

Salah Awel^{1

2}, Richard A Kirian³, Max O Wiedorn^{1

4}, Kenneth R Beyerlein¹, Nils Roth¹, Daniel A Horke^{1

2}, Dominik Oberthür¹, Juraj Knoska^{1

4}, Valerio Mariani¹, Andrew Morgan¹, Luigi Adriano⁵, Alexandra Tolstikova^{1

4}, P Lourdu Xavier^{1

6}, Oleksandr Yefanov¹, Andrew Aquila⁷, Anton Barty¹, Shatabdi Roy-Chowdhury³, Mark S Hunter⁷, Daniel James³, Joseph S Robinson⁷, Uwe Weierstall³, Andrei V Rode⁸, Saša Bajt⁵, Jochen Küpper^{1

2

4}, Henry N Chapman^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
² The Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
³ Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
⁵ Photon Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
⁶ Max-Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
⁷ Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
⁸ Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, ACT 2601, Canberra, Australia.

Abstract

High-resolution Bragg diffraction from aerosolized single granulovirus nanocrystals using an X-ray free-electron laser is demonstrated. The outer dimensions of the in-vacuum aerosol injector components are identical to conventional liquid-microjet nozzles used in serial diffraction experiments, which allows the injector to be utilized with standard mountings. As compared with liquid-jet injection, the X-ray scattering background is reduced by several orders of magnitude by the use of helium carrier gas rather than liquid. Such reduction is required for diffraction measurements of small macromolecular nanocrystals and single particles. High particle speeds are achieved, making the approach suitable for use at upcoming high-repetition-rate facilities.

Keywords: X-ray diffraction; aerosols; nanocrystals.

Abstract

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