Cryptotomography: reconstructing 3D Fourier intensities from randomly oriented single-shot diffraction patterns

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to reconstruct 3D Fourier intensities of nano-particles from single-shot diffraction patterns with unknown orientations, advancing single-molecule imaging capabilities.

Contribution

It extends the EMC framework to handle unmeasured fluctuations and data loss, enabling 3D reconstruction from randomly oriented diffraction data.

Findings

Successfully reconstructed 3D Fourier intensity of nano-particles

Extended EMC framework to account for photon fluence fluctuations

Demonstrated feasibility of single-shot diffraction imaging of biomolecules

Abstract

We reconstructed the 3D Fourier intensity distribution of mono-disperse prolate nano-particles using single-shot 2D coherent diffraction patterns collected at DESY's FLASH facility when a bright, coherent, ultrafast X-ray pulse intercepted individual particles of random, unmeasured orientations. This first experimental demonstration of cryptotomography extended the Expansion-Maximization-Compression (EMC) framework to accommodate unmeasured fluctuations in photon fluence and loss of data due to saturation or background scatter. This work is an important step towards realizing single-shot diffraction imaging of single biomolecules.