High-resolution ab initio three-dimensional X-ray diffraction microscopy

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates high-resolution three-dimensional X-ray diffraction microscopy capable of imaging non-periodic objects without prior shape knowledge, advancing biological and materials science imaging at atomic resolution.

Contribution

It introduces a method for 3D X-ray diffraction imaging of non-periodic objects with no prior shape or composition knowledge, achieving high resolution in all dimensions.

Findings

Reconstructed 3D images with high resolution from diffraction data

Achieved infinite depth of focus in 2D imaging of thick objects

Established techniques for atomic-resolution ultrafast imaging at X-ray free-electron lasers

Abstract

Coherent X-ray diffraction microscopy is a method of imaging non-periodic isolated objects at resolutions only limited, in principle, by the largest scattering angles recorded. We demonstrate X-ray diffraction imaging with high resolution in all three dimensions, as determined by a quantitative analysis of the reconstructed volume images. These images are retrieved from the 3D diffraction data using no a priori knowledge about the shape or composition of the object, which has never before been demonstrated on a non-periodic object. We also construct 2D images of thick objects with infinite depth of focus (without loss of transverse spatial resolution). These methods can be used to image biological and materials science samples at high resolution using X-ray undulator radiation, and establishes the techniques to be used in atomic-resolution ultrafast imaging at X-ray free-electron laser sources.