Micro-liquid enclosure array and its semi-automated assembling system for x-ray free-electron laser diffractive imaging of samples in solution.

Abstract

We developed micro-liquid enclosure arrays (MLEAs) for holding solution samples in coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) using x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). Hundreds of fully isolated micro-liquid enclosures are arranged in a single MLEA chip for efficient measurement, where each enclosure is destroyed after exposure to a single XFEL pulse. A semi-automated MLEA assembling system was also developed to enclose solution samples into MLEAs efficiently at high precision. We performed XFEL-based CDI experiments using MLEAs and imaged in-solution structures of self-assembled gold nanoparticles. The sample hit rate can be optimized by adjusting solution concentration, and we achieved a single-particle hit rate of 31%, which is not far from the theoretical upper limit of 37% derived from the Poisson statistics. MELAs allow us to perform CDI measurement under controlled solution conditions and will help reveal the nanostructures and dynamics of particles in solution.

• Authors: Takashi Kimura, Akihiro Suzuki, Ying Yang, Yoshiya Niida, Akiko Nishioka, Masashi Takei, Jinjian Wei, Hideyuki Mitomo, Yasutaka Matsuo, Kenichi Niikura, Kuniharu Ijiro, Kensuke Tono, Makina Yabashi, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Tairo Oshima, Yoshitaka Bessho, Yasumasa Joti, Yoshinori Nishino
• Journal: The Review of scientific instruments (Rev Sci Instrum) Vol. 91 Issue 8 Pg. 083706 (Aug 01 2020) ISSN: 1089-7623 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32872956 (Publication Type: Journal Article)