Tomography of a Cryo-immobilized Yeast Cell Using Ptychographic Coherent X-Ray Diffractive Imaging.

The structural investigation of noncrystalline, soft biological matter using x-rays is of rapidly increasing interest. Large-scale x-ray sources, such as synchrotrons and x-ray free electron lasers, are becoming ever brighter and make the study of such weakly scattering materials more feasible. Variants of coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) are particularly attractive, as the absence of an objective lens between sample and detector ensures that no x-ray photons scattered by a sample are lost in a limited-efficiency imaging system. Furthermore, the reconstructed complex image contains quantitative density information, most directly accessible through its phase, which is proportional to the projected electron density of the sample. If applied in three dimensions, CDI can thus recover the sample's electron density distribution. As the extension to three dimensions is accompanied by a considerable dose applied to the sample, cryogenic cooling is necessary to optimize the structural preservation of a unique sample in the beam. This, however, imposes considerable technical challenges on the experimental realization. Here, we show a route toward the solution of these challenges using ptychographic CDI (PCDI), a scanning variant of coherent imaging. We present an experimental demonstration of the combination of three-dimensional structure determination through PCDI with a cryogenically cooled biological sample--a budding yeast cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)--using hard (7.9 keV) synchrotron x-rays. This proof-of-principle demonstration in particular illustrates the potential of PCDI for highly sensitive, quantitative three-dimensional density determination of cryogenically cooled, hydrated, and unstained biological matter and paves the way to future studies of unique, nonreproducible biological cells at higher resolution.

Atomic-scale mechanisms of the glass-forming ability in metallic glasses.

The issue, composition dependence of glass-forming ability (GFA) in metallic glasses (MG), has been investigated by systematic experimental measurements coupled with theoretical calculations in Cu-Zr and Ni-Nb alloy systems. It is found that the atomic-level packing efficiency strongly relates to their GFA. The best GFA is located at the largest difference in the packing efficiency of the solute-centered clusters between the glassy and crystal alloys in both MG systems. This work provides an understanding of GFA from atomic level and will shed light on the development of new MGs with larger critical sizes.

Soft x-ray free electron laser microfocus for exploring matter under extreme conditions.

We have focused a beam (BL3) of FLASH (Free-electron LASer in Hamburg: lambda = 13.5 nm, pulse length 15 fs, pulse energy 10-40 microJ, 5 Hz) using a fine polished off-axis parabola having a focal length of 270 mm and coated with a Mo/Si multilayer with an initial reflectivity of 67% at 13.5 nm. The OAP was mounted and aligned with a picomotor controlled six-axis gimbal. Beam imprints on poly(methyl methacrylate) - PMMA were used to measure focus and the focused beam was used to create isochoric heating of various slab targets. Results show the focal spot has a diameter of < or =1 microm. Observations were correlated with simulations of best focus to provide further relevant information.

The influence of short-time ball-milling on the stability of amorphous CoFeB alloys.

The influence of short-time milling on the atomic structure of amorphous Co(70.3)Fe(4.7)B(25) has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and x-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) techniques. Our results prove that the milling process crystallizes the initially amorphous sample and that the degree of inherent crystallization is inversely proportional to the powder particle size. The investigation of the local atomic structure documents very similar environments around the Co and Fe atoms. The high-energy ball-milling of amorphous precursor represents a practical way to prepare powders having the desired amorphous/nanocrystalline microstructure.

Amorphouslike diffraction pattern in solid metallic titanium.

Amorphouslike diffraction patterns of solid elemental titanium have been detected under high pressure and high temperature using in situ energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction and a multianvil press. The onset pressure and the temperature of formation of amorphous titanium is found to be close to the alpha-beta-omega triple point in the P-T phase diagram. Amorphous Ti has been found to be thermally stable up to 1250 degrees C for at least 3 min at some pressures. By analyzing the conditions for producing amorphous elemental Zr and Ti, we observed a multi-phase-point amorphization phenomenon for preparing single-element bulk amorphous metals. The results reported may open a new way to preparing single-element bulk amorphous metals with a high thermal stability.