Liquid sample delivery techniques for serial femtosecond crystallography

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93 Scopus citations

Abstract

X-ray free-electron lasers overcome the problem of radiation damage in protein crystallography and allow structure determination from micro- and nanocrystals at room temperature. To ensure that consecutive X-ray pulses do not probe previously exposed crystals, the sample needs to be replaced with the X-ray repetition rate, which ranges from 120 Hz at warm linacbased free-electron lasers to 1 MHz at superconducting linacs. Liquid injectors are therefore an essential part of a serial femtosecond crystallography experiment at an X-ray free-electron laser. Here, we compare different techniques of injecting microcrystals in solution into the pulsed X-ray beam in vacuum. Sample waste due to mismatch of the liquid flow rate to the X-ray repetition rate can be addressed through various techniques.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number20130337
JournalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume369
Issue number1647
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 17 2014

Keywords

  • Crystallography
  • Liquid jets
  • Serial femtosecond
  • X-ray free-electron laser

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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