214 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
A Distributed and Parallel Component Architecture for Stream-Oriented Applications ; CU-CS-989-04
Recommended from our members
A fixed-target platform for serial femtosecond crystallography in a hydrated environment.
For serial femtosecond crystallography at X-ray free-electron lasers, which entails collection of single-pulse diffraction patterns from a constantly refreshed supply of microcrystalline sample, delivery of the sample into the X-ray beam path while maintaining low background remains a technical challenge for some experiments, especially where this methodology is applied to relatively low-ordered samples or those difficult to purify and crystallize in large quantities. This work demonstrates a scheme to encapsulate biological samples using polymer thin films and graphene to maintain sample hydration in vacuum conditions. The encapsulated sample is delivered into the X-ray beam on fixed targets for rapid scanning using the Roadrunner fixed-target system towards a long-term goal of low-background measurements on weakly diffracting samples. As a proof of principle, we used microcrystals of the 24 kDa rapid encystment protein (REP24) to provide a benchmark for polymer/graphene sandwich performance. The REP24 microcrystal unit cell obtained from our sandwiched in-vacuum sample was consistent with previously established unit-cell parameters and with those measured by us without encapsulation in humidified helium, indicating that the platform is robust against evaporative losses. While significant scattering from water was observed because of the sample-deposition method, the polymer/graphene sandwich itself was shown to contribute minimally to background scattering
Attosecond streaking of photoelectron emission from disordered solids
Attosecond streaking of photoelectrons emitted by extreme ultraviolet light
has begun to reveal how electrons behave during their transport within simple
crystalline solids. Many sample types within nanoplasmonics, thin-film physics,
and semiconductor physics, however, do not have a simple single crystal
structure. The electron dynamics which underpin the optical response of
plasmonic nanostructures and wide-bandgap semiconductors happen on an
attosecond timescale. Measuring these dynamics using attosecond streaking will
enable such systems to be specially tailored for applications in areas such as
ultrafast opto-electronics. We show that streaking can be extended to this very
general type of sample by presenting streaking measurements on an amorphous
film of the wide-bandgap semiconductor tungsten trioxide, and on
polycrystalline gold, a material that forms the basis of many nanoplasmonic
devices. Our measurements reveal the near-field temporal structure at the
sample surface, and photoelectron wavepacket temporal broadening consistent
with a spread of electron transport times to the surface
Temporal broadening of attosecond photoelectron wavepackets from solid surfaces
The response of solids to electromagnetic fields is of crucial importance in many areas of science and technology. Many fundamental questions remain to be answered about the dynamics of the photoexcited electrons that underpin this response, which can evolve on timescales of tens to hundreds of attoseconds. How, for example, is the photoexcited electron affected by the periodic potential as it travels in the solid, and how do the other electrons respond in these strongly correlated systems? Furthermore, control of electronic motion in solids with attosecond precision would pave the way for the development of ultrafast optoelectronics. Attosecond electron dynamics can be traced using streaking, a technique in which a strong near-infrared laser field accelerates an attosecond electron wavepacket photoemitted by an extreme ultraviolet light pulse, imprinting timing information onto it. We present attosecond streaking measurements on the wide-bandgap semiconductor tungsten trioxide, and on gold, a metal used in many nanoplasmonic devices. Information about electronic motion in the solid is encoded on the temporal properties of the photoemitted electron wavepackets, which are consistent with a spread of electron transport times to the surface following photoexcitation
Multimodal X-ray imaging of nanocontainer-treated macrophages and calcium distribution in the perilacunar bone matrix
Studies of biological systems typically require the application of several complementary methods able to yield statistically-relevant results at a unique level of sensitivity. Combined X-ray fluorescence and ptychography offer excellent elemental and structural imaging contrasts at the nanoscale. They enable a robust correlation of elemental distributions with respect to the cellular morphology. Here we extend the applicability of the two modalities to higher X-ray excitation energies, permitting iron mapping. Using a long-range scanning setup, we applied the method to two vital biomedical cases. We quantified the iron distributions in a population of macrophages treated with Mycobacterium-tuberculosis-targeting iron-oxide nanocontainers. Our work allowed to visualize the internalization of the nanocontainer agglomerates in the cytosol. From the iron areal mass maps, we obtained a distribution of antibiotic load per agglomerate and an average areal concentration of nanocontainers in the agglomerates. In the second application we mapped the calcium content in a human bone matrix in close proximity to osteocyte lacunae (perilacunar matrix). A concurrently acquired ptychographic image was used to remove the mass-thickness effect from the raw calcium map. The resulting ptychography-enhanced calcium distribution allowed then to observe a locally lower degree of mineralization of the perilacunar matrix
Investigation of the thermal stability of Mg/Co periodic multilayers for EUV applications
We present the results of the characterization of Mg/Co periodic multilayers
and their thermal stability for the EUV range. The annealing study is performed
up to a temperature of 400\degree C. Images obtained by scanning transmission
electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy clearly show the good
quality of the multilayer structure. The measurements of the EUV reflectivity
around 25 nm (~49 eV) indicate that the reflectivity decreases when the
annealing temperature increases above 300\degreeC. X-ray emission spectroscopy
is performed to determine the chemical state of the Mg atoms within the Mg/Co
multilayer. Nuclear magnetic resonance used to determine the chemical state of
the Co atoms and scanning electron microscopy images of cross sections of the
Mg/Co multilayers reveal changes in the morphology of the stack from an
annealing temperature of 305\degreee;C. This explains the observed reflectivity
loss.Comment: Published in Applied Physics A: Materials Science \& Processing
Published at
http://www.springerlink.com.chimie.gate.inist.fr/content/6v396j6m56771r61/ 21
page
- …