diffractionbeforedestruction
Diffraction-before-destruction is a principle in X-ray crystallography that uses ultrafast, intense X-ray pulses to collect diffraction data from a crystal before radiation damage destroys the sample. The concept became central with the advent of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), which produce femtosecond-scale X-ray pulses in high flux, enabling a single exposure to capture a diffraction pattern from a microcrystal.
In practice, many microcrystals are delivered into the XFEL beam (via a liquid jet or fixed-target holder)
Applications include determination of structures from radiation-sensitive proteins, nanocrystals, membrane proteins, and virus particles, often at
Related topics include X-ray free-electron lasers, serial femtosecond crystallography, and serial crystallography.