Theoretical models for molecular imaging under significant damage by X-ray free electron laser

One of hottest topics related to the application of an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) is how to determine the structure of non-crystalline membrane proteins. There has been a clear conflict between the incident brightness required to achieve diffraction-limited atomic resolution and the electronic and structural damage induced by such illumination. Professors K. A. Nugent and H. M. Quiney (ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) have recently published their theoretical research on this problem. They have improved the imaging model by using optical coherence theory and quantum electrodynamics, and concluded that the analysis is far more tolerant of electronic damage than believed so far. For more information, see the paper, "Biomolecular imaging and electronic damage using X-ray free-electron lasers", H. M. Quiney et al., Nature Physics, 7, 142 (2011).