Micro-liquid enclosure array and its semi-automated assembling system for x-ray free-electron laser diffractive imaging of samples in solution.

We developed micro-liquid enclosure arrays (MLEAs) for holding solution samples in coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) using x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). Hundreds of fully isolated micro-liquid enclosures are arranged in a single MLEA chip for efficient measurement, where each enclosure is destroyed after exposure to a single XFEL pulse. A semi-automated MLEA assembling system was also developed to enclose solution samples into MLEAs efficiently at high precision.

Design of a liquid cell toward three-dimensional imaging of unidirectionally-aligned particles in solution using X-ray free-electron lasers.

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) opened up a possibility for molecular-scale single particle imaging (SPI) without the need for crystallization. In SPI experiments, the orientation of each particle has to be determined from the measured diffraction pattern. Preparing unidirectionally-aligned particles can facilitate the determination of the sample orientation.

Generation of apodized X-ray illumination and its application to scanning and diffraction microscopy.

X-ray science has greatly benefited from the progress in X-ray optics. Advances in the design and the manufacturing techniques of X-ray optics are key to the success of various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques practiced today. Here the generation of apodized X-ray illumination using a two-stage deformable Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror system is presented.

Oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroidal materials returned from Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission.

Meteorite studies suggest that each solar system object has a unique oxygen isotopic composition. Chondrites, the most primitive of meteorites, have been believed to be derived from asteroids, but oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroids themselves have not been established. We measured, using secondary ion mass spectrometry, oxygen isotopic compositions of rock particles from asteroid 25143 Itokawa returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft.