{
  "abstract": "The extreme intensity of X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses has enabled imaging of radiation-sensitive samples, such as macromolecular microcrystals, beyond radiation damage limits. These sources have the potential to enable biomolecular single-particle imaging, similar to cryo-electron microscopy but without the need for cryo-fixation and with temporal resolution from femtoseconds to milliseconds. While this possibility was recognized before XFELs were built, the biological single-particle imaging work flow has previously only been demonstrated on large virus particles. Building on improvements in X-ray beam focusing, particle delivery, diffraction detection, and advanced analysis, here we demonstrate imaging of a single molecular complex, the giant-hemoglobin erythrocruorin (Ery) with X-ray laser pulses. Two-dimensional classes of diffraction patterns could be reconstructed to 15 Angstrom resolution, and 3D images to ~20 to 30 Angstrom, even though the 3D merged intensity in reciprocal space extended beyond 20 Angstrom. The resolution discrepancy is likely due to heterogeneity caused by gas-phase compaction of the complexes. With increased throughput, this approach could be used to reveal in-situ structural details during mass spectrometry studies of biomolecules, while improvements in sample delivery may provide ultrafast snapshot imaging of biological single-particles in their native-state beyond the limitations of radiation damage.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.11892",
  "author_total": 70,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Paul Lourdu Xavier"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew J. Morgan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Johan Bielecki"
    },
    {
      "name": "Amit K. Samanta"
    },
    {
      "name": "Simon Dold"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chufeng Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xinyue Gao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Spencer K. Passmore"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ruslan P. Kurta"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tim B. Berberich"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emiliano De Santis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wenhui Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Juncheng E"
    },
    {
      "name": "Faisal H. M. Koua"
    },
    {
      "name": "Romain Letrun"
    },
    {
      "name": "Luca Gelisio"
    },
    {
      "name": "Oleksii Turkot"
    },
    {
      "name": "Egor Sobolev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lukas V. Haas"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jannik Lübke"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jingxuan He"
    },
    {
      "name": "Madeline B. F. Memovich"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kevin Janson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stefanie Lenzen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Safi Rafie-Zinedine"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mansi Butola"
    },
    {
      "name": "Oleksandr Yefanov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fabian Trost"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chan Kim"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tomas Popelar"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tokushi Sato"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mohammad Vakili"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yevheniy Ovcharenko"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rebecca Boll"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sergey Usenko"
    },
    {
      "name": "Thomas M. Baumann"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alberto De Fanis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Björn Senftleben"
    },
    {
      "name": "Matteo Porro"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrea Castoldi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ibrahym Dourki"
    },
    {
      "name": "Cyril Danilevski"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ekaterina Round"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christina Schmidt"
    },
    {
      "name": "Huijong Han"
    },
    {
      "name": "Roberto Alvarez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ervin Chia"
    },
    {
      "name": "Cornelia Cazey"
    },
    {
      "name": "Carolin Seuring"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ruojie Sha"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maia Azubel"
    },
    {
      "name": "David A. Bushnell"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sébastien Boutet"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sergey Ovchinnikov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Adrian P. Mancuso"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael Meyer"
    },
    {
      "name": "Richard Bean"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anton Barty"
    },
    {
      "name": "Filipe R. N. C. Maia"
    },
    {
      "name": "Richard A. Kirian"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3dsyt2jzmahb4.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.11892",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "3dsyt2jzmahb4",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11892",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.acc-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.bio-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.comp-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.ins-det"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3108|Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7132087383",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.11892",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3dsyt2jzmahb4.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
      "native_id": "2610.11892",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11892"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.acc-ph",
      "subfield": "applied-instrumentation"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.bio-ph",
      "subfield": "biological-medical"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.comp-ph",
      "subfield": "computational"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Femtosecond Three-Dimensional Imaging of Single-Protein with Hard X-ray Laser",
  "title_text": "Femtosecond Three-Dimensional Imaging of Single-Protein with Hard X-ray Laser",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3dsyt2jzmahb4",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}