Crystals are packings of objects in a regular array. The continuing development of a new type of X-ray source called the provides X-rays with unprecedented brightness, coherence and short duration pulses.
These unique properties of XFELs have allowed very small crystals, only a few repeating units across, to be imaged.
Furthermore, the subsequent new signals, resulting from the coherent illumination of the entire crystal, enable the .
Optimisation techniques are crucial in every step of the process of converting the noisy diffraction data to a clean image of the molecule.
Knowing how a molecule looks from these images can help humanity develop new pharmaceuticals, novel energy sources, and understand life itself.