Scientists use X-rays to produce high-resolution snapshots of viruses, proteins and other tiny structures of nature. They do this by bouncing X-rays off the object to produce a diffraction pattern, which is then used to create a high-resolution image. Interpreting diffraction patterns is challenging and ambiguous. One solution to this problem is to create an X-ray hologram using the very intense X-ray beam provided by SLAC¹s X-ray laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). This talk describes how to make holograms of nanoscale objects, and shows the world¹s first three-dimensional X-ray holograms of tiny viruses and atomic clusters.
