Nature Communications

Dichography: two-frame ultrafast imaging from a single diffraction pattern

L Linos Hecht A Andre Al Haddad B Björn Bastian T Thomas M. Baumann J Johan Bielecki C Christoph Bostedt S Subhendu De A Alberto De Fanis S Simon Dold (European XFEL , Holzkoppel 4 , ,) T Thomas Fennel F Fanny Goy C Christina Graf R Robert Hartmann G Georg Jakobs M Maximilian Joschko G Gregor Knopp K Katharina Kolatzki S Sivarama Krishnan B Björn Kruse A Asbjørn Ø. Lægdsmand B Bruno Langbehn S Suddhasattwa Mandal T Tommaso Mazza M Michael Meyer C Christian Peltz T Thomas Pfeifer S Safi Rafie-Zinedine A Antoine Sarracini M Mario Sauppe F Florian Schenk K Kirsten Schnorr B Björn Senfftleben (European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, Schenefeld 22869, Germany) K Keshav Sishodia F Frank Stienkemeier Z Zhibin Sun R Rico Mayro P. Tanyag (Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, Aarhus C DK-8000, Denmark) P Paul Tümmler S Sergey Usenko C Carl Frederic Ussling V Vanessa Wood (Materials and Device Engineering Group, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering) X Xinhua Xie M Maksym Yarema (Chemistry and Materials Design Group, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering) O Olesya Yarema N Nuri Yazdani (Materials and Device Engineering Group, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering) H Hankai Zhang B Bernd von Issendorff Y Yevheniy Ovcharenko M Marcel Mudrich D Daniela Rupp A Alessandro Colombo

Abstract

Abstract We experimentally demonstrate that pairs of time-delayed ultrabright and ultrashort X-ray pulses of two different colors, delivered by modern X-ray Free Electron Lasers, can provide two time-delayed snapshots of a sample. We introduce Dichography, a method that algorithmically separates the diffraction signals overlapping on the detector and independently retrieves the two images of the specimen. We employ Dichography to reconstruct two views of individual xenon-doped helium nanodroplets with 20 nm spatial resolution. The consistency of structures observed in both images at delays up to 750 fs provides evidence that, under these illumination conditions, significant structural damage only occurs at longer timescales. We further validate the method by imaging pairs of silver nanoparticles intercepted by the same light pulse. Dichography enables a new class of experiments across physics, chemistry, and materials science, making a significant step toward the original promise of X-ray free-electron lasers to capture ultrafast movies of nanomatter.

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Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 17, Issue 1
Published June 24, 2026
ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher Nature Portfolio

Journal Info

Nature Communications

Nature Portfolio
ISSN: 2041-1723 Open Access Life Sciences

Authors (50)

L

Linos Hecht

A

Andre Al Haddad

B

Björn Bastian

T

Thomas M. Baumann

J

Johan Bielecki

C

Christoph Bostedt

S

Subhendu De

A

Alberto De Fanis

S

Simon Dold

European XFEL , Holzkoppel 4 , ,

T

Thomas Fennel

F

Fanny Goy

C

Christina Graf

R

Robert Hartmann

G

Georg Jakobs

M

Maximilian Joschko

G

Gregor Knopp

K

Katharina Kolatzki

S

Sivarama Krishnan

B

Björn Kruse

A

Asbjørn Ø. Lægdsmand

B

Bruno Langbehn

S

Suddhasattwa Mandal

T

Tommaso Mazza

M

Michael Meyer

C

Christian Peltz

T

Thomas Pfeifer

S

Safi Rafie-Zinedine

A

Antoine Sarracini

M

Mario Sauppe

F

Florian Schenk

K

Kirsten Schnorr

B

Björn Senfftleben

European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, Schenefeld 22869, Germany

K

Keshav Sishodia

F

Frank Stienkemeier

Z

Zhibin Sun

R

Rico Mayro P. Tanyag

Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, Aarhus C DK-8000, Denmark

P

Paul Tümmler

S

Sergey Usenko

C

Carl Frederic Ussling

V

Vanessa Wood

Materials and Device Engineering Group, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

X

Xinhua Xie

M

Maksym Yarema

Chemistry and Materials Design Group, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

O

Olesya Yarema

N

Nuri Yazdani

Materials and Device Engineering Group, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

H

Hankai Zhang

B

Bernd von Issendorff

Y

Yevheniy Ovcharenko

M

Marcel Mudrich

D

Daniela Rupp

A

Alessandro Colombo

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