Fig. 2.

Time resolved single-shot speckle patterns using femtosecond X-ray laser. a–d Single-shot coherent diffraction patterns from single Au nanoparticles are displayed showing anisotropic distortion in the speckle pattern with the melting in progress. e Line plots along the directions parallel and perpendicular to the laser polarization are compared. On melting, the fringe oscillation smears out more strongly along the polarization direction (80 ps) and eventually higher diffuse scattering signal is detected on complete melting at 140 ps (e). The polarization direction of the IR pump laser is shown with the arrow in d