A Crossed Laser Phase Plate for CryoEM
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The laser phase plate (LPP) enables phase-contrast imaging in cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM), enhancing image contrast without compromising high-resolution information. Here we report the implementation of a crossed laser phase plate (xLPP) comprising two optical cavities oriented orthogonally, installed in a ThermoFisher Scientific Krios G4 microscope equipped with a newly designed transfer lens module. We demonstrate the expected, strong contrast enhancement and stable, additive phase shifts of 90°, with a contrast transfer function (CTF) that closely matches theory. Single-particle analysis (SPA) of apoferritin, a standard benchmark sample, reached a resolution of 1.79 Å, demonstrating the system is capable of acquiring high-resolution cryoEM data. When imaging thick E. coli cells (∼350 nm), the xLPP enhances contrast and increases low-frequency template-matching signal. Together, these results establish the feasibility of the xLPP and highlight its potential for high-contrast, high-resolution cryoEM imaging of biological systems.
Authors: Yue Yu, Anchi Cheng, Elizabeth Montabana, Noeli Paz Soldán, Eric S. Cooper, Jessie T. Zhang, Jeremy J. Axelrod, Petar N. Petrov, Amir Torkaman, Dylan Roof, Matthew Derstine, Bart Buijsse, Wim Hagen, Dari Kimanius, Shawn Zheng, Mykhailo Kopylov, Mohammadreza Paraan, Deepan Balakrishnan, Joshua Hutchings, Hang Cheng, Jonathan Remis, Ashwin Singh, Lothar Maisenbacher, Clinton S. Potter, Holger Müller, Bridget Carragher, David Agard, Pavel K. Olshin
Subfield: Structural Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7163738989