  Coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) using synchrotron radiation, X-ray free
electron lasers (X-FELs), high harmonic generation, soft X-ray lasers, and
optical lasers has found broad applications across several disciplines. An
active research direction in CDI is to determine the structure of single
particles with intense, femtosecond X-FEL pulses based on
diffraction-before-destruction scheme. However, single-shot 3D structure
determination has not been experimentally realized yet. Here we report the
first experimental demonstration of single-shot 3D structure determination of
individual nanocrystals using ~10 femtosecond X-FEL pulses. Coherent
diffraction patterns are collected from high-index-faceted nanocrystals, each
struck by a single X-FEL pulse. Taking advantage of the symmetry of the
nanocrystal, we reconstruct the 3D structure of each nanocrystal from a
single-shot diffraction pattern at ~5.5 nm resolution. As symmetry exists in
many nanocrystals and virus particles, this method can be applied to 3D
structure studies of such particles at nanometer resolution on femtosecond time
scales.
