A new density-modification procedure extending the application of the recent |ρ|-based phasing algorithm to larger crystal structures.

The incorporation of the new peakness-enhancing fast Fourier transform compatible ipp procedure (ipp = inner-pixel preservation) into the recently published SM algorithm based on |ρ| [Rius (2020). Acta Cryst A76, 489-493] improves its phasing efficiency for larger crystal structures with atomic resolution data. Its effectiveness is clearly demonstrated via a collection of test crystal structures (taken from the Protein Data Bank) either starting from random phase values or by using the randomly shifted modulus function (a Patterson-type synthesis) as initial ρ estimate. It has been found that in the presence of medium scatterers (e.g. S or Cl atoms) crystal structures with 1500 × c atoms in the unit cell (c = number of centerings) can be routinely solved. In the presence of strong scatterers like Fe, Cu or Zn atoms this number increases to around 5000 × c atoms. The implementation of this strengthened SM algorithm is simple, since it only includes a few easy-to-adjust parameters.