A Virtual Young's Double Slit Experiment for Hard X-ray Photons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a virtual Young's double slit experiment for hard X-ray photons using micro-fabricated bi-prisms, revealing interference patterns and coherence properties through advanced modeling and measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup for X-ray interference using bi-prisms and provides detailed analysis of fringe patterns and coherence lengths.

Findings

Fringe patterns observed with scintillator and fluorescence detection.

Interferogram modeling aligns with near-field Fresnel analysis.

Maximum fringe number relates to refractive index ratio.

Abstract

We have implemented a virtual Young's double slit experiment for hard X-ray photons with micro-fabricated bi-prisms. We observe fringe patterns with a scintillator, and quantify interferograms by detecting X-ray fluorescence from a scanned 30nm Cr metal film. The observed intensities are best modeled with a near-field, Fresnel analysis. The maximum fringe number in the overlap region is proportional to the ratio of real to imaginary parts refractive index of the prism material. The horizontal and vertical transverse coherence lengths at beamline APS 8-ID are measured.