Near-field speckle-scanning-based x-ray imaging

TL;DR

This paper introduces methods for extracting ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering and 2D phase gradient signals from near-field speckle-scanning data, improving imaging accuracy and robustness at synchrotron facilities.

Contribution

It presents novel numerical deconvolution techniques and analysis methods for near-field speckle-scanning x-ray imaging, enhancing the extraction of scattering and phase information.

Findings

Successful experimental demonstration at a synchrotron facility.

Effective recovery of ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering distribution.

Access to 2D phase gradient signals with reduced flat-field correction errors.

Abstract

The x-ray near-field speckle-scanning concept is an approach recently introduced to obtain absorption, phase, and dark-field images of a sample. In this paper, we present ways of recovering from a sample its ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering distribution using numerical deconvolution. We also show how to access the 2D phase gradient signal from random step scans, the latter having the potential to elude the flat-field correction error. Each feature is explained theoretically and demonstrated experimentally at a synchrotron x-ray facility.