Experimental x-ray ghost imaging

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first experimental proof of ghost imaging with hard x-rays using synchrotron radiation, showing potential for reduced radiation damage in medical and structural imaging.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental demonstration of x-ray ghost imaging in the hard x-ray range using synchrotron sources.

Findings

Successful correlation of speckle patterns for ghost imaging

Potential for reducing radiation dose in imaging applications

First proof-of-principle experiment in hard x-ray ghost imaging

Abstract

We report an experimental proof of principle for ghost imaging in the hard x-ray energy range. We used a synchrotron x-ray beam that was split using a thin crystal in Laue diffraction geometry. With an ultra-fast imaging camera, we were able to image x-rays generated by isolated electron bunches. At this time scale, the shot noise of the synchrotron emission process is measurable as speckles, leading to speckle correlation between the two beams. The integrated transmitted intensity from a sample located in the first beam was correlated with the spatially resolved intensity measured on the second, empty, beam to retrieve the shadow of the sample. The demonstration of ghost imaging with hard x-rays may open the way to protocols to reduce radiation damage in medical imaging and in non-destructive structural characterization using Free Electron Lasers.