Structured Illumination for Surface-Resolved Grazing-Incidence X-ray Scattering

TL;DR

This paper introduces a computational imaging method that uses structured illumination and scanning apertures to obtain localized surface information in grazing-incidence X-ray scattering, surpassing traditional averaging techniques.

Contribution

The novel approach combines structured illumination with scanning apertures and computational reconstruction to achieve localized surface structural imaging in GI X-ray scattering.

Findings

Successfully demonstrated on organic semiconductor thin films.

Provides localized structural information instead of averaged data.

Enhances resolution of surface features in GI X-ray scattering.

Abstract

We present a computational imaging technique for imaging thin films at grazing-incidence (GI) angles by incorporating structured illumination into existing GI X-ray scattering setups. This method involves scanning a micro-coded aperture across the incident X-ray beam at a grazing angle, followed by computational reconstruction to extract localized structural and scattering information along the beam footprint on the sample. Unlike conventional GI X-ray scattering methods, which provide only averaged structural data, our approach offers localized scattering information. We detail the underlying principles of this technique and demonstrate its effectiveness through experimental results on an organic semiconductor thin film.