Credit: © 2008 ACS

There is currently a worldwide increase in the construction of powerful synchrotron radiation X-ray sources in the 2–10 keV class for the structural analysis of materials. However, it is not clear what information these 'next-generation' sources will be able to provide. Now, numerical simulations by Natasha Bozovic, Ivan Bozovic and James Misewich1 at Brookhaven National Laboratory and San Jose State University have shown that these new synchrotron sources should enable unprecedented atomic-scale analysis of carbon nanotubes.

Simulations were based on a single carbon nanotube being irradiated with X-rays and the diffraction pattern being recorded by a 1,024 x 1,024 pixel detector array, located 20 cm from the sample, and with an area of 100 x 100 μm2. X-ray diffraction patterns were also simulated for single gold atoms adsorbed on the surface of a nanotube.

The 'streak' diffraction patterns showed the possibility of using these X-ray sources to determine the type, diameter and orientation of single carbon nanotubes within minutes. Notably, the presence and location of the gold adatom was also clearly observed.

Such next-generation synchrotron sources are expected to be a valuable tool for X-ray nanocrystallography, with the possibility of conducting in situ measurements as a function of temperature, pressure and other such environmental changes.