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X-ray-scattering information obtained from near-field speckle

Nature Physics volume 4, pages 238–243 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Whenever coherent radiation impinges on a scattering object, a speckled intensity pattern is produced. In the far field the speckle size and shape do not mirror any properties of the object. Here we show that, in spite of the limited spatial coherence of synchrotron radiation, speckles with remarkable properties can be observed when the sensor is placed in the near field. The statistical analysis of these speckles generates static and dynamic X-ray-scattering data, and the results from two typical scattering samples are given. When compared with conventional far-field techniques, the method enables a substantial increase of around four orders of magnitude in the beam size and power and opens the way to a previously inaccessible region of scattering angles. It also offers the possibility of tracking the spatio-temporal evolution of complex fluids and other inhomogeneous systems.

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Figure 1: Stray-noise removal.
Figure 2: Speckle images obtained at various distances from the membrane.
Figure 3: Sequence of azimuthally averaged power spectra of speckle intensity distribution obtained by Fourier analysis of the images in Fig. 2.
Figure 4: Pictorial description of the self-referencing interference scheme.
Figure 5: Absolute scattering intensity I(q) for a microporous membrane with nominal pore size 0.45 μm.
Figure 6: q-dependent relaxation time τ for silica colloidal particles diffusing in water.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the ESRF for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities. We thank D. Cannell, P. Cloetens, G. Grübel, J. Harden, S. Mochrie, T. Narayanan, A. Snigirev, I. Snigireva, T. Weitkamp, D. Weitz and E. Ziegler for scientific discussion and encouragement. L. Claustre and J. Y. Massonnat are thanked for technical assistance at the beamline. Thanks are also due to M. Alaimo for bringing to our attention the results of ref. 25 and to C. Vozzi for help with the preparation of the figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, I-20133 Milano, Italy

    R. Cerbino, M. A. C. Potenza & M. Giglio

  2. Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Medical Biotechnology, Università degli Studi di Milano, I-20133 Milano, Italy

    R. Cerbino

  3. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, F-38043 Grenoble, France

    L. Peverini, A. Robert & P. Bösecke

  4. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    A. Robert

Authors
  1. R. Cerbino
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  2. L. Peverini
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  3. M. A. C. Potenza
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  4. A. Robert
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  5. P. Bösecke
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  6. M. Giglio
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Contributions

R.C., L.P., M.A.C.P. and M.G. made the speckle-based scattering measurements at the beamline BM05 (ESRF, Grenoble) and are responsible for the data analysis and for the writing of the manuscript. P.B. made the Bonse–Hart scattering measurement (microporous membrane) at the beamline ID02 (ESRF, Grenoble). A.R. made the traditional XPCS measurements (silica particles) at the beamline ID10A (ESRF, Grenoble).

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to R. Cerbino or M. Giglio.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information, Supplementary Fig 1, Fig 2 and Fig 3 (PDF 1281 kb)

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Cerbino, R., Peverini, L., Potenza, M. et al. X-ray-scattering information obtained from near-field speckle. Nature Phys 4, 238–243 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys837

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