Micro-beam Laue alignment of multi-reflection Bragg coherent diffraction imaging measurements.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Crystallography
• X-ray Physics

Background:

• Multi-reflection Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) enables 3D lattice strain tensor measurements in micro-crystals.
• Previous BCDI methods required time-consuming manual alignment procedures, limiting their practical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid and reliable method for 3D strain tensor measurements in micro-crystals.
• To overcome the limitations of laborious alignment in BCDI.

Main Methods:

• Utilized micro-beam Laue X-ray diffraction to determine micro-crystal lattice orientation.
• Employed lattice orientation data for rapid alignment of BCDI measurements from multiple reflections.
• Performed BCDI on a focused ion beam milled micro-crystal, collecting data from six reflections.

Main Results:

• Successfully determined 3D strain and stress fields in the micro-crystal.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of rapid alignment for BCDI using Laue diffraction orientation.
• Showcased the ability to assess phase retrieval reliability using data from more than three reflections.

Conclusions:

• A new approach enables rapid, reliable 3D coherent diffraction measurements of the full lattice strain tensor in micro-crystals.
• The method is effective even for heavily distorted samples.
• This advancement significantly enhances the accessibility and efficiency of BCDI for materials analysis.