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Updated: Oct 29, 2025

Synthesis and Microdiffraction at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures
Published on: October 7, 2013
Detailed diffraction imaging of x-ray optics crystals with synchrotron radiation
N R Pereira1, A T Macrander2, E Kasman2
1Ecopulse, Inc., 7844 Vervain Ct, Springfield, Virginia 22152, USA.
Abstract:
Rocking curve topography at the Advanced Photon Source's beamline 1-BM measures the x-ray reflection from large (many cm2) flat crystals on a sub-mm scale with microradian angular resolution. The (011̄1) reflection at 8 keV is uniform across the crystal and close to theory for three thick quartz wafers well-polished with increasingly finer grit. However, the reflection is non-uniform for some ∼0.1 mm thin, bendable crystals that are made flat by optical contact with a flat substrate. These thin crystals are bent to serve in certain x-ray diagnostics of plasmas, and similar non-uniformities could then occur in bent crystals as well. The same detail in x-ray reflection in bent crystals is unachievable with the existing topography setup: One way to get the desired resolution is with a standard microfocusing approach.
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