Submicron X-ray Diffraction and Its Applications to Problems in Materials and Environmental Science

Abstract The availability of high brilliance 3 generation synchrotron sources together with progress in achromatic focusing optics allow to add submicron spatial resolution to the conventional century-old X-ray diffraction technique. The new capabilities include the possibility to map in-situ, grain orientations, crystalline phase distribution and full strain/stress tensors at a very local level, by combining white and monochromatic X-ray microbeam diffraction. This is particularly relevant for high technology industry where the understanding of material properties at a microstructural level becomes increasingly important. After describing the latest advances in the submicron X-ray diffraction techniques at the ALS, we will give some examples of its application in material science for the measurement of strain/stress in metallic