Multimodal x-ray scatter imaging

We describe a small-angle x-ray scattering-based imaging technique that reveals the distribution and orientation of nano-scale structures over extended areas. By combining two measurement and analysis schemes, complementary structural information is available which renders the technique suitable for a broad range of applications, e.g. in materials science and bioimaging. Through a combination of current techniques and on-line analysis schemes, measurements with a so far unprecedented combination of speed, dynamic range and point density became feasible. This is illustrated by data recorded for a section of a mouse soleus muscle visualizing fine muscle and Achilles tendon structures down to the 10 nm range over a 10mm2 sample area. Structures on the nano-scale are of vital importance for the mechanical properties of materials, ranging from bio-medical samples like tissue via polymeric materials to metals and their alloys. Despite its importance there have been very few reports showing nano-scale information for extended objects. High-resolution scanning techniques like scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) or scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) are typically limited to covering small fields of view in the micrometre range on a reasonable timescale or to 5 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed. 6 Until June 2009: University of Copenhagen. 7 Until February 2009: Paul Scherrer Institut and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. New Journal of Physics 11 (2009) 123016 1367-2630/09/123016+08$30.00 © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft