Fast and adjustable-resolution grazing-incidence x-ray liquid surface diffraction

Abstract

We developed a configuration using a two-dimensional detector for grazing incidence x-ray diffraction on Langmuir monolayers and, more generally, for surface diffraction on two-dimensional powders. Compared to the classical setup using a linear detector combined with Soller slits, the acquisition time is reduced by an order of magnitude (from more than 1 h to a few minutes) using the same x-ray source (synchrotron bending magnet) with a comparable signal to noise ratio. Moreover, experimental resolution can be adjusted by varying a vertical slit (horizontal gap) and, for small values of the gap, better resolution can be achieved compared to the one obtained with the Soller slits and linear detector.