Taking Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging to Higher Energies at Fourth Generation Synchrotrons: Nanoscale Characterization

Abstract

High-energy Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) can enable three-dimensional imaging of atomic structure within individual crystallites in complex environments. Here, we show that sufficient coherent photon flux is available to extend the BCDI technique to higher energies to (1) obtain improved strain information and sensitivity at the nanoscale with higher order Bragg reflections, (2) exploit BCDI in embedded materials or complex operando environments, (3) reduce X-ray induced sample modification, and (4) minimize dynamical scattering effects. We demonstrate the nanoscale imaging technique on the same sub-micrometer sized crystal at 8.5, 19.9, and 33.4 keV by taking advantage of the brilliance and coherence of the fourth generation Extremely Brilliant Source of the ID01 beamline at ESRF - The European Synchrotron (Grenoble, France). The photon flux, data quality, resolution and strain information are compared. We also show the first coherent diffraction measurements performed at the ID31-EBS beamline at an energy of 41 keV.