The case for soft X-rays: Improved compositional contrast for structure and morphology determination with real and reciprocal space methods

Abstract

Although the interactions of soft x-rays and hard x-rays with polymers are fundamentally the same and are characterized by absorption and phase shifts, the relative and absolute strength of these interactions as a function of photon energy has profound practical implications. We delineate the basic physics of x-ray interactions with polymers as expressed in the optical constants of polymeric materials and exemplify the resulting advantages of soft x-rays over hard x-rays for real space and reciprocal space characterization methods in the context of a number of recent and ongoing applications. A perspective on future capabilities and applications will be provided.