Standard histopathological examination is the gold standard for many disease diagnoses although the technique is limited with no full 3D volume analysis possible. Three dimensional X-ray Phase-Contrast Imaging(PCI) methods have been under constant and fast developments in the recent decades due to their superior performance for imaging low density objects and their ability to provide complementary information compared to attenuation based imaging. Despite the progresses, X-ray Phase Contrast Tomography still encounters remaining challenges to overcome on its way to become a routine non-invasive technique allowing the 3D assessment of tissue architecture in laboratory set-ups. Speckle Based Imaging (SBI) forms a new class of X-ray PCI techniques, sensitive to the first derivative of the phase. The set-up involved and the simplicity of implementation provide many advantages to SBI such as having no field of view and no resolution limitation in addition to have low requirements on the beam coherences. These advantages make SBI a good candidate for the transfer on conventional sources. In this work, we present preliminary results obtained on a conventional μCT and their comparison with data acquired at the European Synchrotron. We used a new phase retrieval algorithm based on optical energy conservation. We applied the method on both phantoms and biological samples in order to evaluate its quantitativeness for a transfer. A comparison to previously available speckle tracking algorithms is also performed. We demonstrate that the combination of the phase retrieval method with a standard μCT can achieve high resolution and high contrast within a few minutes, with a comparable image quality to the results obtained using synchrotron light.
We present developments on a hard X-ray wavefront sensing instrument for characterizing and monitoring the beam of the European X-ray Free Electron Lasers (EuXFEL). The pulsed nature of the intense X-ray beam delivered by this new class of facility gives rise to strong challenges for the optics and their diagnostic. In the frame of the EUCALL project Work Package 7, we are developing a sensor able to observe the beam in the X-ray energy range [8-40] keV without altering it. The sensor is based on the speckle tracking principle and employs two semi-transparent optics optimized such that their X-ray absorption is reduced. Furthermore, this instrument requires a scattering object with small random features placed in the beam and two cameras to record images of the beam at two different propagation distances. The analysis of the speckle pattern and its distortion from one image to the other allows absolute or differential wavefront recovery from pulse to pulse. Herein, we introduce the stakes and challenges of wavefront sensing at an XFEL source and explain the strategies adopted to fulfil the high requirements set by such a source.
Modern, third-generation synchrotron radiation sources provide coherent and extremely bright beams of X-ray radiation.
The successful exploitation of such beams depends to a significant extent on imperfections and misalignment of the
optics employed on the beamlines. This issue becomes even more critical with the increasing use of active optics, and the
desire to achieve diffraction-limited and coherence-preserving X-ray beams. In recent years, significant progress has
been made to improve optic testing and optimization techniques, especially those using X-rays for so-called atwavelength
metrology. These in-situ and at-wavelength metrology methods can be used not only to optimize the
performance of X-ray optics, but also to correct and minimize the collective distortions of upstream beamline optics,
including monochromators, and transmission windows. An overview of at-wavelength metrology techniques
implemented at Diamond Light Source is presented, including grating interferometry and X-ray near-field speckle based
techniques. Representative examples of the application of these techniques are also given, including in-situ and atwavelength
calibration and optimization of: active, piezo bimorph mirrors; Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) mirrors; and
refractive optics such as compound refractive lenses.
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