Young's double-slit interference with single hard X-ray photons.

Double-slit interference experiments using monochromatic hard X-rays with the energy of 25 keV are presented. The experiments were performed at a synchrotron source with a distance of 110 m between the interferometer and the detector to produce an interference pattern with a sufficiently broad period that could be adequately sampled by a photon-counting detector with 75 micrometre pixels. In the single-particle version of the experiment, over one million image frames with a single registered photon in each one were collected.

Maturity Prediction in Yellow Peach ( L.) Cultivars Using a Fluorescence Spectrometer.

Technology for rapid, non-invasive and accurate determination of fruit maturity is increasingly sought after in horticultural industries. This study investigated the ability to predict fruit maturity of yellow peach cultivars using a prototype non-destructive fluorescence spectrometer. Collected spectra were analysed to predict flesh firmness (FF), soluble solids concentration (SSC), index of absorbance difference (I), skin and flesh colour attributes (i.

Nanotomographic evaluation of precipitate structure evolution in a Mg-Zn-Zr alloy during plastic deformation.

Magnesium and its alloys attract increasingly wide attention in various fields, ranging from transport to medical solutions, due to their outstanding structural and degradation properties. These properties can be tailored through alloying and thermo-mechanical processing, which is often complex and multi-step, thus requiring in-depth analysis. In this work, we demonstrate the capability of synchrotron-based nanotomographic X-ray imaging methods, namely holotomography and transmission X-ray microscopy, for the quantitative 3D analysis of the evolution of intermetallic precipitate (particle) morphology and distribution in magnesium alloy Mg-5.

Towards a practical implementation of X-ray ghost imaging with synchrotron light.

An experimental procedure for transmission X-ray ghost imaging using synchrotron light is presented. Hard X-rays from an undulator were divided by a beamsplitter to produce two copies of a speckled incident beam. Both beams were simultaneously measured on an indirect pixellated detector and the intensity correlation between the two copies was used to retrieve the ghost image of samples placed in one of the two beams, without measuring the samples directly.

Preclinical radiotherapy at the Australian Synchrotron's Imaging and Medical Beamline: instrumentation, dosimetry and a small-animal feasibility study.

Therapeutic applications of synchrotron X-rays such as microbeam (MRT) and minibeam (MBRT) radiation therapy promise significant advantages over conventional clinical techniques for some diseases if successfully transferred to clinical practice. Preclinical studies show clear evidence that a number of normal tissues in animal models display a tolerance to much higher doses from MRT compared with conventional radiotherapy. However, a wide spread in the parameters studied makes it difficult to make any conclusions about the associated tumour control or normal tissue complication probabilities.

Erratum: Experimental X-Ray Ghost Imaging [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 113902 (2016)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.

Experimental X-Ray Ghost Imaging.

We report an experimental proof of principle for ghost imaging in the hard-x-ray energy range. We use a synchrotron x-ray beam that is split using a thin crystal in Laue diffraction geometry. With an ultrafast imaging camera, we are able to image x rays generated by isolated electron bunches.

Phase contrast image guidance for synchrotron microbeam radiotherapy.

Recent image guidance developments for preclinical synchrotron microbeam radiotherapy represent a necessary step for future clinical translation of the technique. Image quality can be further improved using x-ray phase contrast, which is readily available at synchrotron facilities. We here describe a methodology for phase contrast image guidance at the Imaging and Medical Beamline at the Australian Synchrotron.

Image guidance protocol for synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy.

The protocol for image-guided microbeam radiotherapy (MRT) developed for the Australian Synchrotron's Imaging and Medical Beamline (IMBL) is described. The protocol has been designed for the small-animal MRT station of IMBL to enable future preclinical trials on rodents. The image guidance procedure allows for low-dose monochromatic imaging at 50 keV and subsequent semi-automated sample alignment in 3D with sub-100 µm accuracy.

High-Resolution X-Ray Techniques as New Tool to Investigate the 3D Vascularization of Engineered-Bone Tissue.

The understanding of structure-function relationships in normal and pathologic mammalian tissues is at the basis of a tissue engineering (TE) approach for the development of biological substitutes to restore or improve tissue function. In this framework, it is interesting to investigate engineered bone tissue, formed when porous ceramic constructs are loaded with bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) and implanted in vivo. To monitor the relation between bone formation and vascularization, it is important to achieve a detailed imaging and a quantitative description of the complete three-dimensional vascular network in such constructs.

Physical unsharp mask with structured detection.

We present a method to implement physically an unsharp mask filter in an imaging system. The idea is based on the use of a spatially periodic variation in the detection efficiency of an area detector. Such a "structured detection" introduces harmonic peaks in the Fourier spectrum associated with the image, enabling the use of higher spatial frequencies that would otherwise be inaccessible, due to the system point spread function.

Comparison of different numerical treatments for x-ray phase tomography of soft tissue from differential phase projections.

X-ray imaging of soft tissue is made difficult by their low absorbance. The use of x-ray phase imaging and tomography can significantly enhance the detection of these tissues and several approaches have been proposed to this end. Methods such as analyzer-based imaging or grating interferometry produce differential phase projections that can be used to reconstruct the 3D distribution of the sample refractive index.

Coherence filtering and revivals in x-ray waveguides: a communication-modes approach.

Waveguides for short-wavelength x-rays have been successfully employed for microbeam and nanobeam production and microscopy experiments. The coherence of hard x-ray sources is generally poor, and therefore the spatial coherence filtering characteristics of waveguides have been attractive for high-resolution microscopy experiments. To quantify the spatial coherence filtering properties of a waveguide, we here report a theoretical study of the propagation of a partially coherent beam in a waveguide in the paraxial approximation.

Dual scanning and full-field hard x-ray microscopy with a laboratory source.

We report on the experimental demonstration of a hard x-ray microscopy scheme achieving absorption and phase contrast imaging with a standard laboratory source. The x-ray optical system features two crossed planar waveguides coupled to the primary source. The dual waveguide acts as a secondary micron-sized source, enabling high imaging resolution.

Multi-modal hard x-ray imaging with a laboratory source using selective reflection from a mirror.

Multi-modal hard x-ray imaging sensitive to absorption, refraction, phase and scattering contrast is demonstrated using a simple setup implemented with a laboratory source. The method is based on selective reflection at the edge of a mirror, aligned to partially reflect a pencil x-ray beam after its interaction with a sample. Quantitative scattering contrast from a test sample is experimentally demonstrated using this method.

Three dimensional visualization of engineered bone and soft tissue by combined x-ray micro-diffraction and phase contrast tomography.

Computed x-ray phase contrast micro-tomography is the most valuable tool for a three dimensional (3D) and non destructive analysis of the tissue engineered bone morphology. We used a Talbot interferometer installed at SYRMEP beamline of the ELETTRA synchrotron (Trieste, Italy) for a precise 3D reconstruction of both bone and soft connective tissue, regenerated in vivo within a porous scaffold. For the first time the x-ray tomographic reconstructions have been combined with x-ray scanning micro-diffraction measurement on the same sample, in order to give an exhaustive identification of the different tissues participating to the biomineralization process.

A three-image algorithm for hard x-ray grating interferometry.

A three-image method to extract absorption, refraction and scattering information for hard x-ray grating interferometry is presented. The method comprises a post-processing approach alternative to the conventional phase stepping procedure and is inspired by a similar three-image technique developed for analyzer-based x-ray imaging. Results obtained with this algorithm are quantitatively comparable with phase-stepping.

X-ray phase imaging with a laboratory source using selective reflection from a mirror.

A novel approach for hard x-ray phase contrast imaging with a laboratory source is reported. The technique is based on total external reflection from the edge of a mirror, aligned to intercept only half of the incident beam. The mirror edge thus produces two beams.

High-resolution high-efficiency X-ray imaging system based on the in-line Bragg magnifier and the Medipix detector.

The performance of a recently developed full-field X-ray micro-imaging system based on an in-line Bragg magnifier is reported. The system is composed of quasi-channel-cut crystals in combination with a Medipix single-photon-counting detector. A theoretical and experimental study of the imaging performance of the crystals-detector combination and a comparison with a standard indirect detector typically used in high-resolution X-ray imaging schemes are reported.

In-line Bragg magnifier based on V-shaped germanium crystals.

In this work an X-ray imaging system based on a recently developed in-line two-dimensional Bragg magnifier composed of two monolithic V-shaped crystals made of dislocation-free germanium is presented. The channel-cut crystals were used in one-dimensional and in two-dimensional (crossed) configurations in imaging applications and allowed measurement of phase-contrast radiograms both in the edge-enhanced and in the holographic regimes. The measurement of the phase gradient in two orthogonal directions is demonstrated.

Resonance modes filtering in structured x-ray waveguides.

We discuss the self-imaging effect that occurs in a multimode planar x-ray waveguide (WG) with a nanometer vacuum gap, where an additional longitudinal periodicity has been imposed by a periodical structure (a micron scale step-like grating) on the reflecting sidewalls. Taking into account the general Montgomery conditions and the particular case of Talbot effect, we show that this additional longitudinal periodicity, if suitably designed, can filter out the asymmetric and the high order resonance modes, providing a coherent beam at the exit, even if the WG is illuminated by an incoherent source.

Experimental characterization of the coherence properties of hard x-ray sources.

The experimental characterization of the coherence properties of hard X-ray sources is reported and discussed. The source is described by its Mutual Optical Intensity (MOI). The coherent-mode decomposition is applied to the MOI described by a Gaussian-Schell model.

Deconvolution by finite-size-source effects of x-ray phase-contrast images.

Purpose: In the hard x-ray region, the cross sections for the phase shift of low-Z elements are about 1000 times larger than the absorption ones. As a consequence, phase contrast is detectable even when absorption contrast is minimal or absent. Therefore, phase-contrast imaging could become a valid alternative to absorption contrast without delivering high dose to tissue/human body parts.

X-ray phase contrast microscopy at 300 nm resolution with laboratory sources.

We report the performance of an X-ray phase contrast microscope for laboratory sources with 300 nm spatial resolution. The microscope is based on a commercial X-ray microfocus source equipped with a planar X-ray waveguide able to produce a sub-micrometer x-ray beam in one dimension. Phase contrast images of representative samples are reported.

Analysis of tapered front-coupling X-ray waveguides.

The coupling and propagation of electromagnetic waves through planar X-ray waveguides (WG) with vacuum gap and Si claddings are analyzed in detail, starting from the source and ending at the detector. The general case of linearly tapered WGs (i.e.