LaueNN: neural-network-based recognition of Laue spots and its application to polycrystalline materials.

A feed-forward neural-network-based model is presented to index, in real time, the diffraction spots recorded during synchrotron X-ray Laue microdiffraction experiments. Data dimensionality reduction is applied to extract physical 1D features from the 2D X-ray diffraction Laue images, thereby making it possible to train a neural network on the fly for any crystal system. The capabilities of the LaueNN model are illustrated through three examples: a two-phase nano-structure, a textured high-symmetry specimen deformed and a polycrystalline low-symmetry material.

KB scanning of X-ray beam for Laue microdiffraction on accelero-phobic samples: application to in situ mechanically loaded nanowires.

A mapping technique has been developed where a sub-micrometer focused polychromatic X-ray beam is scanned across a stationary sample instead of scanning the sample in front of the X-ray microbeam. This method is applied to a gold nanowire during its mechanical loading using the tip of an atomic force microscope. During the loading process, such a sample is `accelero-phobic', i.

Laue-DIC: a new method for improved stress field measurements at the micrometer scale.

A better understanding of the effective mechanical behavior of polycrystalline materials requires an accurate knowledge of the behavior at a scale smaller than the grain size. The X-ray Laue microdiffraction technique available at beamline BM32 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility is ideally suited for probing elastic strains (and associated stresses) in deformed polycrystalline materials with a spatial resolution smaller than a micrometer. However, the standard technique used to evaluate local stresses from the distortion of Laue patterns lacks accuracy for many micromechanical applications, mostly due to (i) the fitting of Laue spots by analytical functions, and (ii) the necessary comparison of the measured pattern with the theoretical one from an unstrained reference specimen.

bending of an Au nanowire monitored by micro Laue diffraction.

This article reports on the first successful combination of micro Laue (µLaue) diffraction with an atomic force microscope for nanomechanical tests of individual nanostructures. three-point bending on self-suspended gold nanowires was performed on the BM32 beamline at the ESRF using a specially designed atomic force microscope. During the bending process of the self-suspended wire, the evolution of µLaue diffraction patterns was monitored, allowing for extraction of the bending angle of the nanowire.

Asymmetric grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering and anisotropic domain wall motion in obliquely grown nanocrystalline Co films.

Strong asymmetries have been observed in grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) in situ patterns obtained from 30 nm-thick nanocrystalline Co films prepared by oblique sputtering (15°-75° off-sample normal). These asymmetries have been qualitatively simulated by a simple model consisting of an ensemble of 8 nm-wide inclined Co nanocolumns. It is found that narrow inclined features appear in the diffuse background resembling those characteristic of faceted systems, which can be used to obtain straightforward non-destructive estimations of buried nanocolumnar grains inclination, even for oblique angles below 45°, when the stronger and broader asymmetric features of the pattern are not yet fully formed.