Sala, Simone;
(2018)
Wavefront and nanostructure characterisation with X-ray ptychography.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
X-ray ptychography is a scanning diffraction microscopy technique suited for the phase-sensitive investigation of wavefronts and specimens. It returns complex-valued wave functions and transmission functions producing high-resolution (nanoscale) phase- contrast images. This work focuses on the implementation and application of X-ray ptychography in the context of synchrotron radiation facilities. It presents an experimental protocol developed for multiscale X-ray imaging and tested at the I13-1 Coherence Branchline at Diamond Light Source. This protocol combines both near-field and far-field ptychography with other imaging methods, providing a flexible way of conducting experiments on hierarchical structures at any high-brilliance X-ray facility. This work also reports ptychography experiments performed at free-electron lasers, aimed at characterising their pulsed beam. Both the average and individual wavefronts are retrieved through a novel application of a reconstruction algorithm based on singular- value decomposition, giving direct insight on pulse-to-pulse fluctuations and confirming ptychography as a powerful beam diagnostics technique. Additional ptychography experiments are also discussed, which were carried out at storage rings on flat, weakly-scattering biogenic samples to characterise their 3D nanos- tructures. Their data analysis pipeline is presented in detail, from data acquisition to rendered volumes. Furthermore, one of these last experiments constitutes the first successful 3D ptychography experiment run on real-life samples at the I13-1 Coherence Branchline at Diamond Light Source.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Wavefront and nanostructure characterisation with X-ray ptychography |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10057099 |
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