Advances in X-ray Microscopy for Materials Characterization Spanning Time Scales, Length Scales, and Modalities

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Understanding material mesostructure and evolution, and their connections with material properties and performance, requires new methods to find and observe critical features in 3D and sub-surface systems.  X-ray microscopy (XRM) has emerged as a powerful tool for nondestructive 3D imaging of internal structures for a variety of material types.  By incorporating synchrotron-inspired X-ray technologies into laboratory instruments, modern XRM has recently evolved to offer unprecedented capabilities in a lab system.  First off, the non-destructive nature of X-rays has made the technique widely appealing, enabling a number of research opportunities including: imaging the same sample on a range of length scales to capture hierarchical structures, performing “4D” characterization via repeated imaging of the same sample as a function of sequential processing or experimental conditions, and new correlative workflows linking information obtained from X-ray tomography with that of additional microscopy tools.  In addition, beyond the classical density-based X-ray imaging, complementary XRM modalities including phase contrast imaging and diffraction contrast tomography have migrated from synchrotron to laboratory instruments to open new doors to interrogate low density as well as polycrystalline samples.  This talk will provide an overview of these technologies with a focus on their application to materials research.