Crystal LabFerrara · UniFe & INFN

Research › X-ray and γ-ray optics

X-ray tomoscopy

Crystal beam splitters for MHz imaging

Thin crystals split one X-ray beam into several, so a sample is seen from many angles at once, without turning it.

The physics.

X-ray multi-projection imaging with crystal beam splittersAn X-ray beam crosses two thin crystals. Each diffracts part of the beam and lets the rest through; two more crystals send the diffracted beams back towards the sample, which is reached from three directions at the same time. Behind it, three detectors record three views in a single shot. X-ray beamthin crystal splitters samplethree views, one shotnot to scale
Two thin crystals split the beam and two more send the diffracted beams back to the sample: three views in one shot. Angles are exaggerated.

X-ray to­mog­ra­phy re­con­structs the inside of an opaque object from projec­tions taken at many angles, usually by ro­tat­ing the sample in the beam. Rotation limits the speed, cannot follow events that happen only once, and its cen­trif­u­gal forces disturb fragile or liquid samples.

X-ray multi-projec­tion imaging (XMPI) takes the projec­tions at the same time. A thin crystal in Laue ge­om­e­try, set at the Bragg angle, dif­fracts part of the beam by 2θB and lets the rest through; a few such split­ters divide one beam into several, which reach the sample from dif­fer­ent direc­tions and fall on sep­a­rate fast de­tec­tors.

Each X-ray pulse then gives a set of views, and suc­ces­sive pulses give a three-di­men­sion­al movie. At Eu­ro­pe­an XFEL, whose pulses come at mega­hertz rates, this opens micro­second time resolu­tion; at syn­chro­trons it already records thou­sands of frames per second.

The split­ters must divide the beam evenly and without distort­ing it, so the lattice has to be perfect across the il­lu­mi­nat­ed area. We make them from silicon and diamond crys­tals pre­pared in Ferrara.

What we have shown.

Instead of ro­tat­ing the sample, thin crystal beam split­ters divide the X-ray beam into several views taken at once. MHz-TO­MOS­CO­PY gave the first ex­per­i­men­tal demonstra­tion of mega­hertz multi-projec­tion X-ray imaging, with silicon and diamond crys­tals made in Ferrara and used at Eu­ro­pe­an XFEL, ESRF and MAX IV. The Eu­ro­pe­an Commis­sion's Innova­tion Radar named UniFe and INFN Key In­no­va­tors for these silicon optics.

MHz

First experimental demonstration of megahertz X-ray multi-projection imaging, within MHz-TOMOSCOPY, with silicon and diamond splitters made in Ferrara and used at European XFEL, ESRF and MAX IV.

1000 fps

3D dynamics of molten aluminium recorded at the ESRF ID19 beamline, at 1000 frames per second and 8 µm resolution per projection.

Optics Express 32 (2024)

Stereo

Hard X-ray stereographic microscopy: two phase-contrast views recorded in a single exposure and combined into a 3D model.

Optics Express 31 (2023)

Key Innovators

The European Commission’s Innovation Radar named UniFe and INFN Key Innovators for these silicon optics.

Read first.

  1. Hard X-ray stereographic microscopy for single-shot differential phase imagingBellucci V., Zdora M.-C., Mikeš L. … Romagnoni M., Mazzolari A. et al. · Optics Express 31 (2023)
  2. Development of crystal optics for X-ray multi-projection imaging for synchrotron and XFEL sourcesBellucci V., Birnsteinova S., Sato T. … Mazzolari A., Romagnoni M. et al. · Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 31 (2024)
  3. Development towards high-resolution kHz-speed rotation-free volumetric imagingAsimakopoulou E.M., Bellucci V., Birnsteinova S. … Mazzolari A., Romagnoni M. et al. · Optics Express 32 (2024)
  4. Time-resolved 3D imaging opportunities with XMPI at ForMAXRogalinski J.K., Yao Z., Zhang Y. … Mazzolari A. et al. · Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 33 (2026)
  5. Synchrotron X-ray multi-projection imaging (XMPI) for high-resolution 4D characterization of multiphase flowsRosén T., Yao Z., Tejbo J. … Mazzolari A. et al. · Experiments in Fluids 67 (2026)

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