Scanning Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Tomography

The techniques of small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) have successfully been used for many years in the analysis of nanostructures in non-crystalline samples, e.g., polymers, metallic alloys, ceramics, and glasses. In many specimens, however, the nanostructure is not distributed homogeneously, but instead varies as a function of position in the sample. Conventional SAXS or GISAXS measurements on such heterogeneous samples merely yield an averaged scattering pattern of all the different structures present along the x-ray beam path. In this thesis, scanning tomography is combined with SAXS and GISAXS, revealing the individual local scattering cross section at each position on a virtual section through the sample. The technique thereby offers unique analytical possibilities in heterogeneous specimens. A brief review of the physics of x rays and x-ray scattering is given, before the methods of tomographic SAXS and GISAXS are introduced. Experimental requirements and limitations of both methods are discussed, including aspects of sampling, local rotational invariance and x-ray beam coherence. Experiments performed at the beamline BW4 at HASYLAB at DESY, Hamburg, Germany are described, illustrating the capabilities of the method. Finally, an outlook on possible future developments in tomographic small-angle x-ray scattering is given.