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Results for “x-ray ptychography”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Near, far, wherever you are: simulations on the dose efficiency of holographic and ptychographic coherent imaging

Different studies in X-ray microscopy have arrived at conflicting conclusions about the dose efficiency of imaging modes involving the recording of intensity distributions in the near (Fresnel regime) or far (Fraunhofer regime) field downstream of a specimen. A numerical study is presented on the dose efficiency of near-field holography, near-field ptychography and far-field ptychography, where ptychography involves multiple overlapping finite-sized illumination positions. Unlike what has been reported for coherent diffraction imaging, which involves recording a single far-field diffraction pattern, it is found that all three methods offer similar image quality when using the same fluence on the specimen, with far-field ptychography offering slightly better spatial resolution and a lower mean error. These results support the concept that (if the experiment and image reconstruction are done properly) the sample can be near or far; wherever you are, photon fluence on the specimen sets one limit to spatial resolution.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ptychographic X-ray speckle tracking with multi-layer Laue lens systems

The ever-increasing brightness of synchrotron radiation sources demands improved X-ray optics to utilize their capability for imaging and probing biological cells, nano-devices and functional matter on the nanometre scale with chemical sensitivity. Hard X-rays are ideal for high-resolution imaging and spectroscopic applications owing to their short wavelength, high penetrating power and chemical sensitivity. The penetrating power that makes X-rays useful for imaging also makes focusing them technologically challenging. Recent developments in layer deposition techniques have enabled the fabrication of a series of highly focusing X-ray lenses, known as wedged multi-layer Laue lenses. Improvements to the lens design and fabrication technique demand an accurate, robust, in situ and at-wavelength characterization method. To this end, a modified form of the speckle tracking wavefront metrology method has been developed. The ptychographic X-ray speckle tracking method is capable of operating with highly divergent wavefields. A useful by-product of this method is that it also provides high-resolution and aberration-free projection images of extended specimens. Three separate experiments using this method are reported, where the ray path angles have been resolved to within 4 nrad with an imaging resolution of 45 nm (full period). This method does not require a high degree of coherence, making it suitable for laboratory-based X-ray sources. Likewise, it is robust to errors in the registered sample positions, making it suitable for X-ray free-electron laser facilities, where beam-pointing fluctuations can be problematic for wavefront metrology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Single-frame far-field diffractive imaging with randomized illumination

Contains two transmission ptychography datasets, one collected from a Siemens star, and the second from an Fe/Gd multilayer. Both samples are under illumination from the same randomized zone plate. Each dataset has a single diffraction pattern removed, and these patterns are reported in a separate cxi file. Either ptychography dataset can be used for calibration of the probe function, and the remaining diffraction patterns can be reconstructed via randomized probe imaging.

BESSY II↗
DOE OSTI2020

PtychoShelves , a versatile high-level framework for high-performance analysis of ptychographic data

Over the past decade, ptychography has been proven to be a robust tool for non-destructive high-resolution quantitative electron, X-ray and optical microscopy. It allows for quantitative reconstruction of the specimen's transmissivity, as well as recovery of the illuminating wavefront. Additionally, various algorithms have been developed to account for systematic errors and improved convergence. With fast ptychographic microscopes and more advanced algorithms, both the complexity of the reconstruction task and the data volume increase significantly. PtychoShelves is a software package which combines high-level modularity for easy and fast changes to the data-processing pipeline, and high-performance computing on CPUs and GPUs.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Single-frame far-field diffractive imaging with randomized illumination

Contains a transmission ptychography dataset collected from a chrome on glass Siemens star under optical illumination. The probe is generated by a randomized zone plate under illumination from a spatially filtered green laser. A single diffraction pattern was removed from the dataset and reported in a separate cxi file. In addition, a single exposure collected after manually defocusing the probe is reported. The ptychography dataset is used for calibration of the probe function, and the remaining diffraction patterns can be reconstructed via randomized probe imaging.

Ptychography, Randomized Probe Imaging↗
DOE OSTI2021

Revealing nano-scale lattice distortions in implanted material with 3D Bragg ptychography

Small ion-irradiation-induced defects can dramatically alter material properties and speed up degradation. Unfortunately, most of the defects irradiation creates are below the visibility limit of state-of-the-art microscopy. As such, our understanding of their impact is largely based on simulations with major unknowns. Here we present an x-ray crystalline microscopy approach, able to image with high sensitivity, nano-scale 3D resolution and extended field of view, the lattice strains and tilts in crystalline materials. Using this enhanced Bragg ptychography tool, we study the damage helium-ion-irradiation produces in tungsten, revealing a series of crystalline details in the 3D sample. Our results lead to the conclusions that few-atom-large ‘invisible’ defects are likely isotropic in orientation and homogeneously distributed. A partially defect-denuded region is observed close to a grain boundary. These findings open up exciting perspectives for the modelling of irradiation damage and the detailed analysis of crystalline properties in complex materials.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dose-efficient automatic differentiation for ptychographic reconstruction

Ptychography, as a powerful lensless imaging method, has become a popular member of the coherent diffractive imaging family over decades of development. The ability to utilize low-dose X-rays and/or fast scans offers a big advantage in a ptychographic measurement (for example, when measuring radiation-sensitive samples), but results in low-photon statistics, making the subsequent phase retrieval challenging. Here, we demonstrate a dose-efficient automatic differentiation framework for ptychographic reconstruction (DAP) at low-photon statistics and low overlap ratio. As no reciprocal space constraint is required in this DAP framework, the framework, based on various forward models, shows superior performance under these conditions. It effectively suppresses potential artifacts in the reconstructed images, especially for the inherent periodic artifact in a raster scan. We validate the effectiveness and robustness of this method using both simulated and measured datasets.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Development of electron source feedback for enhanced X-ray beam stability at NSLS-II

Future synchrotron light sources are being designed to deliver significantly higher brightness and coherence, enabling faster scanning and more advanced imaging techniques. However, realizing these capabilities requires improved X-ray beam stability, as vibrations directly limit measurement accuracy and image quality. At the NSLS-II Hard X-ray Nanoprobe (HXN), a local mechanical feedback system mitigates low-frequency motion but provides only limited suppression of dominant vibrations at 27 Hz and 120 Hz. To address this limitation, this work explores the use of the electron beam itself as the actuator for feedback by integrating X-ray beam position monitor signals into the fast orbit feedback system through a dedicated electrometer. Experimental results show that this approach effectively suppresses the dominant vibration peaks and enhances stability at the focusing point. Benchmark ptychography measurements further confirm that electron-beam-based feedback reduces background fluctuations and mitigates vibration-induced artifacts under fast-scanning conditions. These results establish the feasibility of using the electron beam as a feedback actuator for next-generation synchrotron applications and provide an experimental assessment of its potential and limitations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Inversion of dynamical Bragg intensities to complex structure factors by iterated projections. For Ultramic. 2020. ("Pico" Festschrift, May 2021)

We discuss a method for recovering complex structure factors from many simultaneously excited Bragg beam intensities is described. The method is applied to simulated transmission electron diffraction data over a wide range of crystal thickness and beam energies. The method is based on iterated projections between structure and scattering matrices, which are related by a matrix unitary transformation, exponential, which we invert. The algorithm removes multiple-scattering perturbations from diffraction data and might be extended to other fields, including X-ray and neutron diffraction and cryo-electron microscopy. Because coherent multiple scattering involves interference between Bragg beams, the method also solves the phase problem. Unlike dynamical inversion from electron microscope images or ptychography data, the method, which starts with Bragg beam intensities, provides complex structure factors unaffected by focusing errors or resolution limitations imposed by lenses. We provide inversions from simulated data with 441 simultaneously excited Bragg beams over a range of thickness and beam energy. We discuss the retrieval of chirality information from enantiomorphs, the efficient incorporation of symmetry information using the irreducible representation of the group of structure matrices, and the effect of HOLZ lines to provide three-dimensional information.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ptychographic wavefront characterization for single-particle imaging at x-ray lasers

A well-characterized wavefront is important for many x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) experiments, especially for single-particle imaging (SPI), where individual biomolecules randomly sample a nanometer region of highly focused femtosecond pulses. We demonstrate high-resolution multiple-plane wavefront imaging of an ensemble of XFEL pulses, focused by Kirkpatrick–Baez mirrors, based on mixed-state ptychography, an approach letting us infer and reduce experimental sources of instability. From the recovered wavefront profiles, we show that while local photon fluence correction is crucial and possible for SPI, a small diversity of phase tilts likely has no impact. Our detailed characterization will aid interpretation of data from past and future SPI experiments and provides a basis for further improvements to experimental design and reconstruction algorithms.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Bragg Coherent Imaging of Fluctuating Domains

This review presents two examples of domain dynamics in crystalline solid state samples which were imaged recently with synchrotron X-rays by Bragg Coherent Diffraction methods. Domains are associated with sub-atomic phase shifts in the structure which are revealed by the strong phase contrast associated with Bragg diffraction. At low temperatures, La2-xSrxNiO4 has an antiferromagnetic spin-ordered phase with correlation lengths of 200 nm; its domains are imaged with magnetic Bragg Ptychography to visualize their slow fluctuations. Hydrothermally synthesized nanocrystalline BaTiO3 is found to be made up of ~50 nm domains using Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging; electric field induced movement of its internal domain walls is a likely explanation of the nano-material's anomalously large dielectric constant, which is used in the manufacture of multilayer ceramic capacitors

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of Chemical and Structural Homogeneity in Single Particles of Li 1-x Ni 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 0 2

Identifying irreversible phenomena at single particles of battery cathode materials is an important step to understanding degradation pathways upon cycling. LiNi 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 O 2 (LiNMC(111)) single particles of size 200 x 300 nm were studied before and after cycling using Scanning X-ray Diffraction Microscopy (SXDM) and ptychographic microscopy. Here, with resolutions of 30 and 5 nm, respectively, it was possible to map the (003) reflection and nickel oxidation state changes in single particles at different states of charge. While the compositions measured by the c lattice parameter from SXDM were found to be homogeneous, mapping at higher resolution using ptychography revealed that Ni oxidation states decrease sharply 0-25 nm from the edge, then trail into a steady oxidation state toward the interior of the particle. Within the 30 nm length scale, we conclude that LiNi 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 O 2 single particles are highly structurally reversible.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Three-dimensional nanoscale reduced-angle ptycho-tomographic imaging with deep learning (RAPID)

X-ray ptychographic tomography is a nondestructive method for three dimensional (3D) imaging with nanometer-sized resolvable features. The size of the volume that can be imaged is almost arbitrary, limited only by the penetration depth and the available scanning time. Here we present a method that rapidly accelerates the imaging operation over a given volume through acquiring a limited set of data via large angular reduction and compensating for the resulting ill-posedness through deeply learned priors. The proposed 3D reconstruction method “RAPID” relies initially on a subset of the object measured with the nominal number of required illumination angles and treats the reconstructions from the conventional two-step approach as ground truth. It is then trained to reproduce equal fidelity from much fewer angles. After training, it performs with similar fidelity on the hitherto unexamined portions of the object, previously not shown during training, with a limited set of acquisitions. In our experimental demonstration, the nominal number of angles was 349 and the reduced number of angles was 21, resulting in a x140 aggregate speedup over a volume of 4.48 x 93.18 x 3.92 μm 3 and with (14nm) 3 feature size, i.e. ~ 10 8 voxels. RAPID’s key distinguishing feature over earlier attempts is the incorporation of atrous spatial pyramid pooling modules into the deep neural network framework in an anisotropic way. We found that adjusting the atrous rate improves reconstruction fidelity because it expands the convolutional kernels’ range to match the physics of multi-slice ptychography without significantly increasing the number of parameters.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Three dimensions, two microscopes, one code: Automatic differentiation for x-ray nanotomography beyond the depth of focus limit

Conventional tomographic reconstruction algorithms assume that one has obtained pure projection images, involving no within-specimen diffraction effects nor multiple scattering. Advances in x-ray nanotomography are leading toward the violation of these assumptions, by combining the high penetration power of x-rays, which enables thick specimens to be imaged, with improved spatial resolution that decreases the depth of focus of the imaging system. We describe a reconstruction method where multiple scattering and diffraction effects in thick samples are modeled by multislice propagation and the 3D object function is retrieved through iterative optimization. We show that the same proposed method works for both full-field microscopy and for coherent scanning techniques like ptychography. Our implementation uses the optimization toolbox and the automatic differentiation capability of the open-source deep learning package TensorFlow, demonstrating a straightforward way to solve optimization problems in computational imaging with flexibility and portability.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Determining the nanostructure of polymer foams using 3D ptycho-tomography for inertial fusion energy applications

Polymer foams play a critical role in contemporary inertial fusion energy (IFE) target designs by enhancing energy yield and optimizing implosion dynamics. However, the lack of high-resolution characterization of the nanostructure of these foams restricts progress in fusion science. In this work, we demonstrate the first high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of a low-density, Si-doped polymer foam fabricated via two-photon polymerization, using ptychographic x-ray computed tomography (PXCT) at an x-ray free electron laser (XFEL). This imaging method reconstructs two-dimensional (2D) attenuation and phase information at multiple sample angles that are combined into a 3D density map used to extract local mass density and determine structural dimensions. We achieve a 2D spatial resolution of 19 ± 3 nm on a high-contrast Ronchi pattern target and 78.7 ± 3 nm for low-contrast polymer foams, marking a significant advancement for XFEL-based ptychography of low-density materials. Furthermore, our experimental results reveal an average foam strut thickness of 1.17 ± 0.4 μm, consistent with fabrication expectations, and a reconstructed average mass density of 0.35 g/cc, aligning closely with the predicted density of 0.29 g/cc. These findings provide important insights for improving foam design and refining radiation hydrodynamics modeling in future IFE experiments. Our study establishes PXCT at an XFEL as a powerful tool for high-resolution characterization of fusion-relevant materials, paving the way for enhanced target performance in IFE research.

Hancock, Levi [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins,↗
DOE OSTI2025

Electron Microscopy Approaches to Unraveling the Structure of Amorphous Materials

Determining atomic structures in crystalline materials—where atoms are arranged in rigid, periodic lattices—has been highly successful using probes such as electrons, X-rays, and neutrons. In contrast, amorphous materials, despite their ubiquity and technological importance, remain far more challenging to characterize with comparable accuracy and precision. This review highlights existing, emerging, and potential (scanning) transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM) techniques for probing short- and medium-range order in amorphous materials. Approaches ranging from high-resolution (S)TEM imaging and selected electron diffraction pattern to four-dimensional STEM (4D-STEM) based pair distribution function, fluctuation electron microscopy, tomography, ptychography, and spectroscopic methods are discussed, emphasizing their ability to provide complementary insights across multiple length scales—from sub-angstrom local environments to nanometer-scale correlations. Here, we further explore the promise of multimodal and correlative strategies, as well as the growing role of machine learning and physics-informed AI in enabling real-time, quantitative interpretation of complex structural signatures. Together, these advances point toward a future where electron microscopy not only reveals the hidden order in amorphous systems but also establishes robust structure–property relationships, paving the way for materials innovation in disordered matter.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

General approaches for shear-correcting coordinate transformations in Bragg coherent diffraction imaging. Part I

This two-part article series provides a generalized description of the scattering geometry of Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) experiments, the shear distortion effects inherent in the 3D image obtained from presently used methods and strategies to mitigate this distortion. Part I starts from fundamental considerations to present the general real-space coordinate transformation required to correct this shear, in a compact operator formulation that easily lends itself to implementation with available software packages. Such a transformation, applied as a final post-processing step following phase retrieval, is crucial for arriving at an undistorted, correctly oriented and physically meaningful image of the 3D crystalline scatterer. As the relevance of BCDI grows in the field of materials characterization, the available sparse literature that addresses the geometric theory of BCDI and the subsequent analysis methods are generalized here. This geometrical aspect, specific to coherent Bragg diffraction and absent in 2D transmission CDI experiments, gains particular importance when it comes to spatially resolved characterization of 3D crystalline materials in a reliable nondestructive manner. This series of articles describes this theory, from the diffraction in Bragg geometry to the corrections needed to obtain a properly rendered digital image of the 3D scatterer. Part I of this series provides the experimental BCDI community with the general form of the 3D real-space distortions in the phase-retrieved object, along with the necessary post-retrieval correction method. Part II builds upon the geometric theory developed in Part I with the formalism to correct the shear distortions directly on an orthogonal grid within the phase-retrieval algorithm itself, allowing more physically realistic constraints to be applied. Taken together, Parts I and II provide the X-ray science community with a set of generalized BCDI shear-correction techniques crucial to the final rendering of a 3D crystalline scatterer and for the development of new BCDI methods and experiments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ptychographic phase retrieval by proximal algorithms

We derive a set of ptychography phase-retrieval iterative engines based on proximal algorithms originally developed in convex optimization theory, and discuss their connections with existing ones. The use of proximal operator creates a simple frame work that allows us to incorporate the effect of noise from a maximum-likelihood (ML) principle. We focus on three particular algorithms, namely proximal minimization, alternating direction method of multiplier and accelerated proximal gradient (APG). We benchmark their performance with numerical simulations, and discuss their optimal conditions for convergence and accuracy. An experimental dataset is used to demonstrate their effectiveness as well, in which case an array of cubic Au nanoparticles with a size of 50 nm is imaged. We show that with the presence of Poisson noise, a dataset with photon counts up to 10 4 at one detector pixel already requires ML-based methods to achieve a stable convergence. Among the three algorithms derived in this work, APG method is reported first time for its application in ptychographic reconstruction and shows superior performance in terms of both accuracy and convergence rate with a noisy dataset.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗