3- X-ray Diffraction Imaging at the Nanoscale

We report a "momentum transfer" X-ray diffraction data analysis approach to nondestructive determination of the shape of an average nano-particle in three dimensions. The possibility of using incoherent X-ray sources allows the method to be implemented in any laboratory. Our results demonstrate that this approach to X-ray diffraction data analysis provides the potential for 3D reconstruction without a tomographic synthesis of 2D images, as in conventional coherent radiation imaging experiments. A simple and robust quantitative technique to reconstruct an average nano-particle randomly dispersed over a large volume within a sample, such as presented here, should enable researchers to study nano-particles using conventional laboratory X-ray diffraction equipment with resolution up to a few nanometers.