Experimental Qualification of a Novel X-Ray Diffraction Imaging Setup Based on Polycapillary X-Ray Optics

X-ray Diffraction Imaging is a technique able to highlight the differences in the molecular composition of the sample under analysis owing to the difference in their scattering properties. A laboratory based imaging system that will allow well-resolved diffraction images in space and energy was designed, setup and experimentally qualified. The key features of the proposed system are the following: (i) collimation system based on polycapillary X-ray optics instead of the conventional mechanical collimators and (ii) energy-dispersive imaging detection system based on the Controlled-Drift Detector instead of conventional charge-integrating devices. Presented here is the detailed description of the novel X-ray Diffraction Imaging setup together with the results of its experimental qualification.