Imaging of nanocluster using coherent x-ray diffraction and computational phase retrieval technique

Full text: The availability of intense X-ray sources and of high quality focussing optics suggests the use of phase retrieval techniques based on diffraction from curved wavefield to determine the structures of nanoscale particles. The ultimate aim of this approach is to develop practical methods for nanocrystallography and applications of the technique in the biological science. Here we investigate the solution of the structures of gold nanostructures. A recent experiments was performed using 6.773 angstrom synchrotron radiation x-rays from an insertion device source, at beamline-2ID-B of Advanced Photon Source (APS), Chicago. Our phase retrieval algorithms have been devised which make use of this known beam information to achieve unambiguous reconstruction of the diffracting object in favourable cases. We will discuss our recent experimental and theoretical results and the issues involved in extracting useful information from weakly diffracting objects. Copyright (2005) Australian Institute of Physics