Nano structured materials studied by coherent X-ray diffraction

Structure determination with X-rays in crystallography is a rapidly evolving field. Crystallographic methods for structure determination are based on the assumptions about the crystallinity of the sample. It is vital to understand the structure of possible defects in the crystal, because they can influence the structure determination. All conventional methods to characterize defects require a modelling through simulated data. No direct methods exist to image the core of defects in crystals. Here a new method is proposed, which will enable to visualize the individual scatterers around and at defects in crystals. The method is based on coherent X-ray scattering. X-rays are perfectly suited since they can penetrate thick samples and buried structures can be investigated Recent developments increased the coherent flux of X-Ray sources such as synchrotrons by orders of magnitude. As a result, the use of the coherent properties of X-rays is emerging as a new aspect of X-ray science. New upcoming and operating X-ray laser sources will accelerate this trend. One new method which has the capacity to recover structural information from the coherently scattered photons is Coherent X-ray Diffraction Imaging (CXDI). The main focus of this thesis is the investigation of the structure and the dynamics of colloidal crystals. Colloidal crystals can be used as a model for atomic crystals in order to understand the growth and defect structure. Despite the large interest in these structures, many details are still unknown.Therefore, it is vital to develop new approaches to measure the core of defects in colloidal crystals. After an introduction into the basics of the field of coherent X-ray scattering, this thesis introduces a novel method, Small Angle Bragg Coherent Diffractive Imaging, (SAB-CDI). This new measurement technique which besides the relevance to colloidal crystals can be applied to a large variety of nano structured materials. To verify the experimental possibilities the following chapter focuses on experiments carried out at synchrotron sources showing the potential of applying SAB-CDI to colloidal crystals. An experiment on GaAs nanowires proves the prospects of this method for other nano structured materials. To investigate dynamics, especially on the ultrafast time scale, FEL sources are needed. The next chapter therefore presents two experiments performed at the FLASH facility in Hamburg, showing that SAB-CDI can also be applied at FELs on an artificial crystal and an experiment performed on colloidal crystals to investigate the ultra fast dynamics with a pump-probe experiment. The technical advances in synchrotron radiation creation have opened the field to applications with the coherent part of the X-rays. The combination of iterative phase retrieval methods with crystallographic methods yields the unique opportunity to measure the internal structure of nano structured samples. This thesis gives an introduction into this exciting new field.