Stefano Lagomarsino

Properties of a submicrometer x‐ray beam at the exit of a waveguide

This report discusses the properties of a 13‐keV submicrometer x‐ray beam exiting from a waveguide. Waveguides for this spectral regime can be constructed by enclosing a low‐absorbing material between highly absorbant metals. Best performance is found for about 0.1 μm guiding layer thickness. Measurements of the photon beam size close to the exit and of the intensity distribution far from the exit will be presented. From these data one derives a beam size at the exit which is identical to the guiding layer thickness. This number being in the submicrometer range offers interesting perspectives for microscopy experiments in the hard x‐ray range.

Evidence of light guiding in ion-implanted diamond.

We demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating light-waveguiding microstructures in bulk single-crystal diamond by means of direct ion implantation with a scanning microbeam, resulting in the modulation of the refractive index of the ion-beam damaged crystal. Direct evidence of waveguiding through such buried microchannels is obtained with a phase-shift micro-interferometric method allowing the study of the multimodal structure of the propagating electromagnetic field. The possibility of defining optical and photonic structures by direct ion writing opens a range of new possibilities in the design of quantum-optical devices in bulk single-crystal diamond.

Debye function analysis and 2D imaging of nanoscaled engineered bone

The Debye Function Analysis of diffraction patterns from nanosized mineral crystals showing different average degrees of maturity was carried out on engineered bone samples. The analysis relied on a bivariate family of atomistic hydroxyapatite nanocrystal models and provided information about crystal structure, size and shape distributions of the mineral component of the newly formed bone. An average rod-like shape of nanocrystals was found in all samples, with average sizes well matching the collagen I gap region. The diffraction patterns investigated through the Debye Function Analysis were used as signal models to perform the Canonical Correlation Analysis of high resolution X-ray micro-diffraction patterns collected on porous and resorbable hydroxyapatite/silicon-stabilized tricalcium phosphate (Si-TCP) implants. The nosologic maps clearly showed a size gradient in the new formed bone that validates the mechanism (mimicking the bone remodelling in orthotopic bones) of a continuous deposition of bone by osteoblasts, an increasing mineralization of the newly deposited bone, a growth of the new crystals, at the same time that osteoclasts adhere to the scaffold surface and resorb the bioceramic. The comparison of samples at different implantation times proved that the selective resorption of Si-TCP component from the scaffold was already evident after two and almost complete after six months.

Radiation hardness of three-dimensional polycrystalline diamond detectors

The three-dimensional concept in particle detection is based on the fabrication of columnar electrodes perpendicular to the surface of a solid state radiation sensor. It permits to improve the radiation resistance characteristics of a material by lowering the necessary bias voltage and shortening the charge carrier path inside the material. If applied to a long-recognized exceptionally radiation-hard material like diamond, this concept promises to pave the way to the realization of detectors of unprecedented performances. We fabricated conventional and three-dimensional polycrystalline diamond detectors, and tested them before and after neutron damage up to 1.2 ×1016 cm−2, 1 MeV-equivalent neutron fluence. We found that the signal collected by the three-dimensional detectors is up to three times higher than that of the conventional planar ones, at the highest neutron damage ever experimented.

Complex refractive index variation in proton-damaged diamond

An accurate control of the optical properties of single crystal diamond during microfabrication processes such as ion implantation plays a crucial role in the engineering of integrated photonic devices. In this work we present a systematic study of the variation of both real and imaginary parts of the refractive index of single crystal diamond, when damaged with 2 and 3 MeV protons at low-medium fluences (range: 10(15) - 10(17) cm(-2)). After implanting in 125 × 125 μm(2) areas with a scanning ion microbeam, the variation of optical pathlength of the implanted regions was measured with laser interferometric microscopy, while their optical transmission was studied using a spectrometric set-up with micrometric spatial resolution. On the basis of a model taking into account the strongly non-uniform damage profile in the bulk sample, the variation of the complex refractive index as a function of damage density was evaluated.

In situ and ex situ structural characterization of β‐FeSi2 films epitaxially grown on Si(111)

The structural properties of β‐FeSi2 films grown on Si(111) are studied by means of several techniques. The films were grown in ultrahigh vacuum by solid phase epitaxy. The as‐deposited Fe films were studied in situ by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and Auger spectroscopy. Fe thicknesses were calibrated by Rutherford backscattering. The behavior of the FeMVV/SiLVV Auger peaks ratio intensity as a function of Fe thickness indicates a Stranski–Krastanov mode of growth. Annealing of the Fe layers at temperatures between 400 and 600 °C led to the β‐FeSi2 formation. Sharp LEED patterns typical of the β‐FeSi2 orthorhombic structure were obtained. X‐ray double‐crystal diffraction was carried out on a film about 200 A thick in order to determine the lattice mismatch between the β‐FeSi2 and the Si(111) planes accurately. The measured value of (2.1±0.1)×10−2 unambiguously indicates that (101) epitaxy takes place only on Si(111). No elastic strain of the overlayer was evident. The full width at half maximum ...

X-ray phase contrast microscopy at 300 nm resolution with laboratory sources

We report the performance of an X-ray phase contrast microscope for laboratory sources with 300 nm spatial resolution. The microscope is based on a commercial X-ray microfocus source equipped with a planar X-ray waveguide able to produce a sub-micrometer x-ray beam in one dimension. Phase contrast images of representative samples are reported. The achieved contrast and resolution is discussed for different configurations. The proposed approach could represent a simple, inexpensive, solution for sub-micrometer resolution imaging with small laboratory setups.

Analysis of tapered front‐coupling X‐ray waveguides

The coupling and propagation of electromagnetic waves through planar X-ray waveguides (WG) with vacuum gap and Si claddings are analyzed in detail, starting from the source and ending at the detector. The general case of linearly tapered WGs (i.e. with the entrance aperture different from the exit one) is considered. Different kinds of sources, i.e. synchrotron radiation and laboratory desk-top sources, have been considered, with the former providing a fully coherent incoming beam and the latter partially coherent beams. It is demonstrated that useful information about the parameters of the WG can be derived, comparing experimental results with computer simulation based on analytical solutions of the Helmholtz equation which take into account the amplitude and phase matching between the standing waves created in front of the WG, and the resonance modes propagating into the WG.

Spatial coherence of X-ray planar waveguide exiting radiation

Abstract In this paper the spatial coherence properties of quasi-monochromatic one-dimensional nanosized X-ray beams exiting from planar waveguides have been theoretically investigated both in Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction regimes. The evolution of the coherence properties of the X-ray radiation during wave propagation has been described within the Huyghens–Fresnel optical formalism by means of the mutual coherence function. An analytical expression of the mutual coherence function of the X-ray radiation exiting from real planar waveguides, when a standing wavefield is excited into it, has been derived in a paraxial approximation. It can be verified within the wave formalism that, in diffraction experiments on crystalline samples in the Fresnel regime, for nearly ideal standing-wave confinement conditions and planar-waveguide resonator thickness of the order of 100 nm, sub-micrometer lateral resolutions normal to the scattering plane can be achieved. Our model leads to an analytical formula useful to estimate the lateral resolution of the diffraction patterns as a function of the resonator-layer thickness and the waveguide–sample distance.

In-line phase-contrast imaging for strong absorbing objects

Phase-contrast imaging is one of the most important emerging x-ray imaging techniques. In this work we analyse, from a theoretical point of view, the in-line phase-contrast image formation under general assumptions. The approach is based on wave-optical theory (Fresnel/Kirchoff diffraction integrals) and on the formalism of the mutual coherence function for the evolution of the coherence wavefield properties. Our theoretical model can be applied to phase-contrast imaging realized both by using highly coherent synchrotron radiation and micro-focus x-ray laboratory sources. Thus, the model is suitable for widespread applications, ranging from material science to medical imaging of human body parts. However, it cannot be applied to polychromatic sources, although the validity of the model does not require particularly demanding characteristics of monochromaticity. In addition, for moderate phase gradients, a useful analytical formula of the phase-contrast visibility is derived, based on the a priori knowledge of source size and distance, pixel detector size, defocus distance, material/tissue dielectric susceptibility and characteristic scales of transversal and longitudinal non-uniformities of the material/tissue dielectric susceptibility. Comparisons both with experimental results published by other authors and with simulations based on a Fourier optics approach have been reported, to confirm the validity of the proposed analytical formula