We present a new method to analyze quantitatively the wave front of a partially coherent x-ray beam. The technique is based on the use of two-dimensional speckle patterns combined with digital image correlation algorithms and offers a pixel size resolution, a high accuracy, and a reduced sensitivity to mechanical vibrations thanks to a very simple setup. The requirements on transverse and longitudinal coherence are also low. Finally, we show how the method can be used for phase contrast imaging applications by a single sample exposure process.

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Piezo bimorph mirrors are versatile active optics used on many synchrotron beamlines. However, many bimorphs suffer from the 'junction effect': a periodic deformation of the optical surface which causes major aberrations to the reflected X-ray beam. This effect is linked to the construction of such mirrors, where piezo ceramics are glued directly below the thin optical substrate. In order to address this problem, a next-generation bimorph with piezos bonded to the side faces of a monolithic substrate was developed at Thales-SESO and optimized at Diamond Light Source. Using metrology feedback from the Diamond-NOM, the optical slope error was reduced to $ 0.5 mrad r.m.s. for a range of ellipses. To maximize usability, a novel holder was built to accommodate the substrate in any orientation. When replacing a firstgeneration bimorph on a synchrotron beamline, the new mirror significantly improved the size and shape of the reflected X-ray beam. Most importantly, there was no evidence of the junction effect even after eight months of continuous beamline usage. It is hoped that this new design will reinvigorate the use of active bimorph optics at synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities to manipulate and correct X-ray wavefronts.

Strong asymmetries have been observed in grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) in situ patterns obtained from 30 nm-thick nanocrystalline Co films prepared by oblique sputtering (15°-75° off-sample normal). These asymmetries have been qualitatively simulated by a simple model consisting of an ensemble of 8 nm-wide inclined Co nanocolumns. It is found that narrow inclined features appear in the diffuse background resembling those characteristic of faceted systems, which can be used to obtain straightforward non-destructive estimations of buried nanocolumnar grains inclination, even for oblique angles below 45°, when the stronger and broader asymmetric features of the pattern are not yet fully formed. Furthermore, using magneto-optical microscopy, a marked change in the magnetic domain's nucleation and growth process has been observed in the sample prepared at 75°, with the stronger GISAXS asymmetries. Easy axis magnetization reversal starts by a random and homogeneous nucleation of small (∼μm) elongated domains aligned with the nanocolumn's long axis and proceeds through the preferred propagation of head-to-head domain walls (DWs) along the applied field direction. This peculiar magnetic behavior indicates that the strongly anisotropic nanostructuring created by the oblique growth process is equivalent, from a magnetic point of view, to an array of self-assembled buried nanowires. These results show how GISAXS and magneto-optical microscopy can be combined as a powerful tool for correlating the morphology and magnetism of thin nanostructured systems.

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The growth of polycrystalline Ni thin films on nanorippled Si templates is investigated in situ by grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering as well as ex situ by atomic force microscopy and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The templates have been fabricated by low-energy ion sputtering which leads to the spontaneous formation of a periodic ripple pattern with about 35 nm periodicity and about 3 nm peak-to-peak height. Highly conformal growth of the Ni film is observed under normal incidence deposition with the film surface perfectly replicating the substrate morphology up to a film thickness of at least 120 nm. Grazing incidence deposition perpendicular to the ripple orientation leads to the formation of one-dimensional nanowires on one side of the ripples due to geometrical shadowing. At a film thickness of about 10 nm, a transition to anisotropic columnar growth with rapidly decreasing conformity is observed. In this regime, the nanowires act as growth seeds for the columns and further geometrical shadowing leads to a film consisting of rows of tilted columns.

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