Time-Resolved X-Ray Microscopy for Materials Science

Abstract

X-ray microscopy has been an indispensable tool to image nanoscale properties for materials research. One of its recent advances is to extend microscopic studies to the time domain for visualizing the dynamics of nanoscale phenomena. Large-scale x-ray facilities have been the powerhouse of time-resolved x-ray microscopy. Their upgrades including a significant reduction of the x-ray emittance at storage rings and fully coherent ultrashort xray pulses at free electron lasers, will lead to new developments in instrumentation and open new scientific opportunities for x-ray imaging of nanoscale dynamics with the simultaneous attainment of unprecedentedly high spatial and temporal resolutions. This review presents recent progress in and the outlook for time-resolved x-ray microscopy in the context of ultrafast nanoscale imaging and its applications to condensed matter physics and materials science.

Quantum Dots Microstructural Metrology: From Time‐Resolved Spectroscopy to Spatially Resolved Electron Microscopy

“…Various TR and SR spectroscopic and microscopic tools with high temporal and spatial resolution have been developed by combining well-established techniques to characterize both static and dynamic properties of QDs. [60][61][62][63] Microscopic techniques are used to determine the properties such as size, crystalline structure, chemical composition, electronic states, and work function. The spatial illumination for bulk homojunction devices and p-type and n-type CQDs.…”

“…The TR synchrotron X-ray-based techniques include SAXS and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). [60] SAXS offer the simultaneous monitoring of concentration or mass and size of nanoparticles as a function of time. The information about precise crystallographic phases of nanoparticles with sizes >5 nm during nanoparticles growth can be probed through TR WAXS.…”

Changes in short- and medium-range order in metallic liquids during undercooling

“…To span this divide, experimentalists need to develop tools and techniques to capture the higher temporal dynamic processes, while modelers strive to extend their methods to more relevant time scales. 27 One of the more significant experimental breakthroughs has been in situ methods to study the undercooled liquid and devitrification processes. 28,29 Levitation methods, electrostatic and magnetic aerodynamics, combined with neutrons and x-rays (in particular high-energy synchrotron) have provided unique insights into the nature of the changes in bonding during undercooling, which can be qualitatively matched to atomistic simulations.…”

Why is my image noisy? A look into the terms contributing to a time-resolved X-ray microscopy image

“…In condensed-matter physics, such effects include, for example, ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, ferroelectricity, and superconductivity. The characterization of these effects at the nanoscale is of vital importance for their understanding, and has received much attention from the research community in recent times (Wen et al, 2019).…”

“…Various experimental techniques have been developed to tackle the challenge of investigating complex systems at ultrasmall and ultrafast timescales (Wen et al, 2019). A particular effort has been dedicated into the development of experimental methods and protocols able to combine high spatial and temporal resolutions into time-resolved (TR) imaging techniques.…”