The most substantial innovations in radiographic imaging techniques of the last two decades aim at enhanced image contrast of weakly absorbing micro and nano structures by taking advantage of X-ray refraction effects occurring at outer and inner surfaces. The applications range from fibre reinforced plastics to biological tissues. These techniques comprise, among others, X-ray refraction topography, diffraction enhanced imaging, phase contrast imaging, Talbot-Lau grating interferometry, and refraction enhanced imaging. They all make use of selective beam deflections up to a few minutes of arc: the X-ray refraction effect. In contrast to diffraction, this type of interaction has a 100% scattering cross section, as shown experimentally. Since X-ray refraction is very sensitive to the orientation of interfaces, it is additionally a tool to detect, e.g., fibre or pore orientation. If the detector resolution exceeds the size of (small) individual features, one detects the integral information (of inner surfaces) within the gauge volume. We describe the above-mentioned techniques, and show their experimental implementation in the lab and at a synchrotron source. We also show strategies for data processing and quantitative analysis.
展开▼
