Dynamic X‑ray Coherent Diffraction Analysis: Bridging the Time Scales between Imaging and Photon Correlation Spectroscopy

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 24; no. 43; pp. 13702 - 13707
• Main Authors: Hinsley, Gerard N., Westermeier, Fabian, Wang, Bihan, Ngoi, Kuan Hoon, Singh, Shweta, Rysov, Rustam, Sprung, Michael, Kewish, Cameron M., van Riessen, Grant A., Vartanyants, Ivan A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 30-10-2024
• Subjects: Letter; coherent X-ray diffractive imaging; dynamics; X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy; nanoparticles
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03699

The advent of diffraction limited sources and developments in detector technology opens up new possibilities for the study of materials in situ and operando. Coherent X-ray diffraction techniques such as coherent X-ray diffractive imaging (CXDI) and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) are capable for this purpose and provide complementary information, although due to signal-to-noise requirements, their simultaneous demonstration has been limited. Here, we demonstrate a strategy for the simultaneous use of CXDI and XPCS to study in situ the Brownian motion of colloidal gold nanoparticles of 200 nm diameter suspended in a glycerol–water mixture. We visualize the process of agglomeration, examine the spatiotemporal space accessible with the combination of techniques, and demonstrate CXDI with 22 ms temporal resolution.