Dark Field X-ray Microscopy (DFXM) has advanced 3D non-destructive, high-resolution imaging of strain and orientation in crystalline materials, enabling the study of embedded structures in bulk. However, the photon-intensive nature of monochromatic DFXM limits its applicability to highly deformed or weakly crystalline structures and constrains time-resolved studies in industrially relevant materials. We present pink-beam DFXM (\pDFXM) at the ID03 beamline of ESRF, achieving a 27-fold increase in diffracted intensity while maintaining 100 nm spatial resolution. We validate \pDFXM{} by imaging a partially recrystallized aluminum grain, confirming sufficient angular resolution for microstructure mapping. The increased flux significantly enhances the diffracted signal, enabling the resolution of subgrain structures. Additionally, we image a highly deformed ferritic iron grain, previously inaccessible in monochromatic mode without focusing optics. Beyond static imaging, \pDFXM{} enables real-time tracking of grain growth during annealing, achieving hundred-millisecond temporal resolution. By combining high photon flux with non-destructive, high-resolution 3D mapping, \pDFXM{} expands diffraction-contrast imaging to poorly diffracting crystals, unlocking new opportunities for studying grain growth, fatigue, and corrosion in bulk materials.
@article{arxiv.2503.05921,
title = {Pink-Beam Dark Field X-ray Microscopy: Expanding 3D/4D Imaging for Complex and Deformed Microstructures},
author = {Can Yildirim and Aditya Shukla and Yubin Zhang and Nikolas Mavrikakis and Louis Lesage and Virginia Sanna and Marilyn Sarkis and Yaozhu Li and Michela La Bella and Carsten Detlefs and Henning Friis Poulsen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.05921},
year = {2025}
}