Dark-field X-ray microscopy (DFXM) is a nondestructive full-field imaging technique providing three dimensional mapping of microstructure and local strain fields in deeply embedded crystalline elements. This is achieved by placing an objective lens in the diffracted beam, giving a magnified projection image. So far, the method has been applied with a time resolution of milliseconds to hours. In this work, we consider the feasibility of DFXM at the picosecond time scale using an X-ray free electron laser source and a pump-probe scheme. We combine thermomechanical strain wave simulations with geometrical optics and wavefront propagation optics to simulate DFXM images of phonon dynamics in a diamond single crystal. Using the specifications of the XCS instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) as an example results in simulated DFXM images clearly showing the propagation of a strain wave.
@article{arxiv.2111.01545,
title = {X-ray Free Electron Laser based Dark-Field X-ray Microscopy},
author = {Theodor Secanell Holstad and Trygve Magnus Raeder and Mads Allerup Carlsen and Erik Bergback Knudsen and Leora Dresselhaus-Marais and Kristoffer Haldrup and Hugh Simons and Martin Meedom Nielsen and Henning Friis Poulsen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2111.01545},
year = {2021}
}