Real-time hard X-ray imaging

Abstract

Using hard X-rays for high-speed and ultra high-speed imaging has enormous potential to visualize the interior of opaque systems as they change with time. Exposure times below one nanosecond for ultra high-speed imaging are accessible when synchrotron light sources are employed and this provides a non-destructive method of in-motion radiography. The polychromatic radiation of insertion devices in combination with X-ray phase contrast has proven to be suited for acquisition rates up to the MHz range. This chapter outlines the basic principles of indirect hard X-ray imaging detectors for real-time imaging, and other detection schemes and sources of radiation are briefly discussed. The potential of using hard X-rays for high-speed imaging is demonstrated with application examples from soft matter physics and materials processing.